Sonar upgrade

  • Thread starter Thread starter hobo frank
  • Start date Start date
H

hobo frank

New member
About two weeks ago I decided to to bit the bullet and upgrade to sonarXL from PA 9.02. Price $179.00. I called Cakewalk and was told their computer was down and they couldn't find my reg. I was at work and didn't have my ser#. I finally got around to calling back today and they told me I missed the boat! Now the upgrade is too 2.0 and is $249.00 and I have to wait a month to get it. If I had called back even last week I would have gotten 1.3 right away and a free upgrade too 2.0 for $179.00. Whats up with that???:confused:
 
Don't feel too bad. I bought Sonar XL 1.3 back in December. So, now they decide to put out 2.0 and I've gotta pay $160 to upgrade AGAIN? I JUST paid $199! C'MON MAN! Seems like they put out upgrades every year...I'm bummed. Bad timing on my part yet again...
 
why bother?

cakewalk has an express policy of continually "upgrading" their software. It has gone on forever and is obviously a marketing gimmiK. I might upgrade to sonar when the price drops to about 50 bucks.;)
 
cakewalk has an express policy of continually "upgrading" their software. It has gone on forever and is obviously a marketing gimmiK.

Would you rather they sat on it and didn't touch it? Never fixed anything, never added functionality, never kept up with operating system changes and driver evolution and all the other things that are changing all the time?

Or do you expect them to do all that for free? When you buy a PC, do you expect the PC manufacturer to give you new hardware when it becomes available? Maybe replace your CPU for you every six months for free?

Nobody ever said you have to upgrade to 2.0. If 1.3 works for you, or Pro Audio 9, or whatever, stay with it.
 
The problem for me is the weird pricing, very odd.
People who upgrade from PA9 often pay close to what people pay who upgrade from Sonar 1. That is a burden on their best customers.

My Solution: I will only upgade on odd-numbered versions. Sonar 3, here I come...
 
Other than the file system, and a few compatablity issues to software I do not use. Why would I need 2.0.?

Is the audio engine better? Better use of the processor? Some plugin that is dramatically better? New or better synth sounds that I cannot get for free elsewhere?

I don't get it. This looks like a sophisticated patch or not quite complete version modification.

.....Ducking behind the wall to avoid bullets.
 
There's the drum track editor tool, which sounds very nice... and judging by the traffic on the issue on this and other such forums, the file management stuff is a big deal for very many people.

Without looking at the feature list that's all I can remember right now. I suspect the audio engine and processor use will be better, as well as there being a bunch of bug fixes, as always.
 
If you really want to rely on any software, it is a good practice to keep current, always. One negative is eventually the software will outgrow your hardware. Oh the fun of computers. My Sonar is still a toy for me.

Large format analog guy,
TGA
 
Gosh Alchk!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would you rather they sat on it and didn't touch it? Never fixed anything, never added functionality, never kept up with operating system changes and driver evolution and all the other things that are changing all the time?

Gosh alchk'
its not that i wish they never fixed anything I just wish that they would release products that worked. I could spend the next 3 hours describing the various crashes cakewalk has done on my machine ...........or the fact that the sonar demo permanently screwed up the midi efx on PA 9 (many responses from tech support did not solve the problem.) I pose the problem to myself: what would I do if I was at a working gig and an instrument did to me what cakewalk does...i'd probably find the nearest marketing sleazeball and wrap it around his(or her) neck.

I guess I have a long standing resentment against cakewalk since 3.1 This little piece never crashed and had a syncing functionality and cost 80.00. when I decided to use a windows based machine cakewalk had removed this function from the low end product and I had to buy PA9...which introduced me to the world of windows and the ensuing grief. I do know one thing and that is software is hyped beyond all believability,feature lists are cryptic for the poor user who lacks a profound knowledge of the neverending acronyms et al that are required to even begin to purchase software from an intelligent standpoint.

I guess I've become a bit cynical regarding the world of digital audio software. But I do know that the more money than brains crowd will always update to the latest greatest and it behooves software companies to keep "upgrading" stuff ala the microsoft model.
What always amazes me is that the people in the industry are so susceptible to their own delusions.
 
I'm w/ Middleman and DavidK 100%.

S2.0 looks like a few ho-hum features bundled with a whole lot of 3rd Party gobbledigook to make it look worth the money.

New filing capabilities = nope. I like the way S does it now. I don't want to have to think about naming every single audio file and putting it in a folder.

Drum enhancements = maybe. I don't use any of the MIDI loops and Drag and drop drummer stuff that's been included before. This is the only feature I find intruiging, but not worth another $80.

I can pass on everything else for now.

And given the fact that the the CW upgrade pricing scheme seems to benefit those who are a version behind, I think I'll be waiting for SONAR 3.0. (just a few months away, I suspect.)

...unless hearing everyone talk about it gives me the want-its so bad I can't resist.:D

One last gripe: I paid for the full version of the mp3 converter in CW9.03. I upgrade to SONAR and suddenly I have to pay another $20 for it? Balderdash, I say!

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Aaron, if you bought the MP3 encoder within Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, you can use it in SONAR. If I remember correctly it basically checked on my Pro Audio CD Key and enabled it.

kennedy connor,

I think you are exaggerating.

Most computer stuff I try works just fine, and I consider it something of a miracle. I would never expect such a complicated house of cards to be as robust as a piece of wood with strings on it; then, I would never be able to do all the million miraculous things I could with a PC with a guitar or a trombone.

The complexity and instability of it is part of the landscape, like it or not. We all wish Windows was as robust as Linux; we all know it probably never will be. And the more features and functionality is added, the more likely it is that some combinations of hardware, software, and configuration settings is going to cause unpredictable behavior. Digital audio is maybe a little messier than other stuff since it uses so much of the machine's resources and so if all the billion little things that might affect something are not lined up just so, something noticeable happens.

For every story I read about someone being unable to install SONAR or get it to work without blowing up their computer and emitting gamma rays, there are at least as many that say, "I installed it and I had no problems at all." Probably more, or who would be using it any more?

I agree, I think SONAR 1.0 was released a tad prematurely. But that line is very hard to draw.
 
The most important new feature in Sonar 2.0 is Rewire capability. This allows you to use programs like Reason and Rebirth inside of Sonar. A lot of people have been waiting for this.
 
Back
Top