New Sonar Platinum Update

[Jim Roseberry]

FWIW, I've been around a LONG time.
Cakewalk has had periods where its software was better/worse than others... or at least perceived that way in certain circles.
I've seen the same with Steinberg/Cubase.
I've seen the same now with Studio One.
I've seen the same with Digital Performer.
I've seen the same with Samplitude.
I've seen the same with ProTools.
I've seen the same with Logic.
I've seen the same with Reaper.

With the transition to the Sonar X series, Cakewalk did lose some users.
Some just didn't like the GUI changes.
Some folks had stability issues during the X2 period. (I was fortunate... X1 and X2 worked well for me.)
However, Cakewalk also gained new users with the Sonar X series.
I'm one who felt the old Sonar v8.5 GUI needed updated and better organized.
Sonar Platinum is much better organized than v8.5x.

There's a vocal group here who strongly dislike Cakewalk/Sonar.
There's also a group here who likes the product... and feels Platinum is the best version of Sonar to date.
Reality rarely lies at the extremes.

I've had the pleasure of meeting many people over the past 20 some years.
When perusing different forums, it's interesting to see long-time familiar names.
Over time, one application may suit their needs more/less than another.
Circumstances change, people change, tools change, expectations change...
ie: I know some folks were upset that Cakewalk stopped developing the notation side of Sonar.
If advanced notation is extremely important to your work, you were essentially forced to make a change.

Cakewalk is owned by a Heritage US Musical Instrument company.
IMO, Craig Anderton is a great liason between the corporate/management side... and the creative/musical side.
History will tell, but there's great potential in this scenario.

[sounddesigner]

I'm very surprised noone is talking about this latest Sonar update

what, in the lengthy 15 hours since it came out?

Well this is KVR isn't it ? I mean, there have been several times in the past when I found out about a product as soon as the developer released it or was about to release it and I came here to start a thread about it and someone else beats me to it. 15 hours is a eternity here were people are often lightning quick . But I get your point.

twatty kind of move making the load-balancing Platinum-only, though.

I agree. Core features such as plugin=load-balancing and other Audio-Engine improvements should be implimented in all versions of Sonar big and small. IMO it doesn't make much sense to not put this type Engine improvement in all versions of Sonar. Extra Plugins, Editing features, etc makes sense to be only in Platinum version but Engine improvements seem more fundamental to Sonar itself regardless of versions. I don't want to speak too ill of Cakewalk since they have been doing a very good job in recent times and working VERY hard to please their customers, but this move of not adding Core Engine improvements to all versions is a little strange and I don't quite ever remember them doing anything like this in the past. It is quite Avid like. But I won't complain too much since I have Platinum ..

[LawrenceF]

Reality rarely lies at the extremes.

Very true. I'd actually go farther and say that reality - never - lies at the extremes.

Where it sometimes goes off the rails is the mistaken idea that everyone buys and/or uses anything for the same reason. Some guys are making EDM or Pop or Hip-Hop, some are only recording bands, some are scoring movies or TV commercials, and how they all feel about the application overall may vary quite dramatically.

They likely have well over 1,000,000 users worldwide so it's hard to say how many of them are happy or not at any given time since they all aren't addicted to music forums.

[telecharge]

Cakewalk is owned by a Heritage US Musical Instrument company.
IMO, Craig Anderton is a great liason between the corporate/management side... and the creative/musical side.
History will tell, but there's great potential in this scenario.

I didn't recognize your name, Jim, but I'm glad I checked your signature. Your Studio Cat brand is well known and respected.

Craig Anderton's participation in the Sonar forums is a huge feather in Cakewalk's cap.

[pekbro]

For me this update completely negates any reason to continue to subscribe to the upgrade
plan for the professional version. Somehow they've managed to cripple performance where the
load-balancing is disabled vs what it was before. I had to roll back, and immediately canceled my sub.

$300 bucks for the platinum version is just ridiculous for someone like me who has zero interest
in any of the 3rd party content. They want me to pay $300 for the fly-out analyzer, theme authoring,
a couple of exclusive pro-channel modules, and now cpu efficiency.

What a joke...

bye bye cakewalk...

-Cheers

[incubus]

@Jim, you are right, but it's not the point. The point was that the popularity has decreased quite a bit here and at gearslutz.

But let's be honest, sonar "defenders" are the most sharp-tooth of the bunch. You can't say anything bad about the product, especially if you've done so in the past.

I thought my comment about bringing up reaper and annoying orange was funny If anyone deserves to be trolled, it's that crowd. I have nothing against reaper, in fact, I like it. But there are more people playing the reaper card than people panning sonar

[chk071]

Is it already "defending" when you point out that the amount of talk on internet forums, which aren't even Cakewalk- or Sonar-affiliated, isn't the best way to measure user statistics? I don't know what axe you have to grind with many DAW's really, i see the same attitude from you towards Studio One and FL Studio, kind of. Where does this come from?

[aMUSEd]

Well I find this interesting, still unsure about getting the lifetime update though without knowing how usable the Mac version will be.

[jinotsuh]

Well I find this interesting, still unsure about getting the lifetime update though without knowing how usable the Mac version will be.

I no longer use SONAR, but grabbed the LifeTime updates to be able to keep an eye on it without the need for further expense, only cost me $99 so nothing really. As far as the Mac, well yeah it's a bit of an unknown so perhaps risky, but I would go by how Cakewalks previous Mac offerings have fared, instruments like Z3TA Rapture Pro etc, although detached and unrelated it will give you an insight into their Mac abilities perhaps, albeit historic, then again they may hit the ball out of the park with the Mac version of SONAR, only time will tell.

[aMUSEd]

I am, that's what's holding me back. I'm worried they will take it so far then pronounce it working and leave it full of bugs as with the plugins on Mac.

[jinotsuh]

I am, that's what's holding me back. I'm worried they will take it so far then pronounce it working and leave it full of bugs as with the plugins on Mac.

Well they have a good track record for doing that, come up with some potentially great ideas/features etc, then seemingly just drop them half baked and under developed, bugged and move on to something else when they could have been so much more.

Their current track record in the Mac world doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

[MarlaPodolski]

I'm very surprised noone is talking about this latest Sonar update, especially since it looks like the best update they've released in a very long time. This update is a Audio-Engine update wich includes improved plugin-load-balancing for added CPU efficiency and drop-out prevention. Improving plugin-load-balancing is huge IMB. Also around 60 bug-fixes. Below is a list of all the improvements and new features.

So, you are saying it doesn't crash all the time anymore? That would be nice.

But really all I want you know is when do you think Gibson will Kill or Sell this company by?

[telecharge]

Well they have a good track record for doing that, come up with some potentially great ideas/features etc, then seemingly just drop them half baked and under developed, bugged and move on to something else when they could have been so much more.

Their current track record in the Mac world doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

On iOS, too. Z3TA+ hasn't been updated since January 2015. Bugs remain.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/z3ta+/id810393174?mt=8

[jinotsuh]

So, you are saying it doesn't crash all the time anymore? That would be nice.

But really all I want you know is when do you think Gibson will Kill or Sell this company by?

Well if you read the forums regularly you will see that drop outs and crashes are still prevalent, among the myriad of other issues, and the required convoluted workarounds for many things (some very basic things) that should just work.

Then of course there is the group that don't experience these dropouts and crashes, because they can't get Sonar out of DEMO Mode , and therefore can't use what they purchased there are quite a few of them, and the DEMO Mode issue isn't just restricted to SONAR. it seems to exist with Z3TA and Rapture Pro as well and of course support is a sore point now and for past 6 months or so (some would say forever).

That's what is so good about lifetime updates, at least it increases the chance of your support ticket being attended to before your time expires, you may well need that lifetime to get any response

[incubus]

Oooooooohhhhh,

So, I'm NOT the person who's just trolling to make trouble and other people hate it too..............awwee, poor jose, poor chirofuckit, poor lawyerance........so sad..........