Current price I was offered is the Black Friday 50% off which is about £172.00 GBP inc VAT.

Are you going with Studio One Craig?

Sacalait
I don't work for Presonus but I do know a few of those folks. 

 
Nice.  I downloaded a trial version after watching some Youtube videos.  Automation seemed rather mysterious compared to SPlat, if I remember right, and I didn't like the gui all that much, but I could find my way around well enough.  For pro's like you, the StudioLive integration must be appealing too.

That's a nice gesture on their part, and I will more heavily consider Studio One for that reason.
I've spent a grand total of 10 min in the demo last night and it looks reasonably easy to learn. I really liked how SONAR handled take lanes/comping...hoping the replacement (when needed) is robust for that functionality.
So, yes...Studio One is my front runner. Price is right, I'll buy it either way.

Anyone know if Studio One can do "fit improvisation" tempo mapping like sonar?>

I also had the demo down and installed last night - had a play and got most things working.  It's not as deep as Sonar, not even close.  I was baffled as to my I couldn't set it up to slave to midi machine code (I run a hardware sequencer as a master) but turns out it just doesn't work like that.  Groan.  Sonar was so flexible in this regard, now I'm stumped and looking at Reaper - that's one that seems deep and mature like Sonar, has a passionate user base and frequent development. 

Studio One is already $200 here in the States for Thanksgiving.  I wouldn't be surprised if they gave that as a cross grade price in the meanwhile for SONAR, which is lower than their regular cross grade price.
 
I imagine I'll carry on with SONAR for the meanwhile - I'm sure next year Studio One and every other DAW will be similarly priced and I'm trying to figure out Maschine Jam.  I'm too old to figure out too much new software at a time.  I hope nothing breaks before next year w/ SONAR - it shouldn't.  I'm already running it on win 10 and win 7.
 
But Studio One does sound interesting.  I'm not really a power user but use mostly softsynth>audio with a few tracks of vocals and guitars.  I only do a little "band" recording that needs some of the esoteric editing features.  For me, Melodyne ain't a tool, it is an effect.  I'll fix a note or two but not a performance, that is the singer's job. 
 
Maybe Studio One is a fit for me?
 

I have S1 Artist so with the BF sales can get S1 Pro for $146. I wonder if the cross grade for Sonar will be better?

Cheers,

jayson

vladasyn
Cubase would not support Melodyne? 
 
Is there VST or some other way to use Melodyne in Cubase? 

Yes, the same way we used Melodyne under SONAR, pre-ARA. It was pretty clunky and prone to weirdness, such as Melodyne getting out of sync with SONAR. You had to chop a vocal up into small bits and make sure it didn't encompass any tempo changes. Then cross your fingers.
 
From folks I've talked to, Cubase users tend to be Antares users.
 
 
Speaking of Cubase, I spoke with a fellow forum user tonight who jumped on Cubase without hesitation. He seemed confident that he'd made a good choice. I've asked him to keep me apprised of his progress. His big milestone today was that he managed to scan his VSTs.

How Does Studio one sampler, Presence xt, compare to Sampletank? I always loved the instruments, effects, and content that packaged with cakewalk over the years. I was thinking of buying sample tank but maybe I can kill two birds if I buy Studio One and forgo sample tank if Presence is comparable?