I just want to record music

[Cannimagine]

Look, I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade about becoming a star but I just want Sonar to record my music. I have been a Cakewalk and Sonar (lifetime upgrade) user for decades so obviously I liked the program. I am an older guy who likes to write songs and record them for my own enjoyment. When I look at what membership provides I don't see the benefit for those like me. I have spent a lot of money on Cakewalk over the years and paid for updating to the new version, "THAT WORKS" for a lot of us. I only want the program, I don't need music promotion, likes, friends, or any of the other stuff, been there done that. Do Sonar like they used to, and those who want all the other fluff can pay a little extra for that.

[Rickddd]

I don't disagree with your thoughts, at all.  Similar to you, it's been a long journey with Cakewalk for me. Like you, the "stuff" they are offering in the membership program has zero attraction for me, except of course for the updated Sonar. I joined membership several weeks ago specifically because as good as the prior program was - it had some deeply long term bugs which were just annoying.

I almost dropped membership after I ran into a bug that has been bugging me for years - issues with copy and pasting. Man I was livid.

I am since calmed down. I have a respect for the new Cakewalk, it's not a night and day improvement from Bandlab cakewalk but there are enough things to keep me in membership.

Clearly, the wet dream for any software creator is a steady, predictable income, one that doesn't require big updates to generate excitement and income.  As long as cakewalk the company keeps the faith and doesn't go from creating ongoing program improvements to milk the customers via subscriptions, I guess I'll hang around with them.

I didn't know this, but you can install the new Sonar and it will work except for saving.  So you can give it a try.   However, the improvements in the program are subtle - and won't hop out at ya. They are nuances for the most part. Except visually.  Visually, it's harder on the eyes and harder to visually navigate.  It's a matter of visual design, not function. You can find countless posts on the board that say "I like the new sonar bla bla bla... but I don't like the look and feel.    When one person says that, it's a personal taste thing. When a bunch do, and few if any come out to defend it, it's a visual design problem.

No doubt bandlab management needed to visually distinguish the two and that's why we got what we got.  It wasn't to make it visually function better, IMHO.


Best,

Rick

Edited Saturday at 05:55 AM by Rickddd

[Noel Borthwick]

You don't consider the program working on high definition displays functionally better? One of the big complaints about cbb and earlier was that it was blurry on high definition 4k monitors.

Regarding "bundles", like it or not it's how every vendor operates. Cakewalk has had bundled products and services for 20 years or more. You have to justify whether the cost of product for the features you will use is worth it for you, rather than looking at what you won't use. FYI I personally use about a 10th of the services in any given product I have.

[Rickddd]

8 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

You don't consider the program working on high definition displays functionally better? One of the big complaints about cbb and earlier was that it was blurry on high definition 4k monitors.

 

(I've been using the now old Cakewalk sonar on my 4k 43" monitor for over a year.   Eye wise, it was easier to see. Not as sleek as the new sonar, but very usable.

Just to clarify - the new Sonar (on my same monitor) *is* sharper than bandlab, and I did not mean to imply that it wasn't.  But sharpness *alone* does not determine how easy it is on the eyes to use an interface.

Take the hair thin lines on the grid system.  There have been a lot of user posts saying the grids just don't stand out well.  I don't have any hard data to show this, but just seems to me I have to work harder to work my eyes when examining tracks. Bonus points: make the grids user adjustable.

The drop down v's are the next culprit for me.  In bandlab we had for a track a reverse text + sign.  Because it was reverse text (light background dark lettering) it performed excellently as an  anchor for the eye and visually distinguished itself from the other elements.  The drop down V in the new sonar functionally works, but I have to work harder. It doesn't stand out well like the old + did. It's not unusable. But could be better.

I'm retired now but I spent many years performing user tests on websites.  I observed a lot of subtle behavior influences by graphic design and layout.   Doen't make me smarter, but does make me opinionated!

It's not that I can't use the new sonar, I love many things about it.  It's just that the interface is a 90% improvement and a 10% "could be better with just a tiny bit of refinement.  That's all I was saying.

Rick
 

Edited Saturday at 10:33 PM by Rickddd