Please ease up on the condescension, Craig.  I know I'm trying your patience, but surely you can out-cool me, right?  I'm reading everyone's responses, and am considering them.  If you don't like the way you feel when reading my posts, then maybe you shouldn't read them.  I admire that you want to help people.  Neither of us know if you can help me.  Honestly, sometimes I think only Cakewalk can help me.  And for that to happen, I guess I need to keep my issues visible on here.  Repetition, repetition, repetition.  Either that, or I could just give up and switch to Ableton or something other DAW.  Sigh.  All that money over the years, though!  Of course, that's what lots of us are saying, when contemplating a switch...
 
Anyway:
 
The Control Bar is new to me.  I had forgotten about it, and will need to re-investigate it. 
 
When I got X1, the first thing I did was try to make it look like 8.5.3.  I hid the inspector and the control bar and any of the other new interface elements I [felt I] didn't absolutely need.  Since my workflow was heavily oriented around keypresses, I didn't have to use the inspector unless I was doing something like transposing, adjusting timing, or renaming clips.  Over time I stopped bothering with those operations, in order to avoid having to use the inspector.
 
As you can see, I've been resisting/fighting the changes ever since Sonar X1 came out.  It has been a constant battle.
 
I'm now trying to invest time in customising Sonar to fit my needs better.  This itself is frustrating, because Sonar seems much less customisable than it was before. 
 
Please note that what I'm talking about is the basic UI for editing MIDI.  I'm not talking about the plugins.  The plugins are great in X1+.  Adding and managing soft synths seems much easier.  Not perfect, but definitely nothing I get stressed about.  And I like the new effects and instruments.  I don't want to lose any of that stuff by reverting to 8.5.3.
 
What I'd like to see "fixed" is the MIDI editing system.  This is where I spend most of my time (fixing sloppy performances) and is where I feel the most "pain" when the UI doesn't behave the way I want it to.
 
I want to be able to do the following in real time (during playback):
- adjust note timing
- adjust note velocities (via velocity pane)
- adjust note durations  (via note properties)
- rename clips
- quantize
 
For all except the note timing, I am finding it harder to do in X1+ than in 8.5.3.  My recent "whiny" posts are my attempts to get those operations streamlined.
 
I wish the current version of Sonar combined the super-efficient MIDI editing of 8.5.3 with the elegant plugin/soft synth experience of X1+. 
 
Is there an equivalent of Sonar Plus for Platinum?  Or do the frequent rebuilds of Platinum make it difficult for something like Sonar Plus to keep up?

These issues regarding the superiority of 8.5.3 have been discussed to death, years ago. Get over it, it's done, it's not coming back. The company will not redesign the program based on 1 persons preferences.
 
When will it sink in. The O/P doesn't want answers, he wants conflict and attention, and that's all. AFAIK 8.5 still works fine and he should just use it. 

.

Tripecac
 
I want Cakewalk's attention. I tried the problem Problem Reporter but got no attention from them there. 
......
 And I am paying Cakewalk.  So not only am I wasting my time, but I am PAYING to do it. 
....... 
 
Honestly, I really, really hope Cakewalk can invest some time in adding back the robustness and UI flexibility that got lost in the process of simplifying for X1.  I don't want to go back to 8.5.3.  I want to use X1, but with the few fixes I have recommended.  There are only a handful of them!  And they should not take long to resolve.

Your biggest problem is that you are using X1 (and X2?). Reporting Problem Reports for X1 is going to get you exactly what you have been getting - (cue chirping crickets).
As has been suggested, create Feature Requests for improvements (to SONAR Platinum) and you may garner some interest and some support, and will be far more likely to see them implemented, assuming that is what you really want. The squeaky wheel thing, quite frankly, is getting old.
You say you are Paying Cakewalk - How, exactly? In reality you PAID them 4 years ago (over 5 for X1). If I don't like my car's speedometer, I don't go on their forum 5 years later and expect them to change it for me - and saying I am paying them...... 
I AM paying them - (sporadically up to SONAR 8, every release since then, and now for lifetime updates) - and quite frankly I would be (mildly) disappointed if I felt that they wasted their time responding to disingenuous threads like this one, or to Problem Reports filed for a 5 year old product. 
 
 

Tripecac
 

disingenuous threads

 
Nice try. 

 
I think disingenuous is an apt word.
 
The thread was phrased to look like a genuine appeal for help.
 
When people responded with many ways to shorten your steps (My suggestions saved you over 16 key presses and numerous clicks from your first example), it became clear that you didn't want answers, just an excuse to repeat your gripes over and over again..
 
When I first used X1 I tried to make it behave like previous versions e.g. I would float the PRV so it was familiar to the way I worked before.
 
It took me ages before I gave in and tried the Multidock.  It took a little getting used to, but I am so glad I did.  With "D" and "Shift+D" my workflow is so much improved.
 
The same goes with screensets, Take lanes, Control Bar etc, etc.
 
Try to use the software you have now.  There is more than one way to skin a rabbit.
 
Also, this is a User Forum, so constantly being "squeaky" on here in not the best way to get Cakewalk's attention.  It is the best way to get Users' back's up.
 
Just my tuppence worth.

I'm with Tripecac on this one.
 
I come from an even more ancient Sonar version, the 6PE. I absolutely hate the idea of track inspector altogether.
 
Firstly, I like to work in full screen mode, I don't like to have any windows docked. 
 
Secondly, hitting Ctrl+I and opening the inspector always brings me to the MixStrip tab, so I have to click yet another time to go to the clip properties tab.
 
Thirdly, the bastarding thing's window cannot be adjusted horizontally. If I have a clip with a long name, like "14/06/16 take1 overheads Left" it quickly becomes a nightmare.
 
What was wrong with the good old "clip properties" window?! It could be accessed by just double clicking on a clip in older versions of Sonar... and it would go away by a single click.
 
 
 
 
 

Tripecac
 
I am using Platinum, and posted Problem Reports about Platinum.  Some of the problems I am having go back to X1, however; hence my references to X1.
 

You should reference that, both in your threads (in future), and in your signature, then. Your post above, said you were using, and wanted to use, X1 rather than going back to 8.5.3. Your signature says X1d and X2.
The fact that you own Platinum, but dislike the X series so much begs the question of why you didn't at least try the Platinum DEMO before you bought it - even more so before committing to (Gasp!) lifetime updates. If not disingenuousness as I supposed, what then - naivete?
Whatever - whether you accept it or not, there has been a lot of very good advice in all of your threads to date - but assuming that everyone wants to go back to 8.5 is a wrong assumption.
 

Well maybe it has something to do with your writing this in this very thread:

Tripecac
Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that many of the operations I am performing on a daily basis are slower for me in X1/2/3/Platinum than in 8.5.3.  For me, the difference in efficiency is not "fairly trivial".  It is consistently annoying. 
 
In 5 years, I still have not learned to adapt my habits to X1/2/3/Platinum.  People on this forum keep telling me "accept it" or "get used to it".  But, 5 years on, I still have not accepted Sonar X1/2/3/Platinum's "quirks", nor that Sonar has to continue to be less usable for me than it was was 8.5.3.  I preferred the more Windows-y 8.5.3, because it had a more efficient design (and less buggy implementation).  I would go back to it, except I am worried about compatibility with my more recently acquired plugins.  Also, I know that if I retreat to 8.5.3, I will not have any input whatsoever into the future development of Sonar.  Believe it or not, there is a chance that people at Cakewalk are reading these topics, even if they don't publicly acknowledge them.  I know my issues are probably low priority, but If I stop squeaking, the wheel will NEVER be oiled. 
 
If Cakewalk could fix the bugs, and bring back the UI efficiency and flexibility of 8.5.3, I will be happy.  And quiet. 
 
So instead of telling me to stop complaining, another strategy would be to +1 my posts, or submit similar bug reports.  Of course, that would mean admitting that Cakewalk has made some design (or implementation) mistakes, and to Cakewalk disciples, that might be a painful admission.  Sacrilegious.  It's much safer to tell me to shut up and accept the new status quo, isn't it?  Stop rocking the boat, Tripecac, no matter how right you think you are.
 
Heard it all before.  5 years' worth!  If I sound like a broken record, it is because Sonar is a broken program.  But it can be fixed.  Unlike me. :)
 

 
 

Okay, I see now that the Control Bar is the thing at the top, right under the menu bar.  It's always visible for me.  I don't think I ever use it, however, except to start and stop playback.  I see the custom area on the right, where I can add quick links to functions in the top menu bar.
 
I don't see a command for renaming a clip, however.  Hmm...
 
If Cakewalk added a "Rename clip" function to the top menu, that would let us setup keyboard shortcuts or custom control bar commands to quickly rename clips.  Does that sound like a decent idea?  If so, in what menu should "Rename clip" go?
 

Tripecac
I've been wondering if CAL could be used to rename clips.  It looks like CAL can rename Tracks (via TrackName) but not clips. Does that sound correct?

Even if it were possible, in what universe is selecting a clip, running a cal scrip, typing in a new clip name then applying the cal any kind of improvement over changing the selected clip (or clips) name in the inspector clip properties box?
 
Many people have taken the time to answer your question, both in this thread and the one you started five years ago. You now know without any shadow of a doubt the best way to change a clips name. For the love of dogs move on!

The fastest way to rename ALL of your clips is to set a key binding to "copy track names to clip names" (I used Cntrl-/).
 
Then you can select all (Cntrl+A) then your new key binding (Cntrl-/) will rename all of your clips to match their corresponding tracks. Of course this works only on selected tracks so you can change just one or as many as you choose. 
 
Tracks can easily be renamed directly in Track View or Console view.
 

noynekker
Really, how hard would it be to program such a feature request: "right click" on a clip, and have an option to simply rename the clip ? It's the most intuitive way that any new Sonar users would be looking for  . . . doesn't most software have a right click and select options function, it should be fairly straightforward to implement, why so much resistance here in this thread ?
 
It seems there are many ways demonstrated here to rename clips, surely Cakewalk would recognize "right click" on a clip as being the most intuitive way to do this . . . much as they re-programmed the "Add Track" feature to be more intuitive for new users to add new tracks to their projects ?

That's part of the problem, really. Context menus (right-click) are a standard paradigm and X1 tried to move away from them to context menu bars. That's fine, but elsewhere in Sonar we have context menus all over the place. So, if consistency leads to intuitiveness and shortens the learning curve, then Sonar is doing it wrong.
 
Please note, this is not a complaint, just an observation as to why some users would be confused on how to do things and maybe why folks like Tripecac are so squeaky.
 
Regards,
Dan

With full knowledge that we're discussing a specific case here, it seems to me that the most reasonable approach is to have fully customizable menus and toolbars; to the point of being able to create complete toolbars that can be instantiated via hotkeys and/or context.
 
I'm pretty sure there is already an FR or two for this.

KPerry
But what functions should be on a right click menu...too many and the menu is unusable, too few and some people won't be happy.  Presumably, the most commonly (or expected!) commands would be so available, and rename clip probably isn't up there...

yeah, but if the "customise right-click menu" still existed, it's a win-win ;-)