Cakewalk free version being phased out

[chk071]

"It's not the dog, it's the owner"?

Yes, to a certain degree, definitely.

That's a bad comparison though. A developer develops software. A GUI designer designs GUI's. A CEO plays with numbers, or plans marketing campaign, depending on his or her position. Cakewalk belongs to Bandlab, and, they decide what happens with Cakewalk or Sonar, or however it will be called in the future at some point. Surely, there will be communication between the parties, but, I really can't see how anyone from the development team would have a say in whether or not someone who owned Sonar in the past will be granted a discount. That's really rather something for the number jugglers.

[Ex Machina]

That's quite a jump from free to $400 so I wonder how users would react. It would have to be a pretty significant update over the current CWBL for me to purchase at that price but we'll see how it goes.

Well, there's always Behringer's free DAW which should be released around 2030.

[BBFG#]

I'm not talking about discounts. I'm referring more to the resurgence of shenanigans of pump and dump of the market cycle that seems almost baked into its coding (hyperbole or not, they seem to be doing just as what was done in the past).
Or metaphorically speaking,
Lucy telling Charlie Brown it will be different this time.

[maanga]

The bandlab version is a limited version of Sonar from the beginning. And will not be developed any further and won't have any support. Those using it can continue using it.
If there is any discount to upgrade, the users can always upgrade if they choose to or go with another low priced DAW.

[Resonant- Serpent]

They've been working on the new Sonar since last November so I would expect it to be nice. Hopefully: new GUI

A new GUI, or an improved GUI is already confirmed.

The new GUI is posted in the pictures on the new site. It's exactly the same as before, but vector graphics that will scale instead of the image-based system it's been using since X1 was released.

That's a huge disappointment for me since I've always hated that GUI. 8.5 will always be my favorite.

[Trensharo]

They've been working on the new Sonar since last November so I would expect it to be nice. Hopefully: new GUI, integrated samplers for drums and one-shots, online collab features, integration with their mobile/browser apps, access from the browser to the Bandlab free samples (you should check them out, they're always adding more and they're pretty decent), maybe even finishing the Matrix view to make it a full featured clip launcher, a MUCH better MIDI controller integration...

What's there is already nice, but with these changes it could be a main player IMO.

No, those changes won't make it a major player.

There is a lot more they could improve to make the DAW considerably better without even adding a single "new" feature.

This DAW's own users will request to bury it in mediocrity and then blame other people for not knowing what they're missing and bandwagoning popularity when they choose competing products over it.

And the 8.5 GUI was absolutely awful. Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

Personally, I think this DAW is stuck in that it failed to make a choice earlier in development, leaving it straddling the fence in a market where people specialize even at the interest level and choose DAWs with developmental biases towards specific market segments based on that.

Cakewalk isn't good enough in any specific area to really outcompete DAWs like Cubase, Live, Pro Tools, REAPER, and others.

Studio One is really the only DAW that came onto the market and has been able to do that, and I think a lot of that has to do with marketing and hardware bundling on top of a very aggressive development pacing. Cakewalk [SONAR] hasn't been developed at the pace PreSonus has developed Studio One in decades. SONAR was [largely] stagnant for almost a decade before Gibson shuttered it.

Personally, unless BandLab were planning to hire more developers to put on this DAW, I wouldn't spend a dime on it. "Existence Charity" is something I stopped paying a while back. When you buy a product, you pay for what you get and you invest in its future development - because having to switch comes with a cost. If they can't keep up with the industry, then I don't see why they should deserve my cash. Let it die and someone else can attempt to do it better.

[Trensharo]

The bandlab version is a limited version of Sonar from the beginning. And will not be developed any further and won't have any support. Those using it can continue using it.
If there is any discount to upgrade, the users can always upgrade if they choose to or go with another low priced DAW.

Cakewalk by BandLab is SONAR Platinum. THe only limitation is with the bundled content, which they stopped bundling with the free version. The base DAW was the same as SONAR Platinum, and of course they updated and bug fixed it as time went on.

It was never a "limited version." I am not even sure where you acquired that fake news.

I think Gibson could have kept the Cakewalk brand if they were willing to do the smart thing and drop the price down to $149 and compete with the products that the DAW actually evolved to compete against, due to them not investing as much in development as the Steinbergs, Apples, Abletons, etc. of the world.

Bundled content is always a bad way to prop up a product's value proposition, due to how quickly the value of those can depreciate (due to overall prices coming down, increase in the quality of very cheap/free alternatives, etc.).

[DrGonzo]

Just a random thought.

Free 10 years ago was something awesome. It generated lots of goodwill and eventually sales.
Free today - the majority doesn't care.

If I were to guess, it's a problem that has its roots in free apps and free-to-play games.

[lfm]

The bandlab version is a limited version of Sonar from the beginning.

Bandlab versions were Sonar Platinum, so not cut down at all, it was Sonar with everything on it.
Some content disappeared since bundle agreements were not part of Bandlab purchase and obvious in the sense they would have to pay for that content and provide a free daw.

Sonar Artist 2015 is the only daw installed on my brand new computer.
For those that think that any budget daw will compete, go ahead.

I tested latest Reaper a few months ago, and can't even stand the GUI and feel this is for hackers since no ready toolbars or anything that you can go with. You can do what Sonar does, but do you enjoy yourself and like what you see in front of you so many hours a day???

Many daws have new license price tags $400 or so, but also provide crossupgrades at half that. Some use BlackFriday to bring some new sales.

It will be a bit uphill running Bandlab version and start paying for many. But costs must be covered or it's gone real soon.

I remember the enthusiasm of some at Cakewalk with lifetime free updates on Platinum and that would bring everybody over. Now it's been free for 5 years with Bandlab so we will see how transition to payment plan goes.

[jens]

Let's see if this new Sonar will finally have proper slip-editing.

[JerGoertz]

Did Sonar ever get over its absolutely abysmal audio engine performance from around version 7? If not, that should be Bandlab's first point of business. For me and I believe many others, all the features/plugins/freebies in the world don't make up for an awful user experience.

[musicproducerdee]

The bandlab version is a limited version of Sonar from the beginning.

Bandlab versions were Sonar Platinum, so not cut down at all, it was Sonar with everything on it.
Some content disappeared since bundle agreements were not part of Bandlab purchase and obvious in the sense they would have to pay for that content and provide a free daw.

Sonar Artist 2015 is the only daw installed on my brand new computer.
For those that think that any budget daw will compete, go ahead.

I tested latest Reaper a few months ago, and can't even stand the GUI and feel this is for hackers since no ready toolbars or anything that you can go with. You can do what Sonar does, but do you enjoy yourself and like what you see in front of you so many hours a day???

Many daws have new license price tags $400 or so, but also provide crossupgrades at half that. Some use BlackFriday to bring some new sales.

It will be a bit uphill running Bandlab version and start paying for many. But costs must be covered or it's gone real soon.

I remember the enthusiasm of some at Cakewalk with lifetime free updates on Platinum and that would bring everybody over. Now it's been free for 5 years with Bandlab so we will see how transition to payment plan goes.

You pretty much summarized how I feel about Reaper as a DAW. Everyone keeps raving about how good it is and how you can customize it any way you want. But man, that's a lot of work, I just wanna make music, I'm not trying to fly a spaceship. And it's not like I'm not good at using applications. I learned Bitwig Studio, FL Studio, Ableton Live, Studio One, Cubase, even Reason to an extent. I have a Windows laptop and still just by looking at Logic Pro screengrabs, I can figure out how to navigate around it and how to get things done. Reaper completely throws me off for this particular reason, no matter how powerful of a DAW it is, where is the user experience?

[maanga]

I said limited version meaning without those additional packages.
Did not mean a crippled version. Don't shoot me.
Regards.

[Danilo Villanova]

. Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

So is resentment.

[Trensharo]

Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

So is resentment.

I don't resent it. I pity it, because it actually could have been what Cubase or Digital Performer is, but those developers chose a different path. I don't even think most people here actually realize the trajectory this product has taken over the years.

No amount of copium is going to change that.