Although initially I figured I'd stick with Sonar Platinum as long as possible, I'm finding it difficult to not be distracted by the fact that it's been abandoned. So I'm considering other DAWs, mainly Cubase and Studio One. I used Cubase a long time ago and thought it was fine. I mostly just ended up going with Sonar way back when because another musician friend convinced me to at the time, and I've been using it ever since. Cubase is what I think is the right alternative for me based on what I already know about it.
 
Studio One I'm not familiar with at all. I keep seeing people saying they're amazed at how great the workflow is, how they can work so much faster than they could in Sonar and are producing so much more music than they did in Sonar. So I downloaded the demo today and poked around it for a bit. While it definitely appears to be a more streamlined program than Sonar or Cubase, it's not altogether clear what's better about the workflow for the composition and production of music. 
 
Can anyone elaborate on this? Can you explain how Studio One has enabled you to feel so much more productive, and maybe broadly what it is about your music making process that Studio One has meshed so well with?

There are a bunch of videos on Workflow in S1-3.  Here's a list
take a look at see if it suits you

https://www.youtube.com/r...=studio+one+3+workflow

I speak from a very specialized point of view. I run programs that offer teens free studio time and education. For me, I save a ton of time being able to jump between paid and free versions since the project files are the same with the difference being non-included plugins are simply not available. Bottom line is i don't have to do anything special to move either direction

Since the studios i run are in mostly urban community, the kids are trying to emulate top 40 music which is often dominated by hip-hop and hip-hop influenced pop like Justin bieber. I am literally asked every day " how do you make.. [ insert a top 5 song like "bodak yellow" or "rock star" This style of music is easier to create in studio one because:

1) easy to use sampler included. To make an 808 based bassline typically done in fl studio is simple. Drag 808 sample in, set to mono, increase release, glide if applicable and play. Same process in sonar is awkward. I managed to do it using rapture but was clunky in comparison.

2) the keyboard shortcuts and split to grid feature in piano roll makes snare and hi-hat rolls used in many of these songs ridiculously quick to program.

3) Does a better job of recognizing controller features. Even when doing this manually, process is much simpler to me

I am aware of videos on YouTube. I'm more interested in hearing from people here about why they feel Studio One is so much better for their productivity than Sonar is/was.

entrelac -
 
I suggest downloading and using the SO3 demo.  There is so much that goes into preferences; visuals, concepts, workflow, etc.
 
Ultimately, I like the current SO3 better than SONAR, but not as much as Reaper.

entrelac
I am aware of videos on YouTube. I'm more interested in hearing from people here about why they feel Studio One is so much better for their productivity than Sonar is/was.

Hey entrelac,
Describing that is difficult just due to human nature and you really need to see if SO fits "your" way of doing things. Studio One was developed with a workflow centric design and not gzitz or customization. So what is that? The general idea is that if you are doing a task, most if not all of the features, buttons, dials, will be near the area where you are performing the task (not buried in a menu somewhere on the other side of the GUI).  Sorry to give you a open ended answer, but you really need to answer that question for yourself.
 
Take care,
h

For me, and just me, it's been very awkward navigating through SO3 so far. I like a lot of things it has, but just the routine little things I never had to think about is slowing my progress right now. I expected that to be the case though. Just something as simple as where the song starts and stops and doesn't go back to the now time or previous start is frustrating because it doesn't act like I'm used to with Sonar. There is Alt P that helps some, but if you want to change where you start you have to turn that off. All in all though I'm gonna stay with SO3 for now.

The most useful feature in S1 for me is quantize in realtime. After you have recorded your midi, you can loop playback and play with the quantize setting and hear it in realtime. Can't do that in Sonar.
The biggest draw for Sonar users to convert to is it's ARA melodyne implimentation. It is at least as good as Sonar's.
The keyboard shortcut might take a while to learn but it was well worth my time.
Comping was a breeze.
The only thing I miss was Prochannel.
I have been a Sonar user since 8.5 and S1 for 2 months.
S1's project page was very well designed and great for mastering and putting a CD project togather.
S1 might not feel sexier than Sonar but it get gets the job done faster.
Last but not least, due to it's larger user base, there are a lot more youtube instruction video compared to Sonar. Even in groove3 there are a least 3 times moreS1 videos.
I love Sonar but I believe in being versatile.

Jimbo21
For me, and just me, it's been very awkward navigating through SO3 so far. I like a lot of things it has, but just the routine little things I never had to think about is slowing my progress right now. I expected that to be the case though. Just something as simple as where the song starts and stops and doesn't go back to the now time or previous start is frustrating because it doesn't act like I'm used to with Sonar. There is Alt P that helps some, but if you want to change where you start you have to turn that off. All in all though I'm gonna stay with SO3 for now.

Getting used to using the Keypad for the Transport controls isn't that bad, once you put your mind to it. Navigating around is a little bit harder because I was so used to CTRL-PGUP and CTRL-PGDN to quickly move from measure to measure. Well, it turns out that you can change what those are assigned to in SO so that it functions the same way. Or you can use whatever keys you want. One of the cool things in SO is that when you want to see all of your keyboard shortcuts at once, you can click the menu option in the Help menu and SO will generate a web page that displays all of the commands and which ones you have mapped. Pretty neat way to keep track of them.
 
I've also got an NI S88 controller and SO recognizes the Transport controls on that out of the box, so I can use those buttons to navigate as well.
 
Beyond that, the F2, F3 and F4 keys will really get a workout...
 
Regards,
Dan
 

You can also change keyboard shortcuts easily