Recommendations for another DAW?

Have a look in the software forum j.....where I suspect your post is headed:)

Ditto to Post#3..............

I'm also a very long time Cakewalk user.
I've gone to Cubase, because it has many similar features to Cakewalk Sonar . . . especially since I needed solid midi and staff layout views for my workflow. It can be customized to work much like Sonar . . . but I'll also add, there are things about it that really pss me off compared to Sonar. Steep learning curve, it takes some time. So, I find myself going back to Sonar really often, just get things done.
 
 

As others have said, this is a very individual decision. for me, I absolutely need staff or notation, it's how I compose and edit, orchestrate etc. So that rules out a bunch of DAWS right off the bat, like Studio One or Ableton. Even Cubase does not allow me to have the workflow I need, because you can only select a sequence of notes in the current view; it will not scroll to the right when you hit the edge. This is why it is paramount to demo. Think about how you work. No, you can't expect the exact same workflow, but you want to get as close as possible. This will help you narrow things down to something that will do what you need. For me, it's Reaper. They have a great notation feature, as well as an event list identical to sonar. Although, I'm currently back to working in Sonar, to compare the two. I may stay with Sonar (8.5 Studio) as long as possible, and eventually move to Reaper, or decide that Reaper is better now. Lot's of decisions, and lots of factors to consider!