Got the Cubase 9.5 Pro Crossgrade. Great DAW and not so fierce as I feared.
 
jdf

I've been with Sonar since Sonar 3. Now sing Splat pro. 
 
Why would I just dump the program now? As long as it records and plays back midi and wav files, and houses my VST's, what else do I need? I'm going to kick the can down the road. By the time I want to upgrade DAW programs, it will probably be S1 v6-7 or Cubase 16 :)
 
I'd rather spend my time making music than fussing with something new I have to figure out.

What you choose to replace SONAR is likely to depend on how you use SONAR. SONAR became over the years a massive Swiss army knife in an attempt to offer something to everyone while chasing every type of musician/engineer they could corral as a new user. Ultimately the strategy failed, but in the meantime the application came to be used by different users in so many different ways that there is no standard user. Many people used it primarily as a multitrack recorder, and could probably be happy with Audacity or some other much less complex DAW. Some people used it for loop based MIDI construction. My own primary use was linear (non-looping) MIDI, which use had not really been a priority of development in recent years. Nonetheless, it is still outstanding in the field for that use. The crossgrade to Cubase is looking attractive to me at this point.
 
At any rate, without some idea of how users actually used SONAR, this discussion of what people are switching to can be pretty misleading if it is intended to serve as guidance to naïve switchers.

I haven't decidede 100% yet but my 3 options are:
 
1. Studio One 3: the leader right now. Pretty easy to switch too. Seems to have what I need...and pretty stable and solid. The support over there at Presonus seems spot on.
2. Pro Tools: I have 12.5 which is where my "license" ended. I got it "free" with an Eleven Rack (which is a nice bit o' kit). But I never used it because of Sonar. The workflow isn't TOO far removed from Sonar.. and seems easy enough.. but it's be wrestling with me to get it to run (required a full format/reinstall of Windows due to it.. and iLok throwing fits on Install).. it's crashed a few times.. but I'm giving it a shot because it's "the standard DAW" and the Cloud Collabation does seem pretty badass. Not sure I'll fork over any more money to them. I'm still experimenting with Mac OS.. 
 
3. MixBus 4: got it for the deal they offered in the Sonar aftermath.. got to play with it.. and downloaded a project full of tracks and imported it.. It actually sounded great.. and was very "linear" in it's workflow. It's literally sitting at a console.. except when you decide to edit then it's a interface similar to PT, Sonar, etc.. It works in Linux and the license covers all 3 OS's.. =) If my interface works in Linux.. might be a winner!
 
That's my 3 cents (inflation).
 

I been using Reaper for a while anyhow since from X3. The resources for learning Sonar were an added cost and worth it to get a real grip on using it.
Compared to PRotools where there are oddles of videos on it on youtube.
X3 still works but the idea of Reaper and it's price sold me on it after I noticed lots of youtube tutorials on it.
I got to say I bought Mixbus for$29 as it was cheap and I am very tempted to return to my first real DAW, Samplitude. That deal atm is incredible.
But how many DAWs does one need and how easy is it to learn it is a consideration.
X3 still works fine. 
 

The only DAW I didn't have that I bought recently after hearing about Gibson Dropping Cakewalk is Studio One 3 Pro . I have a feeling that I may miss certain features I use in SONAR . I'm trying to keep an open mind because I have already noticed S O P 3 has features I already have seen ( but not learned ) that will offset the differences 
 
As a Samp user I recently upgraded my Samplitude Pro X 2 Standard to Pro X 3 Suite ...the deal came w some real nice SONY content I didn't have SpectralLayers & Sound Forge ...
 
Both of these deals were just too good to pass up
 
I still use SONAR & pretty much Love SPlat ..that's not gonna change ...
 
Some of the other DAW's  SONAR users are trying out and demoing I already had  ...
They were gotten during  a time when they were either on sale or when I had the money to spend ...
 
No emotional distress concerning the recent fate of Cakewalk was involved ..
Outside of SONAR so far these are my keepers ...
I Love Mixbus 4 , I'm a Mixbus user since 2 .5 , ...I don't currently have the need to pick up MB 32 ...
I enjoy  what Tracktion Waveform 8 brings to the table a lot ..I started out w T5 , then T7 ...
I got my Reaper license a year and a half ago ...
I'm a slow starter w Reaper , sort of a tough learning curve in a way for me but I do like what I have been able to accomplish with Reaper for so far...the program is very deep , runs great on my lap tops , and I can see why people become evangelistic about its capabilities ...
I also enjoy using  Mixcraft 8 Pro..I started w Mixcraft 7 Pro last year and I upgraded to MC 8 because I really like the improvements they have made since MC 7 ...
 
I do like Logic a lot ...yet , lately I'm spending most of my time using a PC ...
I have a lighter version of Cubase  on my Mac ...I never seemed to gel w it ...my fault ...I do have the e licenser on that computer but not the motivation to demo Cubase ...
I may consider bumping up from Live 9 intro to Standard ....I do like using the program even w intros limitations
it is just a little to rich in price for my blood to upgraded ....
 
that's it for now , anything else like BIAB , Transcribe or i Real Band I use for my musical growth and education to either keep up my chops ..or to go and get some ..
 
 
all the best,
 
Kenny
 
 

I'm expading my use to Bitwig Studio and Studio One.

kennywtelejazz
The only DAW I didn't have that I bought recently after hearing about Gibson Dropping Cakewalk is Studio One 3 Pro . I have a feeling that I may miss certain features I use in SONAR . I'm trying to keep an open mind because I have already noticed S O P 3 has features I already have seen ( but not learned ) that will offset the differences 
 
As a Samp user I recently upgraded my Samplitude Pro X 2 Standard to Pro X 3 Suite ...the deal came w some real nice SONY content I didn't have SpectralLayers & Sound Forge ...
 
Both of these deals were just too good to pass up
 
I still use SONAR & pretty much Love SPlat ..that's not gonna change ...
 

I did what Kenny did with Studio One Pro 3.5 and may pick up the Samplitude/Sound Forge/Spectral Layers bundle as well. The thing is, I already own Sound Forge 11, so I'm hoping that they might take a bit off the price (I've got Spectral Layers 2 as well, but could use the upgrade to Spectral Layers 4. It's actually far cheaper in bundle than as a stand-alone upgrade. I'm not sure who to ask about this....)
 
I intend to keep using Sonar Platinum, but switch as time goes on. 

If sonar fails at some point I still have Studio One 3 , all of the Mixbus DAW versions. I just bought the Samplitude deal and i bought Reaper. Out of them all I am really liking Reaper but they all have something good to bring to the table.
I'm thinking I will record in Reaper, mix in Samplitude because I like the way it handles plugins, run the mix through Mixbus 32C for it's flavor and complete a CD in Studio One.
 

anydmusic

jude77

jyoung60
The acid test for me is to start using a new DAW right of the box without looking at a manual; see how far I can get on my own. 

That's how I approached my search.  I don't do heavy midi editing or complex audio comping so I really just need get to the basic functions as quickly as possible.

I started with this approach then I hit a couple of things where I remembered the amount of time that I spent in the Sonar manual, not forgetting a copy of Sonar Power, to get them working. 
 
I agree that some things should be easy to do without the manual i.e. adding tracks, inserting effects, editing MIDI and Audio. A also accept that some things might require some reading of the manuals like setting up my external MIDI devices and adding a hardware controller. Things that I knew how to do in Sonar but were not actually that intuitive (IMHO).

That's a very good point.  I'm willing to hunker down with a manual, I just don't want to have to do it from the get-to.