Teksonik

Judging by the screenshots, "Next" looks like a children's toy. Real competition for Magix Music Maker. Just checking in periodically, so what's the status and future of the grown up version of Sonar? Abandoned or 'coming soon' forever? I was a paying customer up to X3 but I knew the free version wouldn't last so never let myself get too attached to CW by BL. I suppose if there's a fair price and a promise of continued support, I might consider purchasing the new Sonar. But I will never rent software so if they think a subscription plan is going to work then it won't work here. Sonar will join Orion in the "DAWs I used to like but then they died" list. Too many other DAWs out there to waste time on one with a wonky future or no future at all. As many of us predicted at the time, the free ride would not last forever. I knew Junior would get tired of his new toy and succumb to the pressure to monetize the software. It was simply a matter of time. I appreciate him setting CW free for a while but really it's looking like that was a colossal waste of time for everyone involved. Prove me wrong Bandlab.

Yes you are! It's just a DAW. I'm not talking smack about your Mother.? Calm down, I'm just giving my opinion on the matter. If that triggers you then it's out of my control.

All you're doing is regurgitating the same old lines. I get it, this is a DAW forum so defense of DAW mode is to be expected. As for your "The plugin dev will likely pick 5 DAWs at max - realistically only 2 or 3", that's simply not true. Every developer I've ever tested for (including Cakewalk back in the Z3ta+2 days) tests in as many DAWs as possible. That's one reason to have a beta team. Each member brings different DAWs to test with and different methods of testing. I test in 6 DAWs alone and the other testers and people who write the code test in most all of the others. Of course there are some obscure, discontinued, or outdated DAWs that may not get tested but their user bases are so small that it's usually not an issue. No DAW (or plugin) is 100% bullet proof not even CbB. To ignore potential issues serves no one...not even yourself. Like I said when a plugin I use only has issue in one DAW then I'm going to report that issue to the DAW developer. In this case I never received a response so make of that what you will.

Well you make that sound like it's going to be a subscription model and if so then I'm out. Nothing personal but I simply will not subscribe to any software. Anyone who thinks it through long term will come to the same conclusion. Sell me a license for a one time expense, then sell upgrades from there. Sell expansions if you wish. Bug fixes should be free. Yearly update plans just put pressure on developers to produce something so people think they're getting value for their update plan money. That's why I jumped off the Sonar train after X3 when all the business schemes started happening and well...we saw how that worked out for Cakewalk. But again "we haven't baked the final details". Then keep all of it secret until you do bake those final details. Just tell us the cost up front and we'll make our decisions based on that. Generating hype isn't going to help. All you're doing is fueling rampant speculation.

I'm not "angry" at all nor am I disappointed because I saw this coming from the day CbB was set free. I knew one day a zero profit product would be discontinued. If you didn't see it coming then your faith in mankind is stronger than mine. I know you're just in fanboi mode but I never said I wouldn't purchase the upgrade to the new Sonar (if it is indeed a upgrade). I simply said it will have to bring value equal to the cost. No matter what the cost for the new Sonar be it will have to be that much better than the free version or good luck getting people to "upgrade". That's just a reality. Bandlab made a business decision but we as end users can't also make a business decision? You may just blindly throw money at a company but many of us will make the decision whether the new price and product is worth it or not once all the facts are revealed.

That's obvious but the company has had the lifetime free updates plan for over two decades and they're going really strong. One of the most popular DAWs based on the number of users. Of course no business is 100% bulletproof but if they go under then it's likely the industry as a whole is in big trouble. They make their money by attracting new users instead of milking old ones like Bitwig does for example. Cakewalk tried something similar to Bitwig's update plan in the past and well we all know how that worked out. I'm more worried about Sonar's long term viability than the other DAW.

How do you explain the fact that these same plugins do not generate the same errors in any of other 5 DAWs I own on the same system ? Could it be some DAWs are more robust and some more fragile? For example the plugin in the screenshot in my first post has worked flawlessly in all the other DAWs I own. When a plugin only has issues with one DAW whose fault is it? Like I said this debate has and will rage on as long as DAWs and Plugins exist. Again, each developer will blame the other. If I bring the issue up at the plugin's forums the fans there will likely blame the DAW so round and round we go. If there is an issue with CbB and it's not fixed in the last update then we're stuck with it so it would benefit us all to make sure that bug is squashed before its too late. I was a private beta tester for Cakewalk back before all the buyouts and takeovers and have been a tester for many of the biggest names in the business so I'm willing to help but it's probably too late for CbB. If the issue carries over to to the new Sonar then we'll just have to deal with it then.....if we decide to stick around under the new scheme.

You realize of course that whatever you do is going to have to add value to the current free version commensurate to the cost of purchase or upgrade. So let's just pull a number out of the air...let's say the cost to upgrade from the current free version to the new paid Sonar is $200. So now you've got to add $200 of value to the new Sonar in order to make it worth upgrading. A new UI with a "few extra feature enhancements" is not likely to cut it at least for me and I'm probably not alone. But we're seeing in this thread the problem with partial announcements with the "important details" to follow. All it does is spark rampant speculation and fear mongering. ("oh my god they're going subscription") and so on. So I suggest putting all your cards on the table now. Just tell us what the price will be. Just tell us if there will be discounts for paying customer of the old Sonar and so on. Clearing the air now will help you and the user base as well. To clear things up from my end I will never subscribe to software so if that's the way things are going tell me now so I can move on and focus on the other 5 DAWs I own, one of which has lifetime free updates.

Sorry, I don't come here often so didn't see your reply until now. The battle of who is at fault when a certain plugin doesn't function with a certain DAW will rage on in perpetuity. The DAW developer will blame the plugin developer and the plugin developer will blame the DAW developer. It's been that way since both have coexisted. When the plugin functions just fine in all other DAWs is it the fault of the plugin or the DAW where it doesn't function? I know DAW loyalty always plays a part (it can't be the DAW's fault because it's my favorite DAW and so on). So to reiterate the part of my post you failed to quote: "This is not the only plugin that has generated a c0000005 crash in Cakewalk, while those plugins work without issue in the other four (now 5) DAWs I use". So you can turn a blind eye to the issue in order to protect your DAW but that serves no one including yourself. Oh and the "literal definition" of periodically is: pe·ri·od·i·cal·ly from time to time; occasionally.

Right....here we go. We all should have seen this day coming. In one way having Sonar generate a revenue stream is beneficial as it funds future development and current support. Hopefully it will succeed so a day like this one doesn't happen for it, finding out development has stopped. So on one hand I'd like to support the new endeavor but.....having been a paying customer up to Sonar X3 I don't know how much I'd be willing to pay to get back on the train. Knowing this day would come eventually I never let myself fall too much in love with CbB so it's not one of my most frequently used DAWs. But I wouldn't want to lose it because it does serve a purpose although not a critical one. Hopefully the last free update of CbB will continue working on Windows for the foreseeable future but of course once development stops on a piece of software you're on your own. So for me to purchase an update of something that has been free, that update has to bring something of value equal to the update price. We'll see what the future holds.....

That sounds like "it's going to end up looking like Ableton Live". I love the subdued and hardware style of CbB so please don't turn it into something that looks like a box of crayons exploded.

Yes that's obvious since it says" Obsession.dll-Crash Detected!" right in the image. I already sent the files to the developer before posting here but that's not what I asked. I asked if anyone else periodically experiences this issue. This is not the only plugin that has generated a c0000005 crash in Cakewalk, while those plugins work without issue in the other four DAWs I use. I'm looking to build a list of plugins that have or can generate the error so I can test them as well.

Anyone else get these errors periodically? Windows 10 Latest CWBL.

One should always be concerned about the future of freeware.......sport. ? Never assume Meng Ru Kuok will always support CW. One needs only observe the recent layoffs in the industry to understand the current global economic climate and there are some projections for a more serious downturn. Hence my concern. Anyway I don't really need any updates since CW is no longer my main DAW for any tasks but it just seemed like updates were coming at a faster rate in the past than recently. Perhaps it just seems like there were more updates over time since I don't load CW every day. But it's good to know that work continues on Cakewalk which I have owned since Sonar 5. Kudos to Bandlab for keeping it alive at least for the foreseeable future.?

Updates were coming fast and furious for awhile but it seems like it's been a bit since the last one. Any reason for concern? How does the future of Cakewalk by Bandlab look to everybody?