CM special with Rapture and Sonar Home Studio

[Zombie Queen]

Not so sure about the "class act" of the Camel Audio closure though...

Well, Camel wrote everyone and announced they will be closing, some like a month ahead, providing a version of software that doesn't need activation right away. So I knew where I'm at, backed up the installer and I can use Alchemy even now.
Cakewalk just closed one day, leaving a note on the door, which is basically telling accidental visitors "not to worry". What then is just a user's wild guess.

Technical support is available on a limited basis for members with an active SONAR membership.

What does it mean? That we need to pretend we do something so the people who paid for updates upfront, won't get pissed, even though there will be no updates, as the staff is basically gone.

Anyway at this point the only kind of support or update I would need is to have an installer that doesn't need online activation from a dead company. Unless I have that, I have to assume anything I save with Sonar may become inaccessible at any random point in the future.

[chk071]

Well, Camel wrote everyone and announced they will be closing, some like a month ahead, providing a version of software that doesn't need activation right away. So I knew where I'm at, backed up the installer and I can use Alchemy even now.
Cakewalk just closed one day, leaving a note on the door, which is basically telling accidental visitors "not to worry". What then is just a user's wild guess.

Not quite.

Gibson Brands has officially announced the end of active development of Cakewalk branded products, but our site and servers will remain active for those who have made our products a part of their workflow. If you’re using SONAR, you will remain unaffected. While we are no longer releasing updates, we are not changing how you can access your products.

Moving forward, a small transition team will remain active to help, and our Knowledge Base and User Forum will also remain intact for those in need of technical assistance.

Not sure what is supposed to be unclear about that. Obviously, you will still be able to access and activate their products. That's all that it says. How long that will be is pure speculation on our side.

[Romantique Tp]

snip

Or for just $100 more you could get a more feature-complete DAW that's the closest equivalent to Sonar in the market, with proper MIDI editing features that are completely missing from SO.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CubaseP95CG
https://www.steinberg.net/en/shop/buy_p ... ro-95.html

[SparkySpark]

One thing CW could do is open up the software protection. I used to work for a music software business that went bankrupt in the IT crash. The very last thing we did was releasing the same version of our software, but without the iLok copy protection. That way users could still run their projects a decade later (and they did!).

Doing this was just a way to give back to the community. Not sure that's the Gibson way though...

[THE INTRANCER]

snip

Or for just $100 more you could get a more feature-complete DAW that's the closest equivalent to Sonar in the market, with proper MIDI editing features that are completely missing from SO.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CubaseP95CG
https://www.steinberg.net/en/shop/buy_p ... ro-95.html

And have to pay for every .5 update and more if you skip a version, but with SO you don't..

[Romantique Tp]

And have to pay for every .5 update and more if you skip a version, but with SO you don't..

.5 updates are "free" for SO users because you're already paying for them upfront.

Major Studio One updates are $150, which is the same as two major Cubase updates.

[Zombie Queen]

Our activation, download and authorization services will remain up indefinitely so that you can continue download and installing SONAR on your future computers.

Cakewalk support response quoted on CW forum. I read it as confirmation of what I suspected: online activation will not be removed ever, servers will go down soon. You can call it paranoia, I call it life experience.

[chk071]

I call it pessimism.

Well, we'll see. Frankly, i can't imagine they let the customers down though, especially with the legacy Cakewalk has.

[grymmjack]

snip

Or for just $100 more you could get a more feature-complete DAW that's the closest equivalent to Sonar in the market, with proper MIDI editing features that are completely missing from SO.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CubaseP95CG
https://www.steinberg.net/en/shop/buy_p ... ro-95.html

Cheers! Didn’t know this. I haven’t had Cuba’s since sx2 and Vst32 days I’ll have to look. One thing though isn’t Cubase a wee bit bloated? Can I use vst2 in it? 32 and 64 bits?

[THE INTRANCER]

And have to pay for every .5 update and more if you skip a version, but with SO you don't..

.5 updates are "free" for SO users because you're already paying for them upfront.

Major Studio One updates are $150, which is the same as two major Cubase updates.

It's going either going to be around £48 or £72 more expensive than Studio One if a Cubase user was on version 8 and even more if they were on an earlier version. Cubase users pay more to stay up to date than if they were to wait and upgrade... With Studio One, you can upgrade and still pay less than what you pay to own Cubase.

Studio One 3.5 Pro - Free Update Here's what they added for those interested. ( https://www.presonus.com/press/press-re ... dio-One-35 )

Release - 23 May 2017


Studio One 3 Pro

Release - 23 May 2015 - Upgrade from 1.0 or 2.0 £128 - (Direct From Presonus)

------

To upgrade from Cubase 8 £ 171 ( £51 ) From 9.5 - (Unless you have upgraded and paid approx £50 = £200) From version 8 to 9.5


Cubase 9.5

Released - 15 Nov 2017


Cubase 9

Released - 7 Dec 2016


Cubase Pro 8.5

Released - 2 Dec 2015


Cubase 8

Released - 4 Dec 2014

[chk071]

snip

Or for just $100 more you could get a more feature-complete DAW that's the closest equivalent to Sonar in the market, with proper MIDI editing features that are completely missing from SO.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CubaseP95CG
https://www.steinberg.net/en/shop/buy_p ... ro-95.html

Cheers! Didn’t know this. I haven’t had Cuba’s since sx2 and Vst32 days I’ll have to look. One thing though isn’t Cubase a wee bit bloated? Can I use vst2 in it? 32 and 64 bits?

Only 64-bit VST2 and VST3. Since version 9, Cubase is 64-bit only, and doesn't offer a bit bridge to run 32-bit either.

Bloated? Yeah, a bit IMO. At least for me, others may see it differently, and embrace its functionality. Really depends ons what you want to do with it, i guess.

[mumpcake]

Our activation, download and authorization services will remain up indefinitely so that you can continue download and installing SONAR on your future computers.

Cakewalk support response quoted on CW forum. I read it as confirmation of what I suspected: online activation will not be removed ever, servers will go down soon. You can call it paranoia, I call it life experience.

Another response from Cakewalk (which I am too lazy to find right now) said that they were working to have a solution in place for when the servers went down. Certainly this could become an empty promise, but we'll see.

[grymmjack]

snip

Or for just $100 more you could get a more feature-complete DAW that's the closest equivalent to Sonar in the market, with proper MIDI editing features that are completely missing from SO.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CubaseP95CG
https://www.steinberg.net/en/shop/buy_p ... ro-95.html

Cheers! Didn’t know this. I haven’t had Cuba’s since sx2 and Vst32 days I’ll have to look. One thing though isn’t Cubase a wee bit bloated? Can I use vst2 in it? 32 and 64 bits?

Only 64-bit VST2 and VST3. Since version 9, Cubase is 64-bit only, and doesn't offer a bit bridge to run 32-bit either.

Bloated? Yeah, a bit IMO. At least for me, others may see it differently, and embrace its functionality. Really depends ons what you want to do with it, i guess.

Thanks. Like that whole vst soundbank format. I’m fine with fxb/Fxp just a lot of new innovations that might make sense if I were diehard Cubase but ... in bitwig, the browser literally works with fxb/fxp and it has a bit bridge. Lot of great 32 bit plugs I don’t want to lose. Just one example. All that notation and fancy studio crap,like control room, bleh. I’m never gonna use that. Ya know?

[Romantique Tp]

If you want to use 32 bit plugins then you can just get jBridge, which runs them better than any other major DAW. It also gives you a ton of compatibility options, which can allow you to run old plugins that even native 32 bit DAWs cant run properly on modern OSes (!).

If any of the features in any DAW are useless to you then you can just... not use them. Every music DAW in the market today is priced with the assumption that you wont use at least 1/4 of the features.

snip

You're forgetting that:

-SO's user base is small compared to other DAWs. They can't take risks with upgrade prices.
-Almost everyone still using Studio One 1 were people who use other DAWs they prefer and only bought SO out of curiosity. Everyone who had real interest in SO upgraded to Studio One 2. Nobody is going to pay 300 bucks to upgrade a DAW that's still in its infancy when they have another tool for the job.

You're comparing the upgrade price policies of a very well established and fully featured DAW to a DAW that people didn't even talk about until a few months ago, when PreSonus began giving it away almost for free. PreSonus is offering these deals because these guys are desperate to grow their user base.

[Zombie Queen]

Another response from Cakewalk (which I am too lazy to find right now) said that they were working to have a solution in place for when the servers went down. Certainly this could become an empty promise, but we'll see.

It has been said soon after Cakewalk closure. Recent response tone shifted to, servers will be up indefinitely. 'Lifetime', according to Cakewalk calendar, turned out to be what, eight months? So how long 'indefinitely' is? My bet, four months, tops.