Anderton
Now, let me give you an idea of what a solution would look like
"If you are willing to make the changes we require, we are prepared to order 10,000 copies of SONAR Professional. However, because we are buying in quantities, we want the price reduced to $100. We also want a physical distribution medium. Otherwise, we will look elsewhere."

Craig - I know this is a scenario, and it's very interesting idea. I also value the work and dialog you are bringing. 
 
However there is one major problem with the scenario (and I know it's not meant to be perfect example). It's that development takes *time*.  So it will never happen because by the time the request comes in - it's too late to do anything about it.  Customers are not going to wait when there are other off the shelf solutions.
 

President and GM, Michael Hoover, made this statement in the July 2015 edition of Pro Sound News:
 
"Our aim is to give our customers the tools that inspire them to create in ways our competitors don't, won't, or can't."
 
I'd say it is time for him to put his money where his mouth is.....

I really think it's a pity that Staff View essentially gets ignored. I eventually determined that the PRV is a more functional way to edit and to a lesser extent enter music. However, the PRV most definitely takes far more space and thus gives me far less context. For someone like me, who "thinks" in notes, harmonies and longer runs, a functional Staff View really is the best way as it packs information very densely while not giving up much information.
I think its also pretty clear that Cakewalk doesn't consider my workflow mainstream, and have prioritized accordingly.

At the risk of getting smart bombed I would say as the OP for this thread that we have reached a point where the discussion has become redundant! No matter what we say at this point after months of postings we are still saying the same thing. That SV does not fit the work needs of SOME of us!
We can spend more time blasting the company for not fixing it or somebody among us may be able to contribute an idea on how to fix it. I just had a discussion with Craig and I fall on his side of the arguments here. The original code that Cakewalk is built on is very old at this point. That was discussed many times in other threads. I have a grandson and a nephew who are game designers and I can tell you now that trying to modify a feature or add a feature in to very old code is extremely difficult. Also, the computer industry as far as designing is concerned is a very specialized area of expertize and it is not very easy to find people who are capable of wading thru a quagmire of old code on a somewhat successful platform without breaking it. Craig feels, and so do I, that just about everything has been said that can be on this thread about this topic.
I say again that the amount of interest that this thread has drawn has been phenomenal. I never dreamed it would grow so big. But we need to stay focused on conversation to try to fix our problems and not bash the company so bad. Now, I will take that blindfold and just stand me up against the wall!!! LOL!

 Sidroe ,
 
I've already made my Peace and got my blindfold on ….
 
What side of the wall do you want , the left , the right or the center ? 
 
Kenny

Sidroe asked me to revisit this thread.
 

microapp
What you are saying is that there is not enough profit in fixing SV. Cake looks at how many new users it would bring vs. cost to implement. Cake has done the math and it is not do-able. Fine. Just admit it already so people that need SV can look elsewhere.

 
That is my assessment. It may or may not be Cakewalk's. 
 
 

I have recently been looking at other DAWs and have found that one in particular meets my needs much more closely than Sonar and costs about $50 more retail. 

You don't owe anything to Cakewalk. It would be crazy not to use the product that best suits your needs. That's why there are many companies making many products, they've all found a niche and all have unique features that matter more to some people than others.
 
The reason why I use SONAR out of all the DAWs I own is exactly because it suits my needs the best. That in no way diminishes what other DAWs can do. For example, the only way to get Ableton Live's audio engine to quit is to drop your laptop on a concrete floor from a height of six feet or more. Reason is a virtual instrument paradise. Studio One Pro's mastering page blows away CD Architect. Pro Tools...well...hmmm...oh right, you can exchange projects with other people who use Pro Tools. And of course, Cubase has my Quadrafuzz 2.0 included. I'm sure if it wasn't for that, no one would buy Cubase .
 
I need VocalSync and relative video file paths, I do video work. I also need to be able to create and edit Acidized loops because I make loop libraries, DSD import and export because that's my preferred archiving format for masters (you can decimate it down to almost anything), upsampling to deal with some plug-ins that I use a lot in projects, Mix Recall for remixes, Drum Replacer for remixes and restoration, and DirectX/VST2/VST3 compatibility. I don't know of any other DAW that offers all of these. That list doesn't include things I don't need but like, such as the Matrix View, FX Chains, the ProChannel QuadCurve (because I find all four curves useful, and it's convenient to have them in one place), etc. etc. 
 
Another reason why SONAR suits my needs is because at one point I was curious why I got projects done faster in SONAR. I did an analysis of clickstreams compared to some other programs to accomplish various tasks. SONAR could do the things I needed to do with fewer clicks. Time is money, so I use SONAR ...except for live performance, where I use Ableton Live. (Full disclosure: Not completely. For my hex output Gibson, I use SONAR as the host for the plug-ins used on each string.)
 
DAWs exist for people to create music. People should pick the DAW that allows them to make music in the most inspiring and efficient way; it's not like they don't have choices. When I switched to SONAR back in 2000, I didn't go to the forum of the program I used previously (which had a great MIDI implementation) to say "Hey, your support for loops sucks, I do a lot of EDM work. You say you support loops, and you do, but it's sub-standard and won't let me create or even edit Acidized files. If you're not going to do an update that lets me at least edit Acidized files, I'm going to switch." Instead, I simply switched to SONAR, which let me create and edit Acidized files - but didn't have the severe MIDI and hard disk recording limitations of Sony Acid. The tool I needed existed. Problem solved.

As to the size of this industry, at one point way before the Yamaha acquisition Cubase's audio engine was really lagging behind the competition. People were going to the Cubase forum and berating Steinberg for the perceived deficiencies. What they didn't know was that the main architect of Steinberg's audio engine was a fellow named Mark Badger, who was a really sweet guy and died suddenly, at an early age, from a congenital heart defect. People who can write, let alone re-write, DAW audio engines don't grow on trees...and those who have the chops may not like the music industry's pay scale. That's reality, too - we're in an industry that's so small, entire companies - not just elements within a program - can be dependent on a single person.
 
[RIP, Mark. I always admired your dedication and some great conversations at trade shows.]
 
Another example: Cakewalk would love to do a new 64-bit version of the VC-64 (a fabulous plug-in, IMO). But they don't have the rights to modify it, and the person who created it cannot be found anywhere - and believe me, more people than Cakewalk have tried. So it just sits there. (DJs, cue Jimmy Cliff - "Sitting in Limbo").
 
 
 

"Sitting In Limbo" clip!! I just spit my hot tea all over myself laughing!!!!! Great to see you, Craig. That explanation speaks volumes about why it is so hard to get things done in the software industry. And I don't think many of us in this forum understand that part of Cakes development. When we see on the news that a corporation buys another one out, as AT&T buys DIRECTv, we tend to think of thousands of employees in huge corporate buildings being laid off or moved around and re-structuring, hundreds of developers ganging together in a huge hall wrangling over the next update to blow away their customers, etc. That is the impression we got when Roland bought Cake, then Gibson bought Cake. Cakewalk is nowhere near the size of a company like that and I bet most of us would be shocked to know just how small Cake is. That's why I do complain, but I try not to berate and outright insult the very people who are trying so desperately to make a product we all love so much better. I am guilty though of making a crass remark in an attempt to be funny. LOL!
At any rate, glad to see you,Craig!!!!!

BTW, I would love a 64 bit VC64!!!!!!!!
 

Hey guys - I've been working on the eZine, and found out that the dotted note drawing in Staff View has been improved for the next update. So fixes continue to happen, thread title notwithstanding