I was intruiged by the post about Overture and their offer. So, having a different notation program (Notion), I decided to see what I could do with it. Basically, it crashed every time I time I tried to use a plugin other than Garritan, which it natively supports. It says it supports EWSO and Vienna, but I couldn't get them in without crashing. I did get Kontakt in and even loaded it up and had sound, but then mysteriously the sound went away. And then even the sound for Garritan went away. In fact, I had no sound period anynore.
This experience is leading me to believe that notation programs just aren't DAWS. Let's face it, if you want superior sound, stable plugins and decent mixing, you need a DAW. So, why would a notation guy like me prefer a DAW? Why do I work backwards so to speak, first completing my piece in Sonar or Reaper, then exporting it to Notion? Because in writing for orchestra, I need the feedback of excellent sound, in order to orchestrate well. This is because I'm self-taught, and don't necessarily have the proper knowledge of orchestration techniques.
Dorico is supposed to be the first true hybrid DAW/notation program. But it's a work in progress. I think my experience showcases the innate difficulty in blending these two kinds of programs. If you pour your resources into one end, the other end is going to suffer. To do them both equally well may be well-nigh impossible, at least if you plan to have competitive pricing.
So, DAWS with notation give you a basic way to work with notes, but if you want real notation, you have to have a true notation program. What about Cubase? Well, it does have very good notation, but as an aid in composing it has a serious flaw. You can't select a passage longer then the view. It doesn't continue scrolling to the right when you reach the edge. You have to go out of score view and use another view. There goes my workflow. They told me you can switch to page view. True, but then you only have one instrument. But I need all the instruments, as I frequently copy/paste to hear a passage on various intruments. That's an impossible workflow. I have heard that Digital Performer also has limitations in this regard. I have never tried Pro Tools and don't want to.
So, that leaves Sonar and Reaper. Sadly, I never upgraded from 8.5, thoulgh I was very close a couple times. So, that leaves Reaper as the only DAW with a workflow that lets me do what need resonably quickly. (Another issue with Cubase: its event list is hopelessly complex and hard to work in. Reaper's is exactly the same as Sonar's). I guess I could go Mac, but that would be a waste of money. I like my PC, it works very well.
So, if anyone uses a DAW like I do (probably not many people), Reaper is your best bet.