michaelhanson

Strange days, indeed.

I’m sitting in much the same spot, except I’m no where near 11 different DAWs. When the Bakers announced their new plans, my reaction was to upgrade my Studio One v3 to v6 Pro and get serious about learning the program. I’m struggling a bit to make the conversation, but I’m not giving up this time and going backwards. Hopefully I’ll be saying I’m most comfortable with Studio One one of these days, in the near future . I have no complaints either about Cakewalk, it has served me well for the past several decades. If the pricing is right, I will maintain a paid for version as a back up plan. I also collaborate with several that run Cakewalk, so it would be handy to maintain a version.

Martin, I've seen others calling Lifetime subscribers as fools, naive or having some general lack of wisdom.....as in what did you expect. I suspect that most assessed the situation as I did. We were paying for regular updates anyway or we were on the current Gibson subscription model. I knew it was a gamble, but no more than buying into any piece of software. For the price at the time, it was a reasonable gamble that the company "could" stay alive, but if it didn't make it and honor, it wasn't a huge monetary loss. The odds were certainly better than betting in Vegas. To your point though about cynicism, I can relate. Burn me once, not to get burned twice. Incidentally, my Gibson LP's are still my best instruments and since new management took over Gibson, the 2019 to present guitars are pretty spectacular.

The Lifetime subscription topic was debated heavily back when it was introduced. It might have surpassed the 33 pages currently posted here. All of the same worries and comments were made about the "what if's". Both sides of the debate were well represented and most knew that it was a gamble. For the price of admission, it was worth the gamble for me. However, it turned out to be...exactly what the nay say'ers predicted. I have forgiven, but that doesn't mean its forgotten.

My point exactly. I wasn’t making fun of Windows 7. Fact is that it is obsolete.

Well, I probably would be considered an elder. We have many sayings, that we pull out base on the situation and points we are trying to get across. I might counter that with "I am reading the writing on the wall". Here is the thing, it all comes down to what Sonar by Cakewalk decides to do as it's business model. I said that 20+ pages ago. They haven't said what they are going to do other than hint at a payment model and making pricing fair. I did jump ship back in the Gibson fiasco. I run CbB, Studio One and Harrison Mix Bus; tried out several others as well. I'm going to limit how many DAW's I am paying for and continue to pay for the ones that offer the best options for me. Most of the people I still collaborate with run Sonar, so its handy to have it around. Right now, it seems like Studio One is light years ahead of Sonar. I am extremely familiar with Sonar, having used it for over 20+ years, I operate in Sonar without even thinking about it. That's what has kept me using it, its very familiar and natural to work in, because I grew up with it.

Yup, and they are still running Windows 7. 🤣

If you’ve been around Cakewalk/Sonar/ Home Studio/ Twelve Notes for over 20 years, this is exactly what they do….dip their toe in the water to test the reaction. Unfortunately what that does is creates all the controversy that we are seeing.

The website says that CbB will continue to operate but will not be supported. That sounds like a bit of a roll of the dice to me. Eventually, you’ll have to do something.

Back to the Coffee House basement with you both!

Hearing aids have made tinnitus almost nonexistent for me. I’m also very conscious of the sound levels these days and keep decibels in a safe range or wear protection.

Well, its obvious were you are directing it and if you read all 12 pages the crap pile is there. I'm not making threats, I moved to multiple DAW's long ago. Money is not the objection, I make a very healthy living; value is my question, were do I want to put my investment for the best long term out come. The fact that the "Bakers", a term many of us old times coined a long time ago, role out a similar message each time they change the business model is growing a little old however. They have always dipped their toe in the water before releasing pricing terms. The last subscription model went exactly the same way. I preferred the subscription back then, by the way. It fit my budget better at that stage in my life.

It seems like some folks are getting hammered by others for having a little skepticism. I think everyone is entitled to their opinion and certainly entitled to decide what they find attractive in which to spend their money on. I'm waiting to see the details. I don't mind options, especially if it offers some a subscription plan and others the opportunity to buy outright. I have been around long enough (2002) to watch Cakewalk/ Sonar go through many business models long before Gibson ever got involved. I used to jump in head over heals to which ever direction Cakewalk went. I'm a little more reserved these days, having gone through the last road bump with Gibson. As I had mentioned earlier in this thread, that speed bump caused me to rethink what I was buying and whom I was buying from, to support my needs long term. I no longer rely on Cakewalk or the plugins inherent with in Cakewalk, but have spread out my reliance to many 3rd party vendors. Kind of like not putting all of your eggs in one basket, should one vendor fail to stay in business. That being said, I was about to put $150 down to upgrade my Studio One V3 Pro to V6 Pro. I am now waiting to see where Cakewalk goes to make my final decision. Both programs are similar in the way they layout and function. I have always preferred Cakewalk, especially because I like the work space and layout of ProChannel. In many ways Studio One is more advanced than Cakewalk however. I basically only use the ProChannel plug ins and none of the other Cakewalk plug ins, so they really aren't a huge factor. My decision is going to come down to which platform is going to be my primary and which is going to be my secondary. Again, I am going to reserve judgement, until the cards are on the table.

I said my peace in the News thread. I'm more guarded and cautious as to where and how I spend my money on software these days. I've also learned not to put all of my eggs in one basket after the last transition.

To be honest, the jury is out for me. I have been a Cakewalk/ Sonar faithful user since the first days of release. I've been through all the buy outs, the ups and downs. When Cakewalk was sold by Gibson and in limbo, I purchased Studio One to ensure that I had a platform to work from. Also started replacing all plug ins with 3rd party. I was not going to get caught with my pants down in the future and had to ensure that I had a platform and tools to work with. I still use Cakewalk the majority of the time, but I decided not to put all of my eggs in one basket. Depending on where this goes, I will have some decisions to make. I don't want 3 platforms on my hard drive taking up all my SSD space, not to mention the financial aspect of keeping up with 3 platforms; that is if Cakewalk comes in 2 formats. I'm not real keen to putting money into a platform that left me hanging the last time. I understand not honoring the "Lifetime" commitment made through Gibson ownership, completely. I'm just not sure how much loyalty I need to dish out. Sounds like some major decisions may be on the horizon for many of us, or at least for myself.