Sonar now has a free tier again....

[jens]

https://cakewalk-web-assets-for-desktop ... ntId=sonar


It can be downloaded here:

https://www.cakewalk.com/sonar

[D-Fusion]

"How do I get Cakewalk Sonar?
Cakewalk Sonar is currently available through BandLab Membership. If you have a BandLab account, you can purchase BandLab Membership here, or learn more about it in the BandLab Membership FAQ."

So the free tier will still not be free + i guess they still use the annoying 60 or 90 day reactivation limit too.

PS. Just installed it and authorized it via Bandlab site since that was required and it gave me 1 month evaulation time for the free version so you still need to pay monthly for a Bandlab membership even for the so called "Free version".

[jens]

I think they would say so if they meant a 30 days restricted demo-period, right?

[D-Fusion]

I think they would say so if they meant a 30 days restricted demo-period, right?

Sonar said something else.
It said free license evaluation version that showed a expiration date on 19.07.2025 in the help page and the second time i opened Sonar I got another popup window that gave me the option to continue evaluating the free version or Subscribe to Bandlab to get rid of the Evaluation Period.

You can download and try it yourself like i did and you will see that you only get a 30 day Evaluation Period if you are not subsrcribed to the bandlab membership

[satYatunes]

They mentioned in release log that there is a comparison of tiers but I couldn't find it anywhere on their site. I would like to see how limited it is before installing.

[Saffran]

The link in the first post is for the subscription version of Sonar. The second link is for a demo/trial of the subscription Sonar.
It's useless.
But that's not anything new with these guys. They seem to assume that daw beginners isn't interested of them so they ignore basic webpage work because the regular guys have their own solutions, like the product center which is a download manager.
I've checked out the BandLab site but couldn't find anything useful there either. The reason of that is the free tier need a BandLab account for the famous repetitive activation. - You don't need a membership. That's where they bill you for the subscription.

[fuse]

"They mentioned in release log that there is a comparison of tiers but I couldn't find it anywhere on their site. I would like to see how limited it is before installing."


https://discuss.cakewalk.com/topic/8529 ... se-202506/

[satYatunes]

Thank you @fuse. Free tier is pretty generous with unlimited tracks, pro-channel, audiosnap, ARA, etc. Definitely gonna try it out.
Looks like Cakewalk Product Center app is the way to go.

[telecharge]

I just installed it and will see what happens. This is the pop-up you get when you open it and sign into BandLab. There's a 15 second timer on the "Continue Evaluation" button, so you can't click it or close the pop-up until the timer finishes.
-

sonar-splash.png

-
Then there's this banner at the top...
-

sonar-banner.png

-
And this is what the Help > About Sonar screen says...
-

sonar-about.png

[JerGoertz]

Looking forward to see which bugs still remain from ~20 years ago!

[jens]

You can download and try it yourself like i did

I already did so before starting this thread.

[D-Fusion]

You can download and try it yourself like i did

I already did so before starting this thread.

So you didn't encounter the same issues that I and telecharge did?

[eLawnMust]

20 year-old versions still work great with but a cereal all old free now too who the hell needs a 'cakewalk sonar desktop'?

[TheMaestro]

What a mess that website is.
I wouldn't trust them with even registering a dummy account.

[jens]

You can download and try it yourself like i did

I already did so before starting this thread.

So you didn't encounter the same issues that I and telecharge did?

I encountered the exact same circumstances as you did indeed.

However I don't see it as an issue, since I approach things logically.