I'm a non-pro user as well, and even though I'm convinced that most of the deficits in the product that the OP identifies are not actually deficits at all, the OP's irritation is very familiar to me. The problem is that in my case that irritation often reflects my incomplete understanding of how the product works in detail. So I sympathize with you, OP but my own experience tells me that whenever I feel that old frustration with the product, it's time for me to go back to the user's guide and reference manual and do a little digging.
 
On the other hand, I totally agree with your observations about the arpeggiator. Edit: Unless of course it turns out that I'm clueless about the arpeggiator as well. :)

There can be both Icons and shortcuts.  You can add icons that you want or eliminate those you do not.  Shortcuts could be there as well.
 

Sylvan
For those of us who work with paying clients, stumbling around with a mouse would bounce me right out of business. Keyboard shortcuts are an absolute MUST HAVE. Speed and efficiency are the hallmarks of a professional. Just adding this in lest any bakers get the absolute crazy idea to do away with keyboard shortcuts. That would be the most awful thing imaginable and I would be forced elsewhere to maintain validity in a competitive industry.

 

vladasyn
But I would not want to touch monitor. It would leave a fingerprints, then when you try to see the small numbers or text, it is hard to see through the grease on the screen. [snip] My hands would be tired to hold them up all the time to touch the monitor.

You don't place a touch screen like a conventional monitor. I have it placed like a hardware mixer surface, at a slight angle so the end is raised a bit. With a large screen everything is much more readable because it's not as far from your eyes. The best part is my neck is in a very comfortable position, because I don't have to constantly look up at the monitor.

What screen are you using?
 
Have you posted much about your experiences with it, here or elsewhere? I'm curious to know more.

Beepster
 
If anything I would like them to expand on the Keybinding/MIDI control options.
 
I want them to completely and shamelessly rip off how Reaper does it. Every darned possible function totally serachable, bindable, MIDI mappable in one shot.
 
For those obsessed with buttons like the OP they could make the Custom module expandable to accept as many commands as one desires (beyond the current limit). They could make it floating too like the HUD for extra convenience. But I guess they'd have to bind it to make it pop up like the HUD though. lol

 
+1000000
 
PLEASE make every darn thing bindable to user defined sequences!  If the actions were there we could even use AHK to do the binding.

i would like to see some new frontier out of the box forward thinking leading to some cutting edge midi fx development and midi tools. i would like see algorithmic composition tools allowing me to enter mathematical equations to generate midi sequences, i would like to be able to enter a tone row and have the transforms generated and at my disposal for easy use, i would like to have a random midi sequence generator based on configurable parameters, and of course continued development on that midi view that hence forth shall not be mentioned. :-)

vladasyn
 
There is too much focus on Shortcuts. I hate shortcuts. I never use them. I use the mouse. The qwerty keyboard is not a part of my workflow because I refuse to memorize the combinations

Well here you go. My pleasure:)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/938009-REG/logickeyboard_lkbu_son2_ajpu_us_cakewlk_sonar_x2_slim.html
 

It would be great to have a bank of global LFOs, with selectable freqs and shapes, that could be used to drive automation.  One-to-many, with the ability to set the amplitude and "phase" of the controlled parameters to track/lead/lag the LFO it's connected to by some number of degrees.
 
Vote here:
http://forum.cakewalk.com...-m3353320.aspx#3353320

If you watch people use, say, Office or even a more specialised program like Photoshop, you'll see most of them use the mouse and don't use shortcuts, even when shown. It's absolutely painful to watch someone *not* using ctrl-C/ctrl-V to copy and paste, but that is how they work.

Having and making use of shortcuts is cery efficient, so they should be easily configurable and powerful, but I think the OP is in some ways correct that mouse operation should be as clear and quick as possible, as that is how the majority of users will probably use SONAR.

Sylvan
For those of us who work with paying clients, stumbling around with a mouse would bounce me right out of business. Keyboard shortcuts are an absolute MUST HAVE. Speed and efficiency are the hallmarks of a professional. Just adding this in lest any bakers get the absolute crazy idea to do away with keyboard shortcuts. That would be the most awful thing imaginable and I would be forced elsewhere to maintain validity in a competitive industry.

This is exactly what secretaries screamed (at me) when the mouse, menus, windows, etc. were introduced back in the '80s.  They most vehemently did not want their hands to have to leave the keyboard.  It would totally screw up their speed (which was blinding).  Of course they were right (as are you) from a professional's point of view, but the paradigm shift permitted everyone to become a more-than-decent secretary in their bedrooms [and secretaries followed the dinonaurs into oblivion, or learned that you could do really fancy stuff with the new way].  It's partly a question of the greater good.  It takes years to master keyboard commands, years a lot of us don't have.  But I absolutely get what you're saying.  I also am annoyed sometimes when I have to grab the mouse to do something, but just think of what it would be like to still be working on alphanumeric crt's (mine was amber, just because that was so cool).