I was going to post this on the "Announcement" thread but I thought I'd start a new one.
 
My backup DAW is Mixcraft, I purchased it a few years ago for about $89.00 and upgraded to version 8.  It work fine for what I need. I am not planning on uninstalling Sonar until I know when the servers are coming down or the if any Windows 10 updates makes Sonar useless.  I think Sonar was better than Mixcraft but someone suggested I look into it and I wanted a backup at that time.
 
I found this article on a comparison between PT and Mixcraft and it appears PT has a ton of cons.
 
https://www.slant.co/versus/6429/6447/~pro-tools-11_vs_acoustica-mixcraft-8-pro-studio
 
I am not saying to get Mixcraft as there are, as you all know by now, numerous DAWs out there, some are offering discounts for Sonar users to switch over.  Had I known now what I know, I would have looked for a DAW that had the supportive file types Sonar has.  I had asked a question on a previous thread if I can take my files in Sonar and transfer to another DAW.  Someone replied, "Sonar can export OMF. If you have another DAW that can import OMF then that will help a lot."
 
I am thinking of looking for a DAW that supports OMF, if anyone knows of any, please let me know!

Samplitude X3 has OMF support and is on an insane deal till December 20th. for only $149 with lots of extra's.
 
Here is a thread on KVR audio forum about it.
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=495714&sid=4dd424b4f93dad3e154562184b6f2ff5
 

Do you know if I will be able to export my audio files from Sonar to Samplitude X3?
 
Thanks!

Veets
Do you know if I will be able to export my audio files from Sonar to Samplitude X3?

 
Yes.  You can either export an OMF file, make stems (be it at the individual track level or submix level), or bring in the raw WAV audio files (not sure if 64-bit float files are compatible or not as that isn't as commonly supported in other DAWs as the rest of the formats SONAR uses internally).  If using WAV files, you'd probably want to either make sure they are in Broadcast Wave format so they can be imported at their time stamps or start from the zero point of the project.
 
You may also want to save a Type 1 MIDI file so you can import the tempo map and any MIDI data into Samplitude.  That also imports markers from the SONAR project.

rickpaul
[You can either export an OMF file, make stems (be it at the individual track level or submix level), or bring in the raw WAV audio files (not sure if 64-bit float files are compatible or not as that isn't as commonly supported in other DAWs as the rest of the formats SONAR uses internally).

Rick Paul rides again!  Looks like almost everyone is here for the Cake funeral.
 
Should I call Ted and Phil to invite them too?

the_user_formally_known_as_glennbo

rickpaul
[You can either export an OMF file, make stems (be it at the individual track level or submix level), or bring in the raw WAV audio files (not sure if 64-bit float files are compatible or not as that isn't as commonly supported in other DAWs as the rest of the formats SONAR uses internally).

Rick Paul rides again!  Looks like almost everyone is here for the Cake funeral.
 
Should I call Ted and Phil to invite them too?

LOL!  I don't do web forums for the most part, but happened to be looking through some of these today that were oriented toward Digital Performer and Samplitude.  I still use SONAR Platinum at the moment, but am trying DP this weekend to see if I want to take advantage of the significantly lowered crossgrade price through 12/21, and I had already sprung for the Samplitude X3 Pro Suite "crazy deal" a while back since I figured, whether I end up using Samplitude or not in the long-term, SpectraLayers Pro could justify the cost of the bundle (at least if I end up using it -- I already had Sound Forge Pro 11, or that would have done it, too).  I am pretty impressed with Samplitude thus far, though.  (I'd actually used a low-end version of it back before I got Pro Audio 9, which was my initial entry into the Cakewalk line.)  It might well be that I'll be around here a bit more than usual over the next few months as I try out different DAWs and look to compare experiences.

rickpaul
LOL!  I don't do web forums for the most part, but happened to be looking through some of these today that were oriented toward Digital Performer and Samplitude.  I still use SONAR Platinum at the moment, but am trying DP this weekend to see if I want to take advantage of the significantly lowered crossgrade price through 12/21, and I had already sprung for the Samplitude X3 Pro Suite "crazy deal" a while back since I figured, whether I end up using Samplitude or not in the long-term, SpectraLayers Pro could justify the cost of the bundle (at least if I end up using it -- I already had Sound Forge Pro 11, or that would have done it, too).  I am pretty impressed with Samplitude thus far, though.  (I'd actually used a low-end version of it back before I got Pro Audio 9, which was my initial entry into the Cakewalk line.)  It might well be that I'll be around here a bit more than usual over the next few months as I try out different DAWs and look to compare experiences.

While I still believe that web forums are clunky square newsgroup pegs that have been pounded into round and inefficient HTML holes, NNTP requires far too many functioning brane cells for the masses, so I've been forced to visit several in order to carry on any exchange of thoughts and ideas.   ;)
 
I jumped ship to REAPER way back in August of 2011, and still absolutely love it, but have looked in on the Cake forums from time to time since then. When I saw the news that Gibson was stopping all Cake operations, I decided to pop in and chat with some of the fellow Cakewalk alumni who I've known for more than 20 years now.
 

the_user_formally_known_as_glennbo
While I still believe that web forums are clunky square newsgroup pegs that have been pounded into round and inefficient HTML holes, NNTP requires far too many functioning brane cells for the masses, so I've been forced to visit several in order to carry on any exchange of thoughts and ideas.   ;)

 
While I don't know about the "too many brain cells" part -- other than needing a newsreader, NNTP stuff was pretty darn simple -- I'm with you on the web forums and square pegs and round holes.  They main reasons I ditched newsgroups were because my ISP stopped carrying them, and the cakewalk.audio group got to be about just about everything but SONAR/Cakewalk. :)
 
Even before I got back into the day job world (5+ years ago), web forums took way more time to get through any given amount of material compared to newsgroups (with a decent newsreader).  And these days my time is way more limited.
 

 
I jumped ship to REAPER way back in August of 2011, and still absolutely love it, but have looked in on the Cake forums from time to time since then. When I saw the news that Gibson was stopping all Cake operations, I decided to pop in and chat with some of the fellow Cakewalk alumni who I've known for more than 20 years now.

 
I've come here from time to time when researching a specific problem, but most of the time it is just to search for information, occasionally to ask a question, and, if I happen to see something I can answer while I'm here, then I'll post.  Did that a couple of times today. :)
 
I'm still very happy with SONAR, and Gibson's tenure really did make some positive differences, at least up until they pulled the plug. :(  Other that the Staff View's still being the same limited thing it has been all along (my long-term complaint, which rears its head every time I do something like add a string quartet to a pop track), SONAR's been good to me.  But I've been through the company going away thing before with Passport Designs and MasterTracks Pro and Encore, so, though I'm still hoping for some positive resolution to give SONAR a future (my early thoughts are in a blog at http://rickpaulmusic.com/...e-demise-of-cakewalk/, and those are still  more or less where I stand aside from having done a lot more "paper" research and started some hands-on evaluations), I want to be a bit more proactive in looking into backup plans this time around.  I'll likely try Reaper at some point.  I didn't like it the one time I did some time back, but I imagine it's made some progress over the years, just like most of the other alternatives have. :)

rickpaul

the_user_formally_known_as_glennbo
While I still believe that web forums are clunky square newsgroup pegs that have been pounded into round and inefficient HTML holes, NNTP requires far too many functioning brane cells for the masses, so I've been forced to visit several in order to carry on any exchange of thoughts and ideas.   ;)

 
While I don't know about the "too many brain cells" part -- other than needing a newsreader, NNTP stuff was pretty darn simple -- I'm with you on the web forums and square pegs and round holes.  They main reasons I ditched newsgroups were because my ISP stopped carrying them, and the cakewalk.audio group got to be about just about everything but SONAR/Cakewalk. :)

 
I think everybody's ISP killed their news servers. There are several free ones still out there and believe it or not, the original Cakewalk.Audio from the Cakewalk Pro Audio days still exists and still gets posts almost every day, although very few.
 

Even before I got back into the day job world (5+ years ago), web forums took way more time to get through any given amount of material compared to newsgroups (with a decent newsreader).  And these days my time is way more limited.

 
You got back into the day job world, and I left it two years ago!  I'd been paying off everything including my house, planning to retire at 62, but I got nudged out of my cushy IT position, and decided to just go for it even earlier. Now I have the time to wade through the molasses and muck of web based forums.  <GGG>
 

 
I jumped ship to REAPER way back in August of 2011, and still absolutely love it, but have looked in on the Cake forums from time to time since then. When I saw the news that Gibson was stopping all Cake operations, I decided to pop in and chat with some of the fellow Cakewalk alumni who I've known for more than 20 years now.

 
I've come here from time to time when researching a specific problem, but most of the time it is just to search for information, occasionally to ask a question, and, if I happen to see something I can answer while I'm here, then I'll post.  Did that a couple of times today. :)
 
I'm still very happy with SONAR, and Gibson's tenure really did make some positive differences, at least up until they pulled the plug. :(  Other that the Staff View's still being the same limited thing it has been all along (my long-term complaint, which rears its head every time I do something like add a string quartet to a pop track), SONAR's been good to me.  But I've been through the company going away thing before with Passport Designs and MasterTracks Pro and Encore, so, though I'm still hoping for some positive resolution to give SONAR a future (my early thoughts are in a blog at http://rickpaulmusic.com/...e-demise-of-cakewalk/, and those are still  more or less where I stand aside from having done a lot more "paper" research and started some hands-on evaluations), I want to be a bit more proactive in looking into backup plans this time around.  I'll likely try Reaper at some point.  I didn't like it the one time I did some time back, but I imagine it's made some progress over the years, just like most of the other alternatives have. :)

Bottom line is you should use whatever DAW software you can make music on, because that's what it's really about. Constantly tinkering with your DAW software or looking at it with a blank stare gets no music recorded. For me, REAPER is totally out of my way, and I don't ever think about it when I'm working on music, which lets me work on my music and not work on my DAW.