Sonar???

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Graymalkin

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Never fails! Just as I was about to buy a PC with a Pentium processor and Win 98 (both of which, I'm told, workbetter with Cakewalk that Athlon and Win 2000), I check out the Cakewal site to order Pro Audio, and apparently it's no longer available! The big thing now is Sonar (and, of course, they recommend Athlon and Win 2000 for Sonar!)! I've seen on other sites where Pro Audio owners can upgrade to Sonar . . . but will Sonar work as well with Pentium & Win 98, or should I just go with Sonar to begin with, and get an Athlon-based computer with Win 2000? True, ya can't stop progress (heck, we can barely keep up!); but I'm wondering if I should go with the "older" PC & software, or if there are significant advantages of moving up (?) to Sonar and a PC with Athlon and Win 2000?
THE WORLD HAS GONE MAD!!!
 
Graymalkin brings up an interesing point though. I thought about it too. I spend so much time and effort trying to keep up with the latest upgrades and plug-ins that I hardly have time to record anything! Not to mention hardware, instruments, new mics, tube pre's, cable upgrades, POD patches . . . it never ends.

I use a Gadget Labs card. It works great now but will it with SONAR ? Fat chance anyone will create drivers that will make it WDM compatible. Will a PII 400Mhz work with SONAR? According to the literature, it's the minimum. Geez, that's like using a 486 to run PA9 . . .

Will I upgrade ? You're damn right I will ! Read the first paragraph again . . . I'm friggin addicted to this shit!

Regards,
PAPicker
 
Graymalkin................ Musician's Friend ( and I believe Mars and probably others) Have PA9 for $179 and PA9 Deluxe for $199. At the Cakewalk website you can upgrade from PA9 to Sonar for $129 and from Delux to Sonar for $99. They say Sonar will be available in March, but they don't say what year. You can start recording now with PA9 and upgrade whenever. You can e-mail or call (617 - 441 - 7891) their tech support with specifics of your set-up. Hope this helps.
 
Whoa there!!! If you purchase Pro Audio 9 now Cakewalk should upgrade you free... otherwise I'd hold off. Check with Cakewalk. Software companies often do this because otherwise their cash flow would do a nose dive as soon as they announced a new version.
 
So much for what I though about Cakewalk and their upgrade policy...

From Scott Garrigus' DigiFreq newsletter:
What happened to Cakewalk Pro Audio 9?
Answer: I went to the people at Cakewalk for the answer to this question. Here is what they had to say...
"We are positioning SONAR as a new flagship product. This software release is so significantly different from Pro Audio 9 and provides so much new technology, we felt it really needed to be considered a new product. With the completely redesigned Track view that centralizes user workflow, the addition of audio loop construction tools, the addition of DXi soft synth technology, among many other new features, it will be clear to anyone who had previously used Pro Audio 9 that this product has evolved into a new application deserving its own identity. Besides, Pro Audio 9 will continue to be available in music retail stores even after SONAR ships. So Pro Audio 9 isn't going away at all. [italics mine -- AlChuck] For existing Pro Audio 9 users, we are treating this as an upgrade for them. Since we will not be releasing a Pro Audio 10, we wanted to make sure we offered them a special discount on our new flagship product."
Click to expand...

This sounds like marketing hooey to me. "Pro Audio 9 isn't going away at all." Changing a product's name just because it changes significantly is one thing, but acting as if the old one "isn't going away" gives them a means to weasel out of the grandfathering issue, and also will cause a lot of confusion for awhile as new potential customers who've heard of Pro Audio but not SONAR unknowingly buy a dead-end package and then have to do an "upgrade" to get what they should have gotten in the first place...

I don't know, maybe I'm being overly persnickety about this (after all, the upgrade pricing is pretty much the same as the old upgrades from Cake Pro Audio 8 to 9, etc.)... but it seems a bit sleazy to me.
 
Here's what I can offer

Hey AlChuck,
I think we may have talked about this once before.
I made the mistake of upgrading to Pro Suite right at the end of the year before the SONAR announcement. I paid $149 to go from PA 9.03 Deluxe to PS. Now, 3 months later, I could have upgraded to SONAR, which includes all three FX packs and synths (the same thing the PS upgrade included) for $99.
They will not grandfather me in.
So instead of getting what I wanted for 99 bucks, it would end up costing me $248. Way to go Cakewalk! In trying to earn an extra $149, you lost a customer that's been with you since 3.0.
I wonder how Vegas or ProLogic will look on my screen.
Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Thanks, all!

I appreciate all the comments. Seems like I stirred up a wee bit of controversy.
I'm wondering, since Cakewalk obviously considers Sonar to be so vastly improved over Pro Audio, if the "upgrade" will ealistically bring such an "outmoded" software as PA up to "Sonar specs"?
Well, waiting around for reports on how "vastly superior" Sonar is to PA, and trying to keep up with technology is a distant second to getting started soon. I'm about ready to take advantage of the falling prices of ancient technology (Pentium processors, Win 98, Pro Audio!) and get started now. If Sonar turns out to be as fantastic as the hype alludes, THEN I'll look into upgrading.
Hell, I wanna start recording before it's time to retire, hang up my guitar, and buy a damn Winnebago!
If all else fails, I've still got my good ol' blessedly UN-high-tech analog gear!
 
I'm with you totally on this Graymalkin.

I only have CW8 and for the $29 I spent, this has to be the best investment I have made in a long, long while. I shall upgrade to Home Studio 9 for a futher $49 sometime later this year as I become more proficient and confident and then will use the system to its max. potential to record MY music (isn't that the real point?). No new computer, no new software, just enjoy what I have and use it fully. And then, and only then might I consider upgrading to Sonar (for $199 more, thats $277 in total).

By then, all those brave souls who splashed out on Sonar now can then tell us where the pitfalls lie. I learnt a long time ago with software, never be the first, you'll get burnt.

And I'm a muso first and a home sound engineer (joke)/computer teckie long time second.

Maybe we could hit the road together in the Winnebago touring and busking Graymalkin?
 
And another thing..... (AlChuck and Chesterfield take note)....

You cannot buy PA9 anymore, it is not available. Check out the website. But you might be able to buy it locally in a store and then upgrade. And as AlChuck indicates, some poor %$^£*& will get it home and then find its obsolete!

So Graymalkins dilemma is does he go for the new Sonar which raises questions about new PC , loads of trailblazer hassle etc. etc or if not, what exactly does he buy?

They should still provide the choice of PA 9 as far as I'm concerned.

Power to the people!
 
I haven't jumped on the Sonar bandwagon yet either, it seems I'll have to upgrade my pc to specs first . . . hmmm . . . let me see . . .PIII . . .20gig min. . .128 meg
 
Aaron,

I think that sucks.

Paul881,

Hmmm... "Pro Audio 9 will continue to be available in music retail stores even after SONAR ships. So Pro Audio 9 isn't going away at all." In other words -- the stores will continue to sell their existing stock. And Cakewalk has to continue supporting it for a while. I wonder what the lag time will be between when the stores start selling SONAR and change Pro Audio 9's pricing to closeout status... I sure hope everyone who is considering this product now does a lot of homework!
 
AlChuck,

You hit the nail on the head with your post.

This whole scene stinks. PA 9 has been withdrawn, the stores will sell their stocks by hook or by crook to unsuspecting members of the public who have heard of CW and then find out (belatedly) that they have been "stiffed" into buying an obsolete product. And then they find that they have to pay an upgrade price for Sonar which may mean a new PC, software etc. And then have to put up with being a trailblazer for getting the product user hardened.

On balance, I think I would try to buy PA 9 as cheaply as possible, use it for a while, get proficient and only then think about upgrading. Or have I missed the point? Graymalkin's dilemma is a choice of limited options. PA9 should still be made available to those who do not want the hassle of being trailblazers nor upgrading to new PC's. IMHO.
 
aaron,i agree it sucks not being grandfathered in but if it's any consolation,the gigasampler le and gigapiano you got with prosuite are a pretty good deal for $149.to get them from nemesys cost $99 for le and another $99 for gigapiano.neither are part of sonar to my knowledge.i am curious,how are they working out for you?
 
I use AutoCAD at work and am always pissed when they bring out a new release and every company thinks they need to upgrade to the latest release. It’s total bullshit for 99% of the usual applications. They never make it do what a user like myself would really want it to do, and I find it seems to actually get worse with each new release. I was happy and content with rel 12. Then they brought out rel 13, 14, and now 2000. Just different looks and bells and whistles. AutoCAD rel 9 would do the job just as well. Same thing with Cakewalk. They lied to me several months ago when they told me to expect release 10 around the end of 2000. They also lied to me before I upgraded from 8 to 9 when they told me 9 would do something I couldn’t get 8 to do. Now I would have to get a new computer to upgrade to Sonar? Why? The results are still going to be the same. I’m still going to be using the same bit rate and sampling rate. The same sound card. The same external or software effects. Seems like I would just be wasting my money.
 
i've got a micron pentium3 733....and 20gig hard drive that i use just for recording. sonar seems to offer a lot more for keyboard based recording.....which i use alot, as well as drums/guitar/bass. i think it will not only help my keyboard set up, but also with the new technology will make it easier to run more tracks and fx. i'm really looking forward to sonar. i think it will use all of my computers power and will take my studio to the next level, without adding any hardware.

>>>michael
 
what? maybe it won't do what i want.....then its my fault. but i really want to synth software.....i'm sure the program works about the same.

>>>michael
 
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