I Must Be A Caveman.

I don't use everything, nothing like it in fact.
 
This is mainly due to indolence on my part. 

...SPlat ...Komplete  The streets of my DAW is full of things I don't use, nor even explored.  But I sure do like having it :P

Sidroe
It would be interesting to see what the results would be performance-wise if you could remove all of the features that you DON'T use!

I provocatively claim the performance gain would be zero to negative.
 
HD space costs next to nothing, a feature installed that you don't use does not do any harm nor speed up global warming ...
 
However, the day you could use the feature and it's not there performance gains get negative because when gotta start looking and installing, it's better not to bother at all in a creative workflow.

Most of us don't use a fraction of what SONAR (or any DAW) can do, just certain select features.  No reason to feel lazy or stupid if the tools you use work for you.  I use less than a fraction mostly, since I like a rawer feel.  I may fix a note hear (pun intended) or there, but not a performance.  Use a good front end to capture a good performance sounds better to me than something all fixed and perfect.  I work a ranch, and know exactly what "fixing" means.
 
@

The fact is Classic albums were made with a handful of outboard gear. Somebody didn't come into the studio every month and put in ten grands of equipment because they were bored. Studios may have bought a couple of effects racks every year and threw stuff people were no longer using into the cupboard.

Same for bands, they weren't buying new keyboards every single month.

What people did was learn their tools inside out until they had exhausted the possibilities. They looked at new gear and if they saw something that could do the job much better they would consider upgrading.

I spend a lot of time trying to downsize my plugins. I regret buying a lots of plugins initially (fell for marketing) because after to getting to know some of them really well I realised that I had no use for some other plugins.

Less is definitely more IMHO. Having 20 plugins you know really well (where you have spent a lot of time getting to know every little detail) is far better than just taking potshots in the dark at say 200 plugins, where you could not have possibility exhausted all the possibilities.

I am a caveman also!

   I guess what y'all are saying is: No Platinum updates necessary. I also mainly use the same plug-ins over & over, and there are lots of Platinum updates that include things I don't really need. But still, it's great to look forward to new updates once a month to see what they've come up with.

Add me to the Caveman list! However, I would suggest (if you have the time) to read over "What's New" in Sonar and just experiment with it. I call that lab work and I usually do this at least once a week for an hour or two. Sometimes you can really add new things to your old work-flow...other times, it's best to stick with what you know. I'd rather have the new stuff as well as the option to work the way I know how. :)
 
-Danny

While I certainly don't use every feature when a new one comes out I still want to get at least a cursory familiarity with it. I might not need or want a feature today but you never know.

Example. I didn't know I wanted Mix Recall. I new I wanted a way to more easily explore different versions of the same piece of music but I wasn't sure how that may be accomplished. Then along comes Mix Recall and bam, that's what I've been wanting all along.

That's just one feature - as more features are added we'll either modify our work habits to incorporate them or not. Either way I look forward to exploring each new feature as the bakers present them to us.

Same here...I don't consider myself to use many features, but do accidentally stumble upon some things that are cool that I was totally unaware of.  Like track colors...found that totally by accident yesterday and love it.

Rock based computing?

It's all in the stones!

Lots if years testing... No one can really manage to fully use let alone test everything.

I work many ways depending on the situation as I'm sure many others do. I do my best to tinker with every new feature over time. I used to write something new that used as many new features as I could simply as an endeavor to learn my available toolset.

These days Sonar's included tools are so good that I rarely use anything else.

As was mentioned earlier in this thread, analog studios were more about the room and the board and each would acquire growing collections of extras over the years.

It doesn't take a lot of tools to make art. Only the desire and drive to make it happen using whatever you have as best you can.

Many decades of ordinary live recording... When there was a band or group performance, capture it! Overdubs, punching, wild tracking...

The onset of synth arpeggiators and then sequencers opened a whole new world of control and another growing set of tools...

It's never been about which tools to use... Mostly about the finished piece of art!

Keep using whatever rocks your boat and make art that is music to the world!

Keni
Rock based computing?

In the 80's and 90's the rock music industry was almost entirely rock based.

bitflipper
stistudio, what's the problem?
 
The ideal DAW environment is one that you can forget about, that doesn't get in the way of creativity. If you haven't hit any barriers, then it must be working for you. Your 15 years has brought you to the point where running the DAW is as natural as turning on an amplifier. That's the goal, and you're there already.
 
Now, if you're running out of ideas and need a creative kickstart, then virtual instruments may be one avenue to explore. Kontakt offers a lotta bang for the buck. Komplete has a lot more instruments, but would also demand a greater commitment and a longer learning curve. But you've already got Dimension Pro, so you could start exploring that without spending a dime, and it won't require much study and experimentation to get something useful out of it.

Very Well Said...

I guess I'm still a caveman too primarily using a subset of Sonar 3S centered around Midi and loops.  I am thinking about going to Professional but not sure if I really "need" it or if it will just be more I will never use... The same reason I am not using Producer. I'm just not sure I need all the new brushes, paints and stencils for my cave paintings...
 
Have there been any large intrinsic or foundation changes that would merit going from 3 Studio to (4?) Professional?

John
Sonar 3 is a very old version. Do you mean Sonar X3? 

Yes, My bad X3e Studio.