Yes - associate it with the TRACKS - would be a great option.  Sometimes I have tons of clips on one track and it is a pain.   Still a great DAW and I love it.  But this would knock it out of the park IMHO.
 
 

Paul G
Yes you can manually set colors for each clip individually in the inspector but as has been stated it will revert back to the default when you bounce.  It's also very slow and tedious.  I like my colors associated with track numbers like in 8.5.  If I could at least make the clip backgrounds colored and the waveforms black I'd be good, (set them in preferences and be done with it).  I was so looking forward to the track/bus color feature...
 
Paul

Another annoying thing: changing clip colour doesn't change the colour of the notes displayed in Piano Roll View.
 

This somewhat contentious thread actually brought a smile to my face.
 
But seriously I'm going to miss Duckbar, dang it.

The only way I know to change all clip background colors simultaneously is with select All and then change one in the Inspector; they all follow. I've never been that interested in changing them, though; the selected Clips matter to me the most. I kind of want the non-selected clips not to draw my attention.
 
You can make all the foreground waveforms the same color (e.g., black per Mike) in preferences, but if you change the track color manually, you'll override the Preferences setting.
 
You can change the Clip View background color to anything you want in Preferences. In the screenshot it's gray. The only fine point is that there are separate entries for View Background (Even) and View Background (Odd). So if you want the same background color for all tracks, you have to enter it twice. There's also a preference for changing the area below the clip view. In the screen shot, it's a darker gray.
 
The Selected Clip in the screenshot has a yellow background, as chosen in Preferences.
 

Anderton
The only way I know to change all clip background colors simultaneously is with select All and then change one in the Inspector; they all follow. I've never been that interested in changing them, though; the selected Clips matter to me the most. I kind of want the non-selected clips not to draw my attention.
 
You can make all the foreground waveforms the same color (e.g., black per Mike) in preferences, but if you change the track color manually, you'll override the Preferences setting.
 
You can change the Clip View background color to anything you want in Preferences. In the screenshot it's gray. The only fine point is that there are separate entries for View Background (Even) and View Background (Odd). So if you want the same background color for all tracks, you have to enter it twice. There's also a preference for changing the area below the clip view. In the screen shot, it's a darker gray.
 
The Selected Clip in the screenshot has a yellow background, as chosen in Preferences.
 

Yea, I know about this, but like I said in previous posts, it is not as good as what was previously in Sonar X2 and prior.  Why on earth did they actually REMOVE the color preferences for clip backgrounds in the color preferences area?  It makes no sense.

And like I said, every time you bounce a track or record a new one, it doesn't use the same color that you set.   
 
I really don't like this method, so for me, I will not be purchasing Sonar 2015 until this is added back.  Sonar X3 and duckbar for now :(

Well... In my opinion the bottom line is that they want to gently encourage you not to change the clip background color. 
 
You've got frozen tracks; muted clips; clips not in solo'd tracks; regionFX clips; selected areas of clips... there's just so many subtle color hints that ideally need to work together to convey meaning to the user - especially new users. 
It's so easy to screw that up by color customization. Also, you've got the "track follows bus color" feature that is pretty nice.
 
Also, there's the whole "let's differentiate our look from the other major DAW offerings" which mostly seem to use color background and black waveform'd clips.
 
I'm in the group of folks who prefer "black wave on color clip" but I appreciate the reasons why the change was made for X3.
 
In my experience so far, it's been more rewarding to not fight it, but just go with the flow, and get used to the dark clip and light waveform appearance. I actually prefer it for MIDI clips. I like the colored notes on dark background, especially when I have multiple tracks selected in the PRV and the colors match the track view.

stickman393
Well... In my opinion the bottom line is that they want to gently encourage you not to change the clip background color. 
 
You've got frozen tracks; muted clips; clips not in solo'd tracks; regionFX clips; selected areas of clips... there's just so many subtle color hints that ideally need to work together to convey meaning to the user - especially new users. 
It's so easy to screw that up by color customization. Also, you've got the "track follows bus color" feature that is pretty nice.
 
Also, there's the whole "let's differentiate our look from the other major DAW offerings" which mostly seem to use color background and black waveform'd clips.
 
I'm in the group of folks who prefer "black wave on color clip" but I appreciate the reasons why the change was made for X3.
 
In my experience so far, it's been more rewarding to not fight it, but just go with the flow, and get used to the dark clip and light waveform appearance. I actually prefer it for MIDI clips. I like the colored notes on dark background, especially when I have multiple tracks selected in the PRV and the colors match the track view.

so you like a limit to be placed on intelligence and people who understand how to set their colors and also to play into a marketing-ploy to make the product stand out?   
 
Same reason I don't buy Apple computers, I want all my options given to me, and I will make the choice.  

alewgro
 
so you like a limit to be placed on intelligence and people who understand how to set their colors and also to play into a marketing-ploy to make the product stand out?   

Saying that he finds the colors well-thought-out, despite some reservations, is not quite equivalent to liking a limit placed on intelligence.
 
All I can say is as soon as I prepared the screen shot in an attempt to be helpful, I started losing the cursor in the gray background, said screw it, and went back to the defaults, which have always worked well for me. Someone put a whole lot more thought into those colors than I do when attempting customizations...although I do like my lime sherbet meters.

Anderton

alewgro
 
so you like a limit to be placed on intelligence and people who understand how to set their colors and also to play into a marketing-ploy to make the product stand out?   

Saying that he finds the colors well-thought-out, despite some reservations, is not quite equivalent to liking a limit placed on intelligence.
 
All I can say is as soon as I prepared the screen shot in an attempt to be helpful, I started losing the cursor in the gray background, said screw it, and went back to the defaults, which have always worked well for me. Someone put a whole lot more thought into those colors than I do when attempting customizations...although I do like my lime sherbet meters.

Anderton,

What I meant was, it's all great Cakewalk likes this black clip background, but *I* don't, and why did they take that option away?
 
If Microsoft followed the same logic as Sonar, we wouldn't be able to change our wallpapers!  Sorry, but the rolling green hills is good for everybody!

alewgro
What I meant was, it's all great Cakewalk likes this black clip background, but *I* don't, and why did they take that option away?

I don't know. I suppose I would care more if it mattered to me. Color customization became much less limited between X1 and X3. I haven't delved into platinum enough to know if there has been an incremental increase of color options between X3 and Platinum.