I don't bash Cakewalk or the SONAR platform because I am running legacy hardware that even the manufacturer doesn't support.  Noel personally offered his help but I didn't get a response from the Frontier Designs staff when I asked if they would look at the minidumps generated and contact Cakewalk so that maybe a solution could be developed that would solve my crash problems in SONAR X2a.

In the meantime, I tried out the Studio One Pro demo and transferred all the audio files, midi contained in the problem project and rebuilt the same plugin paths in each track.  Not a single crash or whimper.  So now, I'm using Studio One and really enjoying a more streamlined product that if the truth be told works more like how I want a DAW product to work.

I was once a hardcore devotee of SONAR but after being around the block a time or two and using other products, I'm simply using the one that's works best for whatever I'm doing.  I likely won't abandon the SONAR upgrade path but I will likely let it mature on each cycle before I jump on board.

I think we can find the good and bad in every product.

Impressions so far on a variety of aspects.
 
Cubase itself is most interesting.  I've only previously looked at SONAR in depth.  Some things (tempo editing for example) are vastly better in Cubase.  Some things (SONAR's Pro Channel) are not as well developed.  As to documentation (one of my most important criterea), it looks like about a tie.  SONAR has twice the number of pages, but also has a lot of fairly useless links (useless at least in printed material).  But both DAWs get pretty high marks for the doc.
 
The forums: SONAR/CW wins by a landslide.  You can only post on a Steinberg forum if you have a registered product.  The number of posts is way less there and there's nothing like the quality of help to be found here.  There's a lesson there somewhere about the oft-proposed imposition of limitiations on non-registered users.
 
Halion is interesting and deep.  It's also got inexcusably bad documentation.  There are extensive descriptions of how to use the 20 or so editors in the synth, but nowhere is an architectural overview of just how everything fits together.
 
Lastly ... the grass is greener syndrome.  I was amused to see a post in a Cubase forum by a disgruntled user asking "Do you test your programmers for drugs?".  The post went on to assert that the 7.05 release introduced more new bugs than the old bugs supposedly fixed.  Well, at least it's nice to know that wherever we go, we'll always feel right at home.

dmbaer
The forums: SONAR/CW wins by a landslide.  You can only post on a Steinberg forum if you have a registered product.  The number of posts is way less there and there's nothing like the quality of help to be found here. 

I would agree here that these forums seem to have much more to read and the interaction seems more intense as well.

vintagevibe
I've had the exact opposite experience.  I have had several people take time for detailed explanations and even sending me files I needed.  The user support on the Cubase forum is superb.  Also the Steinberg staff frequently chimes it to help with questions.  The Cubase forum is a tremendous resource. 

But I found this as well - a number of guys chimed in and helped with answers even before I registered my copy.
 
And I see more forums now requiring registration to stave off spammers, and other idiots - so I'm quite ok with that.
 
Lastly, one guy from the Cubase forums PMed me with the invitation to join HomeRecording.com, saying that many Cubase users are actually 'over there' instead, and that he only asks something on the Cubase forums if the question doesn't get solved on HomeRecording.com, which is almost never, he said.
 
I checked it out and it does have a broad spectrum of areas to read & chime in about across many subjects.
 
Admittedly, I'm spending less & less time on the Presonus forums.
Just not the same vibe there.
 
I do like the forums here though, so wild horses will be required for me to depart from here. 

dmbaer
Not that I need or have time for another forum as a regular destination, but this one does sound interesting.  I've never heard of it before.
 
Perhaps I didn't express myself well about the Cubase forums.  I didn't mean to imply they were of no value.  But there isn't the amount of traffic that we see here and I didn't get the sense of community that I feel here.  But maybe that's just because it's new and unfamiliar.  Anyway, thanks for the tip on HomeRecording.com.

No Sweat.
 
There's some good reading over there & lot's of subjects.
 
 
 
 

dmbaer
Well, this story just keeps getting better.  Steinberg has just released Halion 5.  Those of us who bought this bundle in the last couple of months get a free upgrade.  Sweet deal for ~$370.
 

 
I'll say!
 
Thanks for the notice. I didn't even know they were going to update it.  
 
I'm on it!
 

Studious
For those of you that purchased Cubase 6 with free 7 upgrade...
Did you have to install Cubase 6 (or anything else) before you could upgrade?  Or were you able to get Cubase 7 and install it directly/cleanly?
 
[edit] And does it come with the dongle?
 
Thanks!

I does come with the dongle.
 
I just installed it off the DVDs, ran the eLicenser and the upgrade to 7 happened more or less automatically.  The reason I don't remember more clearly is that the process was so free of hassle I didn't have to think too much about what was going on.  But I definetly did install 6 first, even though I don't think I ever even launched it one time.
 
Still waiting for an answer from customer support about how I can get the Halion 5 upgrade, however.
 
 
UPDATE:
 
Just a few hours after I posted this I got an email from Steinburg giving me two links to two DVD image files.  I must download these, burn DVDs and install from those.  I can hardly be the only W7 user requiring this approach, so I can't fathom why the on-line upgrade instructions didn't just say this in the first place.  Steinberg customer support must be getting a flood of similar requests like mine.
 
Don't interpret this as ****ing.  "Free" is pretty hard to complain about.

dmbaer
Still waiting for an answer from customer support about how I can get the Halion 5 upgrade, however.

Did you look on their site?
 
I saw some instructions there. Did you give that way a try at all?
 
I'm gonna try it in the next hour or 2 here, and let you know how it went either way.

One cool thing about Steinberg is that they allow you to resell their products without transfer fees. The elicenser thing is quite nifty actually.

jimusic
Ok, so it installed just fine in just a few minutes, however we do have to update the elicenser to hold the the new licenses for HALion 5 & HALSonic 5, which both got installed.
 
You should have the elicenser plugged in when installing, so you may want to update it first, as opposed to my earlier post about not having to plug it in.
 
The install process does look for it, so might as well just do that first.
 
[This matches the instructs that I read yesterday.]
 
Otherwise, that should be it!
 
HTH

Thanks for the pointers, jimusic, and thanks also for the PMs.  The first DVD image is downloading as I'm writing this.  Their servers or my ISP seems to be slow ... looks to be a seven hour download for just the first DVD.  But going forward nevertheless.  Thanks again.
 
 

jimusic
So does this mean that you did not get the 2 disks for HAL 4 included with your Cubase 6/7 purchase?
 
Mine came with those 2 plus 2 trial version disks, plus Cubase 6 plus Cubase 6 Elements.
 
Otherwise, like I said the whole process took only a few minutes for me & in less than an hour I was up and running with HAL 5 installed, open and licensed.
 

My initial purchase did come with the two H4 DVDs.  I suspect their tech support gave me "the hard way" to upgrade.  It took ten hours to download two DVD images and then it turns out they require double density DVDs, which I don't have on hand.  Sounds like there's also an upgrade install file, which is not what I ended up with.
 
I think I'll try your way!
 
UPDATE:
 
Your directions were dead on correct (ever considered writing software documentation?  ).  Now I'm fighting the Steinberg server.  The download craps out about 13 minutes into the ~20 minute process.  Trying again for the sixth time.  However, at least I know how to get the upgrade if the server starts working properly.  Thank you a bunch, jimusic!

jimusic
Alternatively, what if I emailed or PM'd the downloads to you that I've saved?

Thanks, but I suspect the attachment would be too big for my inbox.  Actually, I've got what I wanted right away, which is the H5 documentation PDF ... some nice soul posted it for download.  I've got the H5 full install DVD images as a backup plan (just need to buy some double density DVDs).  I expect I'll hear from Steinberg in the next day or so and maybe they'll be able to sort this out.  But, like I said, thanks!

dmbaer

jimusic
Alternatively, what if I emailed or PM'd the downloads to you that I've saved?

Thanks, but I suspect the attachment would be too big for my inbox.  Actually, I've got what I wanted right away, which is the H5 documentation PDF ... some nice soul posted it for download.  I've got the H5 full install DVD images as a backup plan (just need to buy some double density DVDs).  I expect I'll hear from Steinberg in the next day or so and maybe they'll be able to sort this out.  But, like I said, thanks!

Ok, let me know if you change your mind - I think the update itself may not be all that big, but I can't remember now.
 
It installed quite quickly though - like in seconds flat.

Zo
Are you guyz making actually steinberg support on a cakewalk forum ? lol

Hey, Zo ... we're talking about an instrument here, Halion 5, a soft synth!  Certainly that's not too over the line, is it? 
 
And besides, we're not exactly providing a glowing picture of Steinberg support, so it's not like we're rooting for the other team.