I have been using Cakewalk Products for around 15 years & record mostly live audio tracks ie: guitars, bass, vocals, etc.
I have downloaded all of the Sonar Plat updates to date.
I record, edit, mix, using only the fundamental tools Sonar provides to accomplish those tasks.
Being a Creature of Habit, That is what I continue to do with great results.
I say "I must be a caveman" because even though I have all the new features & content installed I have yet to use any of them other than (mix recall) just in case.
I just continue to go with what I know.
Make it a Great Day!
 

I don't use everything, nothing like it in fact.
 
This is mainly due to indolence on my part. 

In that case here's another caveman.
 
 

...SPlat ...Komplete  The streets of my DAW is full of things I don't use, nor even explored.  But I sure do like having it :P

It would be interesting to see what the results would be performance-wise if you could remove all of the features that you DON'T use! I always play around for a while to understand what every feature does. Then, if something pops up that I can use it, I do. The problem is as time rolls on, I have acquired so many features that most of them are just taking up hard drive space, never get used and I'm sure they get bored sitting around doing nothing! LOL!

Sidroe
It would be interesting to see what the results would be performance-wise if you could remove all of the features that you DON'T use!

I provocatively claim the performance gain would be zero to negative.
 
HD space costs next to nothing, a feature installed that you don't use does not do any harm nor speed up global warming ...
 
However, the day you could use the feature and it's not there performance gains get negative because when gotta start looking and installing, it's better not to bother at all in a creative workflow.

Not to mention there's no shortage of feature requests for yet more things that many will never use.

Most of us don't use a fraction of what SONAR (or any DAW) can do, just certain select features.  No reason to feel lazy or stupid if the tools you use work for you.  I use less than a fraction mostly, since I like a rawer feel.  I may fix a note hear (pun intended) or there, but not a performance.  Use a good front end to capture a good performance sounds better to me than something all fixed and perfect.  I work a ranch, and know exactly what "fixing" means.
 
@

stistudio, what's the problem?
 
The ideal DAW environment is one that you can forget about, that doesn't get in the way of creativity. If you haven't hit any barriers, then it must be working for you. Your 15 years has brought you to the point where running the DAW is as natural as turning on an amplifier. That's the goal, and you're there already.
 
Now, if you're running out of ideas and need a creative kickstart, then virtual instruments may be one avenue to explore. Kontakt offers a lotta bang for the buck. Komplete has a lot more instruments, but would also demand a greater commitment and a longer learning curve. But you've already got Dimension Pro, so you could start exploring that without spending a dime, and it won't require much study and experimentation to get something useful out of it.

The fact is Classic albums were made with a handful of outboard gear. Somebody didn't come into the studio every month and put in ten grands of equipment because they were bored. Studios may have bought a couple of effects racks every year and threw stuff people were no longer using into the cupboard.

Same for bands, they weren't buying new keyboards every single month.

What people did was learn their tools inside out until they had exhausted the possibilities. They looked at new gear and if they saw something that could do the job much better they would consider upgrading.

I spend a lot of time trying to downsize my plugins. I regret buying a lots of plugins initially (fell for marketing) because after to getting to know some of them really well I realised that I had no use for some other plugins.

Less is definitely more IMHO. Having 20 plugins you know really well (where you have spent a lot of time getting to know every little detail) is far better than just taking potshots in the dark at say 200 plugins, where you could not have possibility exhausted all the possibilities.