IMHO SPlat is the best looking DAW in the marketplace.  Studio One, which I am demoing now, is not offensive looking, but the console bugs me a bit.  Overall, it's nowhere close to Splat in the looks department.  Neither are most others DAWs though...
 
I'm going to try to be focus on the functionality and workflow on my trials, then looks at appearance and figure out if it's a deal breaker.  But the SPlat graphics designers are like the Michelangelo of DAWs...
 
 

SO3, I don't just don't feel the "love".
Its so 8.5.3, which was a great program, back in the day...
 
T

RSMCGUITAR
I downloaded the demo and I think it looks pretty awesome to be honest.

Ditto here. SPlat was probably best, but Studio One is very cool, functional.

I've been downloading and Demo's DAWs this weekend, I'm not switching but I thought it was a good time to try a few again just to re confirm my loyalty to Sonar. My overall impression is as said above.. All of them are like going back to Sonar 8.5. There is just to much missing and especially the PVR and the smart tool. 
 
They all do audio exactly the same, but midi which I use a lot, is lame and even a joke in some like Mix Bus. 
Cubase was the biggest disappointment as I was expecting more had been improved in the midi editing, but it seems unchanged from my 5LE version. So it's Sonar until it dies for me. Looks like we are going to be able to always activate it so that worry is over with. 

I Tried the S1 demo and I liked the hi-dpi compatibility of Studio one, it looks much better on the 4k monitor. probably Sonar will never have hi-dpi compatibilty... also I liked the dark background on studio one midi editor, its easier on the eyes (unlike this forum's blinding background). I liked the midi edition on s1.
S1 has some parts that still look like crap, outdated, flat and boring, such as the clips/events.

I like the look of Studio One.

I don't like or intend to bash any software, but I'll happily chime in here too, because I know themes are not too difficult for the makers or community to create and offer. I'm a relatively new user to Sonar (about a year as an owner) and I really like it. Plus the past 6 months or so, I've been following many tutorials which have made me feel right at home with Sonar.
 
I'm 49, and I sometimes worry if my age makes me old-fashioned, plus I have fairly limited or stubborn design skills, which can be quite old-fashioned, too, I'm often reminded.
 
When I first tried Sonar a few years ago, I thought it looked rather technical. On the other hand when I first tried FL Studio I was quite impressed by its bright colours, and flat and smooth modern UI.
 
Fast forward to recent days and I've tried a few DAWs again, a little reluctantly I suppose.
 
When people mentioned the DAWs to consider, I first went on YouTube, and honestly thought the UIs looked pretty cool. But then when trying the software, I too felt that the UI's were not as premium feeling as Sonar. Maybe it's a careful balance between feeling like a piece of physical hardware, and reacting fluidly like a piece of modern touchscreen software (obviously).
 
Having different monitors (screens) can play a part of course (quality, size, position, etc. ). It's important to take the time to move windows around, expand the lanes and controls to the size you are familiar with, change colors to something more your taste, and those kinds of things, and try different themes if they have any.
 
I was hoping to be more impressed by the UI's to the point of wanting to jump ship (given the apparent circumstances), but the truth has been that I appreciate Sonar even more, now.
 
It's not such a big deal for me emotionally, but I still can't understand why a perfectly decent, powerful, complete, and regularly added-to app can get binned just like that. It seems like it should come to its own rescue somehow. 
 

I tried the Demo of Studio One. It's a Joke honestly in my opinion. 
 
Here's the first problem I had with it, it is based off this freebie software from years ago that is still available for download, even though it is limited called Kristal -  http://kreatives.org/kristal/
 
And if you want to DEMO studio one you have to give them a bunch of information/email etc...... Just to download a demo. 
 
I say NO to Studio One. It's no Cakewalk that's for sure......... 
 

I agree Studio One isn't anything like Sonar in the looks department. If you download it and open a blank project it doesn't exactly tempt me away from Sonar.
 
In order to see what it can do I recommend loading a few of the templates and getting a bit deeper into it. For me, this took it from bland to acceptable. I was on the Presonus forum and someone mentioned skins could be had but not officially from Presonus unless I misunderstood the statement.I plan to find out more about that. If possible I'll change the look of it to something brighter. My eyes follow larger numbers and lighter colors better. Once tracks are colored in SO3 it looks better. Still not as good as Sonar.
 
 The capability in SO is quite amazing. Once set up to go I can track in it fairly quickly and right now tracking audio and a few midi synths are all I really need. For those of you who record for money or plan to invest heavily in your hobby, Presonus offer some amazing gear. One such item is the new series three Studiolive mixer. Motorized faders, onboard efx that are. They market it for live work, however, it makes an excellent recording mixer. You can get into the basic verson, the 16.0.4 . In that mixer the faders aren't motorized. If you already have a decent interface the faderport might be something you could use. To me it's important to have integrated hardware if at all possible. No it isn't absolutely necessary but really nice when you have it and everything just lines up.
 
For me, SO3 will get me up and running fast. I am in daws to make music not spend the next year learning a new one that's probably even deeper than Sonar in some ways. Having a horde of tools won't help you if you can't find any of them. Yes I'll keep using Sonar, but I'm moving over to something I can trust in the future.
 
As has already been said, SO3 is still young compared to Cubase and Sonar. I like the idea of growing/learning along with it. This is an easier way to learn for me while I'm making music.
 
 
 

Serious_Noize!
I tried the Demo of Studio One. It's a Joke honestly in my opinion. 
 
Here's the first problem I had with it, it is based off this freebie software from years ago that is still available for download, even though it is limited called Kristal -  http://kreatives.org/kristal/
 
And if you want to DEMO studio one you have to give them a bunch of information/email etc...... Just to download a demo. 
 
I say NO to Studio One. It's no Cakewalk that's for sure......... 
 

Okay, let me see if I understand you. You think this:
 
 
 
looks like this:
 

 
Really? I'm not criticizing whether you like it or not as that's an entirely personal decision, but you honestly think that these are somehow similar? You think Studio One is based on Kristal? How?
 
I can't see it at all.