Very happy for you Clada !

But concerning SSD, it's rather expensive, isn't it ? What capacity ? 

Hi there, I am also looking at Reaper as an alternative DAW in light of Sonar's situation.  Love Sonar, but I'm really starting to like Reaper right now.  it's only been 4 days, but I feel like I'm ready to make the switch.
 
As for the VS700, I was able to get about 30-40% functionality.  Right out of the box, the transport, track faders, pans, track mute/solo/arm, and jog/shuttle wheel all work once you set the control surface as Mackie.  Then, through the actions lists you can assign any action in that list to a button on the console.  Most buttons.  Some aren't coming up such as Save, Undo.  So all of the edit buttons can be mirrored exactly, and some of the View buttons.  Then, others are already assigned to different/weird functions.  For example the fader views buttons (track, buss, master) all assign different automations to a selected track, which is not really desirable for me.  Lastly, the track levels don't light, and the fader banks don't switch so looks like i'm stuck with just 8 plus the master.  At least, so far.
 
However, I have literally only spent about 30 minutes on this.  I'm sure there is more to discover on this and that's what I like much about Reaper so far.  Setting up what I have so far has been pretty darn easy, and with the functions I have now I can run my studio pretty well already.

Man, I believe the absolute minimum to run Sonar Platinum realistically is 8 Gigs RAM.

Hi poetnprophet,
Very good to read your response here as I just downloaded the Reaper demo.  I'm positively new at the VS-700 and then the news came re: Cakewalk/Gibson.  So, I'm making my switch.  Have decided that Logic will be my main daw but Reaper will be my Windows platform backup.  
 
How difficult is it to assign the buttons to any other than the default Mackie functions, or is it?  Are "action lists" similar to "learn" functions?  I'm very hopeful to make use of my VS-700 (if I cannot sell it).  
 
Thanks!
-SE

Yes, very similar to learn functions, however I find the action list easier to setup.  Simply type what you're looking for in the search field.  For example:  Transport.  This will bring up everything transport related, scroll through the list, pick one, click add, press the button or key combo.  Done.  Rinse/repeat.  Click the box to close window after assigning to speed things up.  I haven't gotten a chance to delve into it more, but I think I can get more out of it that what I have now, and what I have now is sufficiently sufficient for my workflow.  There were many buttons i never used on the console, so I now have a chance to get a little more functionality in some way and adapt it to my needs.
 
I wouldn't sell the VS if you don't have too.  It's a great piece of gear, even if just a niche piece of gear.  I have a feeling someone, someday, will create a definition file for it and will have full use again.  Hopeful at least.

Many thanks for the info!

-SE

clada
The PC was build by Roland Belgium, 
it came as a complete package,  Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33 Ghz, 4 gb Ram running on 64 bit with windows 7 

I would really consider updating the PC. The CPU and Ram will be creating problems is you do any heavy work or load any powerful VSTs. An SSD helps, because it takes some of the work off the RAM, but I would still recommend updating the PC.

And....I just found this, so I'm going to give this a try and I'll let you know.  Most noteworthy are the channel LEDs and fader bank button functionality.
 
 

ha, the link won't post, but search for Klinke mcu extension