Some questions on Sonar vs. Cakewalk by Bandlab

[Leander]

Hi!

I bought Cakewalk Sonar Professional in 2018 I think...it was 199€. 

1) Can I use my old registration key to get some kind of special price?

2) I have a lot of plugins, folders, custom project structure, an entire studio SSD...I don't want to spend hours on transfering everything or maybe messing something up when installing the new Sonar.

Can we install Sonar so it uses the same folders like Cakewalk by Bandlab? My files are on S: ... I don't want to install files to C:.

3) I've worked on half-finished songs for 20 years...without releasing them...I'm fine with spending 300€ (insert a similar price), but having to pay monthly without making progress hurts.  Why can't we keep our Bandlab by Cakewalk software without having to upgrade?

4) Free vs. premium: • Track Manager (new) • Jump-to-track (new) • BandLab Sounds (new) • Elastique Pro • Plugin oversampling • POW-R dithering • Multiple Arranger tracks • Overloud TH-U guitar amp and FX modeling • ProChannel Modules

Elastique Pro is time stretching, but it does not disable time strechting function of 3rd party plugins, correct?

When extracting files/mixing them down, my default is pow-r3...but pow-r dithering is listed as premium-only...what should we select then?

[Wookiee]

@Leander the Cakewalk Sonar Professional you refer to was a product by Gibson. There is no financial connection between the new Cakewalk and the Gibson products. Bandlab Technologies purchased the IP to the code not the products or its legacy. They have however very kindly maintained access to the old severs. In answer to your question regarding your key, the simple answer is no, the complete answer is no.

As with previous iterations of Cakewalk products installing the New Cakewalk Sonar installs in the Cakewalk directory tree, with the core code in its own directory.  Provided you follow the installation instructions you will lose nothing. You say you don't wish to install to the C drive do you the program? If you already have version of Cakewalk ??? Install when you open the new version it will ask if you wish to migrate your settings, i.e. audio, file locations etc.

I suggest you use a search engine to search these forums for the rest of your questions, which have all been extensively answered many time recently. 

[kellyg]

On 6/30/2025 at 6:27 PM, Leander said:

I tried posting a very similar question a day ago and can't find it now.  But I'd also like to understand.  I had the latest Producer/Premium /30th Anniversary edition, and had paid for a lifetime subscription during the short time the original Cakewalk company offered that. Bought several Pro-Channel add-ins as well. These all still showed up in my inventory of owned products last time I looked.  Features, such as the Pow-R dithering and Elastique Pro stretching, Track Manager work fine in Cakewalk for Bandlab. So, question is, if I don't opt for the paid version of the new Sonar, does the free installation strip those features or will they continue to work based on already being installed on my DAW?  It isn't that I mind the initial $49 for a year of paid; but I am just like you, I have years and years of projects; many unfinished, and I don't see ever making enough money from my recording to even pay for what I own now.  Not a fan of the you-will-own-nothing-and-you-will-be-happy business model, especially when the Cakewalk/Sonar projects and all the time we have put into them are worthless if we can't get into the product anymore to export them.  If I do go for a Sonar subscription, I may have to start exporting WAV files of every project I've ever done in self defense. 

 

[pedwal wally wally wha]

11 hours ago, kellyg said:

quote of @Leander

that quote doesn't match the OP, and that's not flagged as edited, were you quoting from a different thread?