Free vs Subscription Question

[Jerry Gerber]

I downloaded the evaluation copy of Sonar.   I am not sure if this evaluation copy is the exact same as the free version.  In the evaluation copy, there's a screen that makes me wait 15 seconds or so while it's counting down, and there's a banner across the screen, near the top that urges me to become a member.   Does the free version also have these "features"?    In other words, do I need to do anything to make the evaluation copy not have these irritating annoyances?

I will probably subscribe even though I hate the subscription method because I want to support Bandlab for allowing me to use Cakewalk for free for these several years.  However, there doesn't seem to be any features in the paid version that I use. 

[ptheisen]

Bandlab seems to use terms rather freely, so it can be confusing. I'm pretty sure there is only one non-subscription version, in some places referred to as "evaluation" but more often "free". The irritating annoyances are intentional, to persuade you to pay for the prescription.

Though some wording may make you think the evaluation period expires, it will indefinitely renew itself if you log in, per Bandlab staff.

In the other thread, you ask for them to fix the display of tied and dotted triplets in the staff view. IMHO, that is no more likely to happen now than it was in the past 30 years. The person who wrote that code has no connection with Bandlab and is even mostly missing in action in regards to his "current" products. Bandlab staff have little knowledge of the code and have cited that factor a number of times when explaining why very little has been done with the staff view. Plus, notation is thought to be a waning DAW feature in general, so there is little motivation to invest effort into it. If you really want your DAW to do notation better than Sonar currently does, you probably need to look elsewhere. I know you have already done that previously.

[Colin Nicholls]

2 hours ago, Jerry Gerber said:

In other words, do I need to do anything to make the evaluation copy not have these irritating annoyances?

This banner and timeout window are the only feature that the "Free Tier" has, that actually isn't included in the full subscription version 😉

Seriously, if you subscribe to the full version, the banner and timeout will no longer be displayed. That's what you would need to do.

Edited 18 hours ago by Colin Nicholls