Short term sticking with Sonar and hoping that there will be some good offers to unlock some of the locked items like True Pianos and Nomad Blue Tubes. I think Adaptive Limiter needs something specific to Sonar as it was linked to an update so I accept that's gone when I finally leave that said I just got Stealth Limiter with T-Racks 5 so I'll be taking a look at that.
 
Medium term I'll start to look at options and try different products to see what would be good for me. One reason for not rushing is that, along with the locked item issue, I now have some VSTs that are orphaned. I'm beginning to thing that replacing the Sonar DAW is going to be easier than replacing the Cakewalk VSTs that I have grown used to. If the third party developers continue to support Sonar I can see this being where my money is going to be spent.
 
Long term, as I'm not going Mac, a Sonar "replacement" so Cubase, Studio One, Mix Craft or something different like Reason, FL Studio or Live. I'm also interested to see what Magix do with Acid Pro. Will probably focus more on DAW features than content though especially if that content is locked.

In early 2016, I decided to update my Reaper license, buy Cubase Pro, and update my Studio One license (at that point I was just using it for the product page) because I wasn't happy with how Sonar was progressing. After Gibson took over, it seemed that things were on the upswing with Sonar. I loved the new developments at Cakewalk, and thought they were on the right path. I learned the ins/outs of the other programs in my spare time. Eventually, the development at Cake seemed to break down. Once the future updates page was gone, and lifetime updates were sold, I knew the writing was on the wall. I hoped that there would be a down time, and another company would purchase.
 
Studio One was too limited. I do a lot of MIDI, and use a lot of hardware synths. Reaper was too fiddly when it came to MIDI. The updates this year helped a lot, but I just want my software to work as simply as possible without having to build macros and tool bars. Sonar was still great when I wanted to do something brilliant like drag audio to the timeline for a tempo map, but the drum maps, PRV changes, etc. didn't get upgraded. They either stayed in their clunky original form, or got dumbed-down. Breaking the ability to use both the the piano roll and the drum map view at the same time was a total killer when it came to orchestral work.
 
The more I dug into Cubase, the more I liked it. If there was something I wanted to do, there were a ton of tutorials and even actual program courses out there. The interface is slick, intuitive, and customizable. The Control Room was a revelation. I've used it for a solid year, and never had a crash. Now, I not only like it, but genuinely consider it the best daw I've ever used. The development from version 8 to 9.5 has been phenomenal. The forum isn't as personable or volatile as the Sonar forum, but I've had every question answered quickly and correctly. I've spent a lot of money on orchestral libraries the last couple of years. Expression Maps are fundamentally part of my workflow. The great experience with Cubase led me to purchase Wavelab, which now works in conjunction with Cubase. With these two together, there's literally nothing that I feel I can't do.

I plan to keep using Sonar for the time being at least but I am looking at alternatives as a plan B. I am not expecting it to stop working anytime soon, nor am I expecting a phoenix to rise for the ashes, however welcome that would be.
 
Studio One 3 looks pretty good and it would be a relatively easy transition but looking at capabilities I think Cubase may be more suited to my 90% MIDI/Virtual Instrument work. I have both demos installed and I will be watching Groove 3 videos. I think Studio One would be a step back for MIDI work and Cubase may be a step forward.
 
I think the cross-grade offers, while welcome are putting a bit of extra pressure on people to come to a quick decision.

I will keep using Sonar as long as I can, but have has Reaper on the side for a long time now. For me Reaper has been a tool for certain tasks since the work flow in it differs just slightly too little from Sonar and I find myself frustrated that it is not Sonar.
 
I've been pondering getting Bitwig Studio since they released version 1 and felt now is the time to get it and start learning. For me the work flow in Bitwig is different enough that I'm not relying on my Sonar experiense to carry me.

I have been trying a few other DAWs the last two days, Mixcraft, Reaper. Abelton and Studio One, but I don`t think I will buy a new DAW now. I will continue to use Sonar.
 
 

jude77
Where are the rest of you guys?

I'm in the catbird seat and fielding offers!
 
Seriously though, I already have a number of DAWs (probably too many), but the only flagship I've ever purchased was SONAR X3 Pro, then upgrading to "lifetime" SPlat. I'll continue using SONAR as my main squeeze for the time being, with an eye out for my next flagship.

Kuusniemi
 
I've been pondering getting Bitwig Studio since they released version 1 and felt now is the time to get it and start learning. For me the work flow in Bitwig is different enough that I'm not relying on my Sonar experiense to carry me.

I heard that Bitwig does not support time signature changes, can that be true? it would be a major deal breaker for me.

Glyn Barnes
I heard that Bitwig does not support time signature changes, can that be true? it would be a major deal breaker for me.

If time signature changes are important to you and as a result flexible metronome options are as well, you are going to love Cubase.  However, the really good stuff just got introduced in Version 9.5, so you won't be able to play with it in your 8.5 demo download.

Updated Studio One to v3.? (which I really never use).
$65 at JJRShop, that was a no-brainer.
Off to watch some Groove3 vids on Cubase (more "mature" program than SO3 or Mixcraft?).
Will run SPlat as long as I can, but without further development...
Got to come up with a "plan" for backing up all projects.
I guess one could always open any cwp file in X3, save as a mid file, and export all audio at measure 1.
 
T

Glyn Barnes: I have not delved into Bitwig yet so much to have tinkered with such things. So can neither deny or confirm it.