First of all, I think the new Platinum version is very good from the interface and functionality and the subscription model is fair, too. Providing the program via Steam is also a great idea, however...
 
1) Steam download of SONAR does not work most of the time. If I reinstall Windows, I have to try probably 20-30 times during different days to get SONAR to download without the error message "contents still encrypted". I have an active subscription and all of the big games (some even 30-40 GB!) always download without any issues from Steam. SONAR is the only program with this nasty problem.
 
At the moment I can't progress any of my projects at all:
2) Piano Roll View freezes the program almost instantly ("Program is not responding").
3) Cakewalk TTS-1 cannot be used because it immediately freezes SONAR. So I can't open any of my older projects that use it, since the program crashes.
 
I've tried contacting the e-mail support of Cakewalk about these problems, but never get any reply. It's starting to feel as if I wasted a huge amount of money on a non-working program.
 
Some info about my setups:
PC 1:
Windows 7 Ultimate, clean install, genuine copy
No other programs than Steam, SONAR and 64-bit (legit, no cracked/pirated software) VST plugins
Intel i7 (Hashwell) 4770K 3,5Ghz
32 GB RAM
Samsung Evo 850 Pro 1 TB SSD
No anti-virus or other intrusive programs installed
 
PC 2:
Windows 10 Pro, clean install, genuine copy
No other programs than Steam, SONAR and 64-bit (legit, no cracked/pirated software) VST plugins
Intel i7 (Skylake) 6700K 4Ghz
64 GB RAM
Samsung Evo 850 Pro 1 TB SSD
No anti-virus or other intrusive programs installed
 
Audio card is PreSonus FireStudio Project (FireWire). I have the same issues on both PC's. FireWire controllers are Texas Instruments based, which should be reliable AFAIK.
 
Any ideas on how I could get SONAR Platinum usable?

The best place to discuss issues with Steam is http://steamcommunity.com/app/293140/discussions/

scook
The best place to discuss issues with Steam is

Well my main problem is SONAR crashing/freezing constantly. The Steam download issues can be lived with, although it's highly annoying.

I had a similar issue (PRV freeze and stops responding) on Win10 and fixed it by excluding Sonar and VST folder from the Windows Defender scan.
Also, if your PC is dedicated to your DAW and you don't use Internet, you may as well turn Defender off. Keep in mind that if you just turn it off manually in option settings, it will auto starts by itself after a while.  You can permanently shut it off through an easy registry hack (Google it).
 
Sly

slyman
I had a similar issue (PRV freeze and stops responding) on Win10 and fixed it by excluding Sonar and VST folder from the Windows Defender scan.
 

Thank you for the answer, that is definitely something to try! I haven't even thought that Windows Defender could be behind this, although that crappy piece of OS integrated software has caused me a lot of problems before.
 
As a workaround, I found that if I replaced the synth to something else and then back to the original one, I could edit PRV for a short time, saving after every step, before Sonar would freeze again. I'm going to turn off Windows Defender on these computers since I never install any new software on them (other than updates for the currently used programs) or browse the internet on them.
 
I'll report back here as soon as Sonar either freezes again or after it has been working for a longer time. I really, really hope disabling Windows Defender fixes this! The Steam download issue also has some workarounds now, but it still seems to bother subscribers. Users who bought Sonar with the onetime payment option, can often get past it by opting out of Steam BETA in Steam client's options. There's more about it on the Steam forums.
 

Anaconda
I'll report back here as soon as Sonar either freezes again or after it has been working for a longer time. I really, really hope disabling Windows Defender fixes this!

Any news? I had the same problem with TTS. Followed the slyman's method - voila! Works like a charm! )

Soundwise
 
Any news? I had the same problem with TTS. Followed the slyman's method - voila! Works like a charm! )

Nope, disabling Windows Defender did not solve the problem.  I still had multiple freezes when trying to use Piano Roll View. Replacing the synth with itself always fixes it for about 5-10 minutes, until it starts freezing again. This issue makes it almost impossible for me to use Sonar. What makes it worse, is that Steam doesn't even allow restarting the program immediately, since it leaves some background process running when frozen and I can't seem to pinpoint the process name to kill with Task Manager. PRV freeze does not seem to be caused by any specific synth like TTS, it happens with every synth.
 
Cakewalk TTS-1 actually seems to work now so maybe disabling Windows Defender fixed this?

Anaconda
Cakewalk TTS-1 actually seems to work now so maybe disabling Windows Defender fixed this?

AFAIK defender doesn't stop running and scanning even if you disable it. You'd better try excluding Sonar and VST folder from the Windows Defender scan, as slyman had suggested.

Soundwise
 
AFAIK defender doesn't stop running and scanning even if you disable it. You'd better try excluding Sonar and VST folder from the Windows Defender scan, as slyman had suggested.

It seems I am not able to edit the Defender options anymore, including the exclude section. I made sure Defender can't run anymore: I used the registry hack, a program called NoDefender, disabled the service and even deleted MsMpEng.exe from everywhere on the hard drive (including the system backup folder, used a Linux Live CD to access & delete it). I also added an administrative template to disable it via gpedit.msc.
 
I would be very surprised if Windows Defender was running or scanning anything on these PC's anymore. I don't see the process in Task Manager and the service is disabled & deleted. So something else must be freezing Sonar when using PRV and it is not a hardware specific problem, because I get the same crashes on different computers (with different hardware, even the audio card is entirely different).

Anaconda
I used the registry hack, a program called NoDefender, disabled the service and even deleted MsMpEng.exe
 
So something else must be freezing Sonar when using PRV and it is not a hardware specific problem, because I get the same crashes on different computers (with different hardware, even the audio card is entirely different).

I always had problems when tried to use hacks or optimize OS to my liking. YMMV, though.