Control voltage (CV and Gate) has grown on me since I started building analog synths but no way that I'm aware to interface a PC without MIDI to CV converter. MIDI is a technical standard for a communication protocol so it is here to stay.

I would like to keep midi.

MacFurse
 
for some time I've heard nothing good about midi and Sonar, only bad. From almost every aspect, it cops a bagging.

 
Not sure who you have been listening to, but the MIDI implementation that Cakewalk has developed is easily one of the best ever seen on a PC.  There are many who have been lobbying for improvements, but definitely not bagging it!
 
Cakewalk, Cubase, and Logic are the main DAWs that earned their pedigrees as MIDI sequencers for PC and/or Mac platforms, and that later added DAW capabilities.  So they are MIDI at the core.  Other DAWs came along later that were focused exclusively on audio recording, but were forced to bolt MIDI on later.  IMHO they were late to the game and never quite "got it" as far as deep MIDI support was concerned.  But I assume that the successful ones will catch up eventually...
 

I really wanted to know whether the main users of Sonar want the new owners to push the boundaries of midi within their new platform, to take it to the forefront of DAWS. Do that, and maybe this DAW can finally make it to the 'pro' world, where it currently isn't. It needs an area to shine. This thread may help in highlighting just that.
 

I agree.  Keep pushing the boundaries! And there are a few pros using Sonar, it's just not highly publicized. 
 
Good things will come! 

is this topic just for fun (to be FUNNY)??? We(musicians,producers,home recording enthusiast's,etc.) have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on Drum , Synth ,Piano ,Bass , Orchestra , Choir , etc . vst's that we ( I ) use all day, Everyday!!!!  I'm a guitar player that spent the 90's recording with my electric guitar, Roland XP50( for drums and keyboard sounds ) and a Radio Shack Realistic 4 channel mixer running into a Tascam Porta 02 ,MIXED DOWN to MY BIG SISTER's TAPE DECK !! Back then I always DREAMED of what would be capable for the home musician in the future. NOW WE ( I ) HAVE IT!!! I am NOT very midi smart , I am able to do what I need to do. There is Pro's & Con's to almost everything. I am having the "TIME of MY LIFE" playing with all the tool's at my disposal !!!!! THANK YOU TECHNOLOGY!!! THANK YOU MIDI !!!

Stay.

MacFurse
Should the owners make midi better in Sonar, or kill it off, leaving it for the DAWS that excel in that area, paving the way for better sample and loop control ?

I thought Sonar was considered as having among the very best MIDI.

To the OP,
 
I didn't quote you since your reply to me was on page one.  You had mentioned that I was being a little dismissive.  I do apologize, that wasn't my intention.  I was thinking you meant MIDI as a whole...when you meant more for MIDI Editing within a DAW.  Please accept my apology. 
 
I agree with the general consensus though that MIDI needs to be included in any modern daw (as with at least some sort of ability to use MIDI Editing).  

When I play out live, I actually use Sonar with it's MIDI capabilities along with Komplete Kontrol Controller Editor to get my sounds.  I Create a playlist within the Controller Editor.  I have every sound setup as a separate MIDI channel within Sonar.  For each song, I hit the "next button" on my Komplete Kontrol which then advanced the playlist in the editor, which then refers to one of the 16 tracks I have setup in Sonar for my sounds.  It can also manage splits and everything.  If I need more than 16 different sounds during a set, than that is where the playlist comes into play with Sonar as well.  

I use MIDI extensively in my recordings as well for programming my drums, and any sequencer patterns I want to create.  I often edit the MIDI (albeit simple editing) for velocity and various mods.  

Now, I do do electronic music (hehe I said do do), but I also do rock as well.  I am not a guitar player, but use Impact Soundworks Shreddage Guitar, bass and drums.  Their guitar is so stinking realistic, I have had guitar players ask me who played the guitar and be blown away when they found out it was synth.  I do a LOT of MIDI editing for guitar work as Impact Soundworks guitar is not really an easy guitar to play live as it triggers on various MIDI CCs and velocities, so you typically have to go back in and edit various things to be within the trigger points.  Some of the triggers have wide ranges, but some of the ranges in and of themselves have different articulations within the same range.  (For example, harmonics might kick in with the modwheel between 70-100, but the higher the number, the more pronounced the sound).  So yes, I do a lot of editing.  They even state that the guitar synth is not ideal for playing live, and is more for recording. With Sonar, the editing is super easy.  I also use Studio One, and while some people think there is absolutely no editing for MIDI, they would be wrong. I do find it easier in Sonar though. 

If DAWS stopped supporting MIDI, then it is likely I wouldn't be nearly as productive. 

If you want to use a DAW that lacks MIDI, just use Pro Tools. 

I was put through Pro Tools Training to be a certified Avid trainer while teaching sound engineering at College.  After doing that and as someone who owns a hardware based synth system I actually found the midi in Pro Tools to be acceptable and it would have done the job had I switched.  But in the end I stayed on Studio One and happier for it.  Pro Tools don't always make it intuitive or easy.  But you are basically correct in that it is one DAW where the midi features are lesser compared to others.
 
Sonar was as far as I remember not considered the midi king back at the time.  It was Cubase and Logic.  Both of those programs handle midi real well in fact.  They were both in existence for 6 to 7 years before Cakewalk started.  I started with Steinberg Pro 24 for the Atari too.  That was pretty cool at the time.  Sonar has also had a long association with midi though for sure. 
 
If you connect certain midi hardware to either of them something else comes into play which many others don't do.  Its called LTB (Linear Time Base) with Cubase and AMT for Logic. (Active Midi transmission)  Logic is still a killer midi machine.
 
With LTB or AMT, midi notes are sent early to the interface and held up there and released in such a way as to all midi note-ons being lined up timing wise over the multiple midi out ports. (e.g. 8 midi note ons could be sent at exactly the same time, not sequentially as it normally would.  In dense passages midi note-ons would also be spread out slightly and sent a little early to keep out of the way of other notes)  Timing across all the ports is tightened up by roughly a factor of 10.  I have experienced this as well from both of those programs and it really improves things big time.  The timing for a large group of multi timbral synths parts is tightened up by a large factor.  Sonar does not have as do many others, a unique midi timing system that does this sort of thing.
 
LTB and AMT are often not well known midi features.  The timing rivals the tightness of the older CV and Gate protocol.  I had all that too with many analog synths and modular stuff.  I was using CV/Gate before midi was invented.  Especially with step sequencers.  The timing was pretty damn tight back then I can assure you.
 
But the Midi to CV/Gate converters did flow out in the mid 80's too.  I had several of them driving a bunch of instruments that only had CV/Gate inputs.  With Logic running AMT for me it worked out super well and was ultra reliable.  The converter I had also offered a third output (second CV output) for each channel and it was relative to velocity.  So velocity sensitivity could be patched into an analog synth sound rather easily. 
 
 

Midi won't work for online collaboration.  Audio only.
But midi works for creating what will end up being that collaborative audio file.
So midi will stay...at least in the Sonar version that Bandlab adopts for it's platform.