Cakewalk Sonar X3

[AROSSA [Cakewalk]]

You are probably correct. We are trying to keep a pulse on the community outside of our own forum. I was just trying to point out the absurdity of some of the posts (like using X4 as an example). It unfortunate that perceived notions win the day and not the actual facts.

The way the X2 to X3 update was handled was terrible, I purchased X2 less than 2 weeks before X3 came out and because I did not purchase retail box (I bought through your online store) I had to pay for the X3 upgrade... I was quite surprised to find out that you value your customers more or less depending on who they purchase from.

What version did you upgrade from and what price did you pay?

I upgraded from Home 6 to X2 Studio on 9/16/2013 and paid $49.00
Then a few days later X3 was announced and I contacted support they said if I had purchased a box at a retailer it would be a free upgrade to X3 Studio but because I purchased through the online cakewalk store it would cost $99.00 (I talked him down to $49.00) we did the transaction on 10/2/2013.

I was surprised when someone told me about the free upgrade for retail purchasers, it really did not make sense after what I had been told.

So now I have a worthless copy of X2 that I got to use for 2 weeks.

Not exactly. The reason retail boxes are getting free upgrades is because they paid full price in September.

We ran a special from our Cakewalk Store which is why you got it for $49. Had you waited, and just upgraded to X3 Studio, it would have cost you $149.

If you upgrade from SONAR X2 Studio to SONAR X3 Studio, you will pay $99. Add the $49 you paid already and that's $148. So basically the same price difference. Hope that explanation makes sense.

I suppose so however I now feel like Cakewalk is not so great after the whole experience. I have been using it since Pro Audio 7 so I am not going to change DAWs any time soon...

My general concern (and unease regarding CW products) is if you have a sale on an end of life product 2 weeks before you announce its replacement it would be nice to let potential customers know that the product has reached end of life and will no longer get updates. I thought I was purchasing a product for a few years of use only to find out the bugfix version (X3) would cost more.

I appreciate you taking time on a public forum to address my concerns, and CW has not lost a customer (kind of locked in after all these years) but the upgrade was a PITA and I had to spend tons of time on the phone and emailing support to get the discounted upgrade price. So it's difficult not to chime in on a CW/Sonar thread and voice my concerns...

I understand but what's the difference to you. The price would have been the same regardless. Wouldn't you rather have had the chance to get SONAR X2 Studio at a great price with the option to get SONAR X3 Studio without paying any penalty?

[asdfrewq]

I understand but what's the difference to you. The price would have been the same regardless. Wouldn't you rather have had the chance to get SONAR X2 Studio at a great price with the option to get SONAR X3 Studio without paying any penalty?

Difficult question to answer and I suppose it is the emotional response of being told I need to pay again for something I thought I just purchased. (A 64 bit DAW with reasonable support and updates - again not to keep re-iterating but X2 had no EOL announcement that I could find at time of purchase and X3 had not been announced ).

[lfm]

I understand but what's the difference to you. The price would have been the same regardless. Wouldn't you rather have had the chance to get SONAR X2 Studio at a great price with the option to get SONAR X3 Studio without paying any penalty?

Why not help Cakewalk support help desk to get rid of their backlog instead of endless arguments here.

I got X3, filed some bugreports - they were kind enough to say this is probably system specific, contact support instead.

So I contact support with this issue - which is now past three weeks and haven't heard a thing.

Thought it might happend something on X3c so I waited for that.

X3c did not fix it.

It's a good thing if you have time left over to scan forums and so on - but maybe pay respect to those who are contacting you official ways.

Thank you.

[vespesian]

A really cool thing about the Cubase forum is that it's really about the software. People don't get personally insulted if you have complaints. Whereas over the years the Cakewalk forum has turned into a boys club where anyone with complaints is considered a troll. It's really a shame.

+1.

[CTStump]

Difficult question to answer and I suppose it is the emotional response of being told I need to pay again for something I thought I just purchased. (A 64 bit DAW with reasonable support and updates - again not to keep re-iterating but X2 had no EOL announcement that I could find at time of purchase and X3 had not been announced ).

I don't know of any software company that would do as you claim should have been done. Most keep the release of an upgraded product a secret up and until it's released.

Having done business with Cakewalk and many other platforms whenever they go on sale prior to their regular release window which is Oct.(for Cakewalk) be prepared.

I think a better marketing strategy may be to list the upgrade as $49 to X2 and $149 early adopter which grants you X2 now and a free update to X3 when it becomes available at least 2 months prior to release.

It would end these arguments after the fact that happen with each Cakewalk release to date on the online store.

[AROSSA [Cakewalk]]

I understand but what's the difference to you. The price would have been the same regardless. Wouldn't you rather have had the chance to get SONAR X2 Studio at a great price with the option to get SONAR X3 Studio without paying any penalty?

Why not help Cakewalk support help desk to get rid of their backlog instead of endless arguments here.

I got X3, filed some bugreports - they were kind enough to say this is probably system specific, contact support instead.

So I contact support with this issue - which is now past three weeks and haven't heard a thing.

Thought it might happend something on X3c so I waited for that.

X3c did not fix it.

It's a good thing if you have time left over to scan forums and so on - but maybe pay respect to those who are contacting you official ways.

Thank you.

Hi LFM,

Please PM your email, and I'll look into your case. We also have free phone support should you ever need to talk to someone over the phone.

Thanks.

[asdfrewq]

I don't know of any software company that would do as you claim should have been done. Most keep the release of an upgraded product a secret up and until it's released.

Having done business with Cakewalk and many other platforms whenever they go on sale prior to their regular release window which is Oct.(for Cakewalk) be prepared.

I think a better marketing strategy may be to list the upgrade as $49 to X2 and $149 early adopter which grants you X2 now and a free update to X3 when it becomes available at least 2 months prior to release.

It would end these arguments after the fact that happen with each Cakewalk release to date on the online store.

Pretty sure I never claimed what they should have done, I merely related my experience which left me a little... disappointed.

As I mentioned I tried to do the due diligence before purchase and I could find no hint that EOL for X2 or X3 was near.

So purchasing software that was EOL'd 2 weeks later was kind of disappointing. It's not ideal to 'throw good money after bad' but that is how it worked out.

[vintagevibe]

Andrew Rossa wrote on the Sonar forum:

"And we will continue making SONAR X3 the very best product for Windows PC."

You abandoned X2. How can I be sure you won't abandon X4?

[AROSSA [Cakewalk]]

Andrew Rossa wrote on the Sonar forum:

"And we will continue making SONAR X3 the very best product for Windows PC."

You abandoned X2. How can I be sure you won't abandon X4?

I thought this thread was about X3. Seriously, I am just trying to help answer some questions and communicate a little more about the new release. I have no interest in debating what you think could potentially happen for X4. Obviously we have something to prove to you so let's see how thing unfold. Fair enough?

[ULAS]

By the way, new patch fixes lots of issues. X3c is a rock solid DAW here. Thanks CW!

[icontakt]

Andrew Rossa wrote on the Sonar forum:

"And we will continue making SONAR X3 the very best product for Windows PC."

You abandoned X2. How can I be sure you won't abandon X4?

Excuse me, but why do you need to be sure about that? I thought you were very happy with Cubase 7. But if you miss something from Sonar or are still interested in the program, I'd say you wait for the X3 demo to come out. But nothing can make you sure about X4, I think.

[vintagevibe]

Andrew Rossa wrote on the Sonar forum:

"And we will continue making SONAR X3 the very best product for Windows PC."

You abandoned X2. How can I be sure you won't abandon X4?

Excuse me, but why do you need to be sure about that? I thought you were very happy with Cubase 7. But if you miss something from Sonar or are still interested in the program, I'd say you wait for the X3 demo to come out. But nothing can make you sure about X4, I think.

History.

[icontakt]

Andrew Rossa wrote on the Sonar forum:

"And we will continue making SONAR X3 the very best product for Windows PC."

You abandoned X2. How can I be sure you won't abandon X4?

Excuse me, but why do you need to be sure about that? I thought you were very happy with Cubase 7. But if you miss something from Sonar or are still interested in the program, I'd say you wait for the X3 demo to come out. But nothing can make you sure about X4, I think.

History.

I don't understand. My question is why do you still care about Sonar when you've already found a satisfactory DAW to move on with?

[vintagevibe]

Andrew Rossa wrote on the Sonar forum:

"And we will continue making SONAR X3 the very best product for Windows PC."

You abandoned X2. How can I be sure you won't abandon X4?

Excuse me, but why do you need to be sure about that? I thought you were very happy with Cubase 7. But if you miss something from Sonar or are still interested in the program, I'd say you wait for the X3 demo to come out. But nothing can make you sure about X4, I think.

History.

I don't understand. My question is why do you still care about Sonar when you've already found a satisfactory DAW to move on with?

I still use Sonar for some tasks and I have a long history with it.

[icontakt]

Andrew Rossa wrote on the Sonar forum:

"And we will continue making SONAR X3 the very best product for Windows PC."

You abandoned X2. How can I be sure you won't abandon X4?

Excuse me, but why do you need to be sure about that? I thought you were very happy with Cubase 7. But if you miss something from Sonar or are still interested in the program, I'd say you wait for the X3 demo to come out. But nothing can make you sure about X4, I think.

History.

I don't understand. My question is why do you still care about Sonar when you've already found a satisfactory DAW to move on with?

I still use Sonar for some tasks and I have a long history with it.

Ok, so, I think you should postpone your judgement until the demo comes out (it's when or after X3d is released, according to the developers), while continuing checking their forum. It MIGHT change your view. You never know.