Bargain Center: discussion, gossip, etc.

[satYatunes]

I downloaded the Sonar X1 demo. I have to say that I was pleasantly suprised by the new interface. The workflow still isn't as streamlined as DAW's like Cubase, Live or Studio One. But it's much better than in the past.

There's a really great step sequencer in sonar. If I buy Sonar Essential I will get Sonar Studio for $79 (I've got Project). But for $149 I buy Sonar Studio and I get Sonar Producer. What would be the main reason to get Producer for $70 more? I already got Dimension Pro.

If I get Sonar Studio for $79 I could buy also Rapture for $49. Anyone want shine his/her light on the studio/producer difference?

Head over to the below link for side-by-side comparison of all three versions.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/ ... ison-Chart

I was thinking of getting the X1 Producer deal (I have 8.5 Producer now)
as it comes with the Production Suite
http://www.cakewalk.com/products/SONAR/ ... Suite.aspx

$99 is not a bad deal for all that.

Absolutely, go for it. You get z3ta+ 2 and other pro-channel goodies. IMO, totally worth it.

[Numanoid]

I just saw a boxed copy (still in plastic) of Ableton Live 5.2, selling for €130 at my local music dealer.

A worthwhile offer, or should one haggle?

[ezelkow1]

For the sonar deal, does anyone know if you grab the x1 le for 20$, then buy the upgrade to studio which gets you producer for free will you also get the production suite for free? Just wondering since it says right now that producer upgrades get production suite

[paterpeter]

I'd say that you only get upgraded one level and that the upgrades don't apply recursively/transitively. Would be a funny bug in the system, though

Or maybe I misunderstood your question.

[Ceej]

For the sonar deal, does anyone know if you grab the x1 le for 20$, then buy the upgrade to studio which gets you producer for free will you also get the production suite for free? Just wondering since it says right now that producer upgrades get production suite

I'm pretty sure that won't happen unless Cakewalk has screwed up big time. I mean, if that were the case, you would just upgrade to X1 Essential and you'd getting bumped all the way to X1 Producer Production Suite. Nice try.

[kiezum]

Head over to the below link for side-by-side comparison of all three versions.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/ ... ison-Chart

The only difference between Studio en Producer is ProChannel. Am I right? The other differences are in instruments en plugins (I don't need more of that).

What is great about ProChannel? Is it worth the extra $70?

[ezelkow1]

yea I realized after posting that it made no sense

Just an FYI though, I ordered the x1 le since I had been thinking about grabbing that to begin with. Next day I check for a serial and in the serials box in my account it just says 'Out of serial numbers'. So not sure whats going on over there

[Numanoid]

yea I realized after posting that it made no sense

Just an FYI though, I ordered the x1 le since I had been thinking about grabbing that to begin with. Next day I check for a serial and in the serials box in my account it just says 'Out of serial numbers'. So not sure whats going on over there

I got the same message. You got to contact customer support, who will sort you out with a number. They are usually pretty quick.

[ezelkow1]

I got the same message. You got to contact customer support, who will sort you out with a number. They are usually pretty quick.

I emailed last night, so ~13hrs later and no response yet

[geroyannis]

I got the same message. You got to contact customer support, who will sort you out with a number. They are usually pretty quick.

I emailed last night, so ~13hrs later and no response yet

I emailed them 2 years ago, twice. Still waiting for response...
Cakewalk is known for it's pathetic support.

[GeorgeZ]

Best way to get shit sorted with CW is to call them on skype (freecall internationally). They sort you out lickity split then, and they're nice enough to deal with over the phone It's not ideal of course, but it gets your issue solved (in saying that, I haven't had any issues with purchases etc with CW, so I guess I've been lucky).

[ezelkow1]

called them and got it sorted, apparently its a bug in their online system and that alot of new products have serials built in, you just need to register them online. Thats the case with x1 le

[GeorgeZ]

Nice one

[Numanoid]

I emailed them 2 years ago, twice. Still waiting for response...
Cakewalk is known for it's pathetic support.

Sorry to hear that. Maybe I've been lucky, I dunno, have contacted them recently with a couple of issues, both which was resolved within a couple of hours

[optofonik]

Strum is GREAT! Immediately after downloading and installing I spent the entire afternoon mucking about with it and getting satisfying results while having fun doing so. Thanks again AudioMIDI (and KVR [and riley4reason] for the heads up) for yet another awesome deal!

From the main bargain thread:

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* Authorization came within a reasonable amount of time.
* Install was straight forward and problem free.
* It sounds excellent (use a third party amp sim).
* I was knocking out basic "riffs" with the standalone in less than an hour.

All for $20.00???

It was great being able to use it "right out of the box". It's been awhile since I was able to start using a program immediately after I downloaded it with no problems. Well done, AAS.

-------------------------------------

From a composing standpoint I'm beginning to see the idea of owning any several of the current number of vst guitar emulations as analogous to a guitarist owning more than one guitar, albeit in a more fundamental way. For the professional commercial composer on a contemporary budget or the very serious amateur with commercial aspirations I would see it as a requirement to own most, if not all, of the more highly regarded ones. Each program has limitations that may be overcome by another. For me, a hobbyist, Strum is a great addition to "hang on the wall" with my basses, especially for $20.00.

As someone who could never learn to play guitar (an improperly set broken wrist as a child) these guitar emulations are the perfect way to communicate to real guitarists ideas that they can hopefully work with. I have a very basic ability to play bass (less wrist issues) which has been a great way to help me convey fundamental ideas to someone who can actually play bass. Strum is a great, quick to work with, way to start to overcoming the whole wrist thing and "playing" a guitar part that I can use to communicate an idea to a proper guitar player in a similar fashion as how I use my bass.

Awhile ago I purchase Shreddage and I think it's nowhere as quick to pick up as Strum. Also, with Strum, I shouldn't have QC concerns like I do with sample based libraries that can have missing samples or less than perfect scripts that need to be "updated" as users report issues. FYI, I'm not pointing out Shreddage in particular, it seems to me most sample based libraries suffer from similar issues. I think Shreddage sounds equally as good as Strum. I'm just pointing out that, for me, Strum was easier to start working with out of the box as regards simple "riffing". As always, YMMV (I've run out of qualifying statements).