12 minutes

SilverBlueMedallion
DISCLAIMER:  this may just be my opinion and I might be wrong about this:
 
but it seems like Sonar is built off some really old code.  I feel the product could use a major overhaul.  Load up Studio One or Reason and you will notice just the FEEL of it.. the software is fast and smooth.  It feels like Sonar is very module-based, and each individual piece needs its own load time.  It feels sluggish and archaic.
 
I realize this is only a GUI based complaint, but I feel it effects overall usability. 

I totally agree about Sonar's GUI. I recently installed a demo for another, newer DAW in order to see how many of my current problems with Sonar were actually Sonar related and not system related, and I was immediately struck by how smooth and snappy it was compared to Sonar. When using Sonar I'm always a little depressed at how clunky and laggy it feels interacting with the interface - things like scrolling the console, or swiping the track/bus curtain left and right. The comparison with the other DAW reminded me a little of a few years ago when I was shopping for a new phone, and compared Android phones to the iPhone. Android at the time did not utilize the hardware's GPU for the UI and as such it was clunky and laggy compared to the iPhone, which has always been ultra smooth and snappy. I get that "early Android" feeling from Sonar sometimes and I wish I didn't. Some will say that it's a trivial cosmetic thing to complain about, but I'm a great believer in the importance of smooth GUI interaction. It helps create a feeling of having a direct connection between the GUI and your brain, and has a huge psychological benefit in that you feel like you're working with a program you can trust. When I swipe that console curtain in Sonar and it moves at 5 fps it contributes to a feeling that I'm using something old that's going to let me down at any time. I wonder how many people demo Sonar and are put off by its lack of snappiness and smoothness compared to other DAW's. 
 
And you're right, it probably has a lot to do with Sonar being built on top of old code. Not being a developer I have no idea how much of the original Cakewalk code still remains in the program, but it reminds me a little of Quickbooks, which is very much founded on an ancient DOS program that's been built upon and patched up over the years. You can imagine how many tiny little areas of inefficiency in the code have accumulated to make Sonar feel a little less snappy than something that's been designed from scratch with modern design techniques in mind. 

SilverBlueMedallion
DISCLAIMER:  this may just be my opinion and I might be wrong about this:
 
but it seems like Sonar is built off some really old code.  I feel the product could use a major overhaul.  Load up Studio One or Reason and you will notice just the FEEL of it.. the software is fast and smooth.  It feels like Sonar is very module-based, and each individual piece needs its own load time.  It feels sluggish and archaic.
 
I realize this is only a GUI based complaint, but I feel it effects overall usability. 

I can agree with this. Problem is a total overhaul sounds a lot easier than it is.
it basically means creating the whole program over again from scratch.
Reason ive never really liked, Studio one however is a great platform.
 
But Sonar is running well here. I mean like really, really good.
Might be cause I have a new build (Intel I7) but even on my old AMD FX it ran great, but slower .
 
I don't see problems as much as I see little quirks that irritate me sometimes.
It gets annoying but I still enjoy Sonar over the over DAW's. That's what keeps me here.
Every DAW has "The little things" The irritants. Even Studio One has little quirks that are annoying.
I guess we just need to weigh out the good and the bad and make a choice based on that.
 
Like anything in life, the more you let things effect you, the more they take over.
There comes a point in every man or women's life where they need to weight out those pro and cons
and ask them self, is it really worth it. for me it is. Even with those annoying quirks and even with the old code.
 

Keith Albright [Cakewalk]
We plan to improve the behavior of the console at some point this year.  It irks us as well.
 
Keith

That's good to hear. I have a feeling that that curtain has gotten more laggy over time, and that it didn't used to feel so clunky. 

Keith Albright [Cakewalk]
We plan to improve the behavior of the console at some point this year.  It irks us as well.
 
Keith

 
this sounds great :)

Ever since I installed an SSD for my Windows, Programs, Sonar, and all my VSTs, everything is smooth and snappy now :-)
 
Except loading a bunch of sample laden instruments with sample libraries on my spinning drive ... but that is to be expected.  Once the samples are in RAM, all is good again ...

Kev999

SilverBlueMedallion
...it seems like Sonar is built off some really old code.  I feel the product could use a major overhaul...
...I realize this is only a GUI based complaint...

 
There was a radical overhaul of the GUI between Sonar 8.5 and X1.

I am talking about the GUI in 2017.01 
 
LOL

compare it to say Studio One's GUI... its still night and day, even when using SSD.  It's got to do with the code used for the GUI.

SilverBlueMedallion
DISCLAIMER:  this may just be my opinion and I might be wrong about this:
 
but it seems like Sonar is built off some really old code.  I feel the product could use a major overhaul.  Load up Studio One or Reason and you will notice just the FEEL of it.. the software is fast and smooth.  It feels like Sonar is very module-based, and each individual piece needs its own load time.  It feels sluggish and archaic.
 
I realize this is only a GUI based complaint, but I feel it effects overall usability. 

This is a question that often arrises in comparison discussions :
Is the Sonar source code really that old ?
If so (knowing that this is not a one week job)
why the bakers are not writing a new code ?
 

Whatever the bakers do, Sonar will always look "full".
Compare the Studio One manual to Sonar's.
All that functionality has to be put someplace.
 

Leee
As many have pointed out already, this is a user to user forum, with special guest appearances by actual Cakewalk programmers (and other paid professionals who do work on Sonar), and that a "goodbye Sonar" rant is best sent to the programmers, customer service, or tech support, for optimum usefulness.  Complaining to users who already use and enjoy Sonar will only solicit snide comments and (from the "good" people) helpful hints in using Sonar that you may not have thought of.

But generally speaking, when I see someone taking this much time and effort to announce a "software usage suicide", I would ask two things:  1 - Could your negative feelings towards this product cause you to harm yourself or others? and 2 - If so, have you sought out professional counseling to prevent you from harming yourself or others. 

If the problem has not reached that level of emotional turmoil in your life, and is actually (as another poster mentioned) more akin to a "paper or plastic" type of decision, then I would say these types of decisions should be left up to you, to follow your heart and decide what's best.   Otherwise it would be like me standing in a supermarket checkout line, holding up the people behind me, and verbally expressing my personal views on the pros and cons of using either paper or plastic bags to carry my groceries.  While some people in that line may be interested in my views of ecology, environmental concerns, and job retention for lumberjacks and paper mill workers, most people in line would mostly get impatient and angry because they just want to get checked out and get their ice cream home and in their freezer before it melts!

But seriously folks, if the OP would have rephrased the post into a question, "Can Sonar do these things that FL Studios does?"  It would have gone a lot further and been more accepted as a true request in a decision making process, that you have already seemed decided on.
 

 
the GOAL of a rant is to make the product better.   I dont think anyone rants on their first attempt.  I know I haven't.  But after years of the same thing broken?!?!  I feel that deserves a rant.  Why not?

People are too over-sensitive these days.

It's interesting how the same flies land on every pile.
 
It's interesting how the same folks speak up in all of these types of threads.

telecharge

BobF
It's interesting how the same flies land on every pile.
 
It's interesting how the same folks speak up in all of these types of threads.

Et tu, Brute?
 
Even you, Bob?

All angles are represented.

Hey there's nothing like beating a dead horse. Quick someone find that gif.
 
 I understand why the OP went to FL Studio.  It's workflow is great for electronic genres since it's pattern based. But for using Kontakt you have to create a template. Sonar works better for me. Plus VEP is easier to set up in Sonar.
 
 As for old code the last time Sony made an update for Acid Pro was back in XP.  The code survived and still works in W10.
 
 I once was willing to part with Sonar for good because of its cluttered GUI until the X series. 

I think everyone has their own favorite items and varying matters that bother them.
For me - I loved the colors of 8.5.3 and I loved being able to pick colors for a track - record new clips on that track - and those colors would stay the same as the first clip on the track.  That still bugs me.
 
But if I go to another program, something else will bug me.
 
At least this works and sounds great.  Compared to tape - it saves hours and hours.
 
But at least get the top computers, top SSD drive, have a separate drive for audio files - all the basic top of the line stuff.  
 
I just do not know if everyone can be made happy.  Rambling a little here.