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I know lots of folks here use Sonar to process their BIAB creations.
There is a new Sonar version, seemingly without the Sonar X designation: Sonar Platinum, Sonar Professional, and Sonar Artist.
There is upgrade pricing; however, it seems to me that the price from Sonar Producer to Sonar Platinum is steep to get a lot of what you've already got. Kind of weird also that there is upgrade pricing from Producer to Artist/Professional, which seems more sort of like downgrade.
They also offer a monthly membership fee rather than paying upfront.
They completely dropped the "X" designation and there will be no Sonar X4. SONAR X4 Studio is now SONAR Professional. SONAR X4 Producer is now SONAR Platinum.
You can see all this at the Cakewalk site.
Last edited by jford; 01/13/15 11:58 AM.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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I bought the last few upgrades and haven't used it once since sonar pro audio 6
Ol' Pat man will probably sit out this dance.
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Ditto. I have all I need with versions 6 thru 8.5 ... 
Cheers, Mike My Music * Asus ROG Strix G15CF 32 GB DDR4 4TB HDD + 1 TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB Win 11 AKAI EIE PRO Sound Interface. BIAB/RB 2024 UltraPak Build - Latest
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Ditto. I have all I need with versions 6 thru 8.5 ... I'll stick with X3, although 8.5 was rock solid. $499? Are these people nuts? 
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Dang!
I purchased X3 Producer less than a week ago.
Annoyed? Yes
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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I think I mentioned that Cakewalk would drop X (if not Sonar) they have been renaming products about every 3-4 versions starting with Cakewalk! CW (DOS 1-4), CW Win Pro (2-3), CW Pro Audio (Deluxe 4-9), Sonar XL (1.3, 2.1), Sonar Producer (3 - 8.5), then Sonar X1-X3 (Producer), now whatever ---' Yep just looked at site - those prices are off putting (unless you have X3 - I do) or they are in New Taiwan Dollars!  edit: just re-looked I would have like to have seen the newer Z3TA2+ for upgrade price John you are right, almost ALL except new "engine" (if anything much) we already have if you have Producer X1-X3. Larry
Last edited by Larry Kehl; 01/13/15 01:00 PM.
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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90db - Upgrade is $149 (for Platinum) from X3 but I also had mini-stroke when I saw $499
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Well... I grew up with Cakewalk since version 3.0 and have all subsequent versions except for 2 or 3 versions. I only went to X3 when they lowered the upgrade price from 149$ to 99$. Now, I just don't see any reason anymore. X3 does more than I need and there's still a lot it offers that I haven't delved into. I've wondered over the last few years how much more can be offered to justify long time users to keep upgrading each time. If one is rolling in green I guess it's a none issue. It's different of course for those purchasing there first version. I can't imagine the pressure of generating enough revenue each year to have staying power in such a competitive market...especially since Reaper and a couple others (I think) have entered the market in the last 4-5 years or so. That new monthly membership fee may be part of the equation but that's a guess. I love the program and want them to be prosperous but I can't imagine any determining criteria to make me upgrade again . Guess I'll head to the forum and check the feedback. A good evening to all....
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Agreed, X3 is the most stable version I've used since version 8. No compelling reason here to upgrade anymore.
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2026, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Thanks. I just looked there last night, so this is quite a surprise. Time to check the features.
Trevor - I know you were just asking about SONAR. Since you bought so close to the upgrade announcement, call and ask them if they can help you out. PG Music certainly would in the same situation.
Someone on the SONAR forum speculated that since SONAR wasn't upgraded in September as it was the last several years, it would sound 'wrong' to name it X4 when the year was already (201)5.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I thought CW Pro Audio 9.03 was sufficient and stable and I stiil have it installed - yes it runs fine on win 7 64!
But may be jacka$$ enough to upgrade to get the AD2 producer (3 Pak) add-on alone and not even bother with install.
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Thanks. I just looked there last night, so this is quite a surprise. Time to check the features.
Trevor - I know you were just asking about SONAR. Since you bought so close to the upgrade announcement, call and ask them if they can help you out. PG Music certainly would in the same situation.
Someone on the SONAR forum speculated that since SONAR wasn't upgraded in September as it was the last several years, it would sound 'wrong' to name it X4 when the year was already (201)5.
Thanks Matt I purchased from Sweetwater, I'll give both them and Cakewalk a call, see what transpires Regards Trevor
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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I bought X1 Producer outright a few years ago; upgraded to X2 Producer for $99, and then paid $99 to upgrade to X3 Producer in 2014. But to upgrade to Sonar Platinum (which would have been X4 Producer) is $149. Or I could go to Sonar Pro for $99, which gives you the LE version of some of the VSTi's (whereas the X3 Producer gave you the full version) - for example Rapture and Dimension. X3 Producer included Z3TA+, whereas the new Pro does not. That being said, I've already got those VSTi's, so it's probably moot (unless it becomes an issue when updates to those plugins become available). But philosophically, that seems like a downgrade to me.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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And even the new Platinum doesn't have the newer Z3TA2 + only the older 'classic' Z3TA+
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90db - Upgrade is $149 (for Platinum) from X3 but I also had mini-stroke when I saw $499 Thanks - missed that. Couldn't get past the $499. Regards, Bob
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I bought X1 Producer outright a few years ago; upgraded to X2 Producer for $99, and then paid $99 to upgrade to X3 Producer in 2014. But to upgrade to Sonar Platinum (which would have been X4 Producer) is $149. Or I could go to Sonar Pro for $99, which gives you the LE version of some of the VSTi's (whereas the X3 Producer gave you the full version) - for example Rapture and Dimension. X3 Producer included Z3TA+, whereas the new Pro does not. That being said, I've already got those VSTi's, so it's probably moot (unless it becomes an issue when updates to those plugins become available). But philosophically, that seems like a downgrade to me.
Hi John, I'm in the same boat. There are a few improvements to Sonar but no enough to make me want to jump in right now. I think I will wait a few months to see what new add ons/improvements they come up with. If I like then I will buy the total package. At least this way I will see what I am getting, even if I have to wait 11 months to buy.
I think my wife has started to show the first signs of dementia.
She said she can't remember what she ever saw in me!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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I'll stick with Sonar 8 producer edition
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Even if I do upgrade, I really think the AD 2 3-pak is worth it, (both platinum and pro come with AD2 [didn't notice that before had to edit post]), I know I won't be buying any "additional memberships."
I'd hate to see other music SW start doing a subscription-like strategy - talk about sink holes for customers.
Of course, it could come to pass,in not too distant future, that they start renting us the SW (like other commercial SW I have [specialized "stuff" for consulting work]) - once the annual subscription is over - they SW does not work any more let alone no updates issued or made available.
Larry
Last edited by Larry Kehl; 01/14/15 06:40 AM.
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One big EMP and it's all worthless anyway. Still got my acoustic guitar.
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Now you know why I still use and collect slide rules - after EMPs I'll be King of the engineers who are re-building. 
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