I use just about every DAW software out there that doesn't have Steinberg on the side of the box.  It doesn't really matter what I use, it's what you should use based on your experience and I would have to go along with some of the previous posters and say that you should give Sonar very high consideration simply because of the support you will get from this forum.
 
I've had to get help with my other programs and I have to say that I haven't run into any jerks that reply, "Read the manual" in any of them, mainly because I do read the manual and I ask questions in a way that shows that I have at least tried my best to find the answer myself.  However, the other forums aren't nearly as active as this one and you can usually get a reply right away unless you really are deeper in the program than most of the other users are.
 
You can get into the game for a monthly fee and if you like it, continue on or put it on the shelf.

paulo
The reasons why I use it are pretty much covered in the other answers. The reason why you should use it is that here on this forum we have scook, who is like your own personal reference guide - ask any question you like and he'll not only know the answer, but has usually answered it before you finished asking the question, lol !  That and the fact that it seems that you're already buddies with Anderton, who also seems to have some degree of knowledge ;)
 
 

Well, Craig's covered a few of my songs and we've done a bit of collaboration online. I've only ever met him once in the flesh - that was in 2013 at a Line 6 conference in London. He's a lovely guy :)
 
And he's threatened to return to the UK again at some point....

 

MarkydeSad
Why Sonar?

To get to the other side.

MarkydeSad
And he's threatened to return to the UK again at some point....

So have I. Craig is likely to beat me though.

I like the way it sounds.
I use Pro Tools 10 frequently when working in Nashville tracking and do practically all of my mixing and editing in Sonar at my studio.  I live on third party plug ins like all the Waves stuff (CLA compressors, SSL channel strips, Renaissance Verbs), Melodyne DNA, Clariphonic EQ and the Slate stuff.
It's more affordable to purchase and run those on Sonar than the TDM format in PT. 
My pitches and mixes sound as good as everyone else's.  
Any DAW is going to have its merits.  It all boils down to what will help you create instead of tweak.
I also like being that guy in the room that during a recording session glitch says, "You know, I don't have that problem in Sonar ..." 

I agree with just about everything above. I started with Sonar about 10 years ago when I got frustrated with another DAW and the company that makes it, and CW/Sonar looked like a good replacement. I'd known about it for many years before that, but never used it, and I decided to take a chance on it. I found it very quick and easy to get started with, but extremely deep under the hood, and I have basically never had cause to regret the decision. I've experimented a bit with other DAWs in the meantime, and I still use Reason and Sound Forge alongside Sonar for the things they do well, and of course I enhance the toolkit with a few third-party additions (NI Komplete, Alchemy, various things from AAS and Izotope and IK Multimedia), but basically Sonar is home because it rarely lets me down and it keeps me interested. And I feel like the developers, and the community here, are from the same planet as me... if that makes any sense...

I'll give you one reason and it's VALUE!  I think Sonar has the best value of any DAW out there.  Everything you need is right there and if you want plugins you don't have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars (although you can even use those ones too if you want), and the stock plugins and 3rd party plugins that Sonar provides sound great.
 
Best off, no worries about iLok or eLicenser, or tracking your installation.  Sonar provides an automated tool for installing and keeping your software up to date, but it's not overly burdensome like the aforementioned technology.
 
Other than that, I agree with many of the things written here.  But I'd highly recommend it.
 
 

I initially bought it because I needed a good set of virtual instruments (especially drums) and a full effects suite. If I had my druthers at the time I would have stuck with a new version of the DAW I was using at the time but a) it cost over three times as much and b) did not come with nearly as many tools (so I would have had to buy them separately). Even the other DAWs in the same price range as Sonar did not have nearly the intrument/tools Sonar did.
 
I was concerned about the stability issue but dumped some cash into building a sooper powerful system (which I would have needed witht he other DAWs anyway) and hoped for the best. Fortunately (after some screwing around) it all worked and I now had a really useful starter set up for pretty much anything I wanted to do.
 
What I was not really expecting was the workflow and environment which I like a lot better than the "old" and "traditional" way of doing things. It just suits my crazyballs brain/methods better than the alternatives.
 
What has also happened is the toolset has expanded MASSIVELY even in the few short years I've owned Sonar saving me even more money that would have otherwise been dropped on third party stuff AND the forum has essentially taught me how to use it all (saving me a ton of money on expensive classes, books, tutorials, etc and making my learning experience more interactive and pleasurable).
 
I do think it's probably still a little shakier in stability terms than what I originally would have bought BUT since X3 those issues are very minor and I know what I can and cannot get away with. Compared to all the bonuses of using the program I can deal with those minor annoyances and really most of the other DAWs are going to have their own stability quirks as well (and I wouldn't have the support base I do around here).
 
Are there better DAWs? That's debatable. Are there better DAWs for ME? I don't think so... at least not for my general day to day usage/needs.
 
/true story

Welcome, Mark!
Enough said already... I think you can get a pretty good idea just by spending some time watching all the vids... do they speak to you?  
 
After being with Sonar for ages I've tried a few others such as Ableton and S1 and couldn't begin to do the things I wanted to do/could do with Sonar... Track templates are sooooooooooooo powerful... screensets are sooooooo convienient and the intuitive navigations/tools, all of which are covered in so many vids (X3/Platnium) should either speak to you or not.
 
The pay vids on cakes site are cheap and you'll want them anyway...
 
Oh, and, as Paulo said...
 
Scook... your personal assistant from heaven.  Don't know who this entity is, but doubt any other forum has a Scook....
 
I'm NOT religious, but I now believe in angels...

If you're on Windows, definitely agree with most of the ''pro'' above.  I'm now on Mac (not in the cult - but through a CustomMac) and now juggle between 3 DAWs (Pro Tools, Cubase and Logic). All have their strenghts and weaknesses.
 
Been with Cake since the mid-nineties and upgraded to most versions, until X1. But yet, my move to Mac - and reluctance of Cake to make a Mac version like most other DAWs made me quit. 
 
But definitely, if I'd eventually get back to Windows (very unlikely now...), Sonar would be in my main arsenal.  Very friendly with most equipment, and so on...
 
Just that I'm not too crazy with the new SaaS / subscription approach... But Pro Tools is going there too, and others may follow. At least, upgrades were not ''exactly'' at same time of the year ... and did not cost $200 per year... 
 
Rob