Sonar appears to have gone from arguably one of the better ones to having severe problems. I don't want to go back to PT. What is the next one on your list?
 

I've spent quite a bit of time trying different DAW software over the last 18 mos.  My short list came down to Studio One and Reaper, with Reaper being my current favorite.  There is always the possibility that SO4 will change things, but I'm pretty much with Reaper.
 
An important distinction is included plugs/content.  If you need a phat bundle, then Reaper isn't a good choice.  I happen to have a great selection of VST/i, so I don't need the bundle.  YMMV
 
 

I've fallen in love with Reaper. I used to get a little irritated hearing people rave about it and thought they sounded a bit culty. Having been using it properly for a couple of weeks I now know what everyone's been going on about. It's an absolutely superb DAW and unbelievable at $60. I think many people install it, load it up, and get put off by how it looks without a project up and running. Admittedly, it looks pretty bleak and basic at that point. But once you get some tracks going in it and color them, it actually looks really nice - even with the default theme. By god is this program powerful though. It's so well designed and to be honest is light years ahead of Sonar. Took me a little while to get used to the differences, e.g. no synth rack and a different way of routing stuff, and I'll still be learning it for a long time to come. 
 
The thing I'm "getting" about Reaper, which I was told a million times before but didn't really appreciate, is how customizable it is. No matter how you like to work, you can tailor the workflow for your tastes. There are so many options and preferences it seems daunting at first, but then you realize you don't have to study all of them. Just adjust stuff for your needs as and when you come across it, and after a while you'll have the DAW of your dreams. Probably wouldn't buy it if I didn't already have a large collection of synths and effects though, because it's a pretty bare bones package. 
 
I also have Bitwig and that's a totally different beast, more of a sequencer and an instrument than a DAW, and I'm going to be using that for arranging/sound designing. Again it's just amazing what it can do and it's great to experience something that's completely different in design and philosophy than Sonar. I always wanted an Ableton type DAW but never really liked Ableton itself - this is also a DAW of my dreams. 
 
If Reaper didn't exist I guess I'd go for Studio One. Demoed it a while back and really liked it - very slick and well designed, again much better than Sonar. If money was no object I'd probably buy it as well just to have it around. I can see why so many Sonar users climbed on board. 

Before I get started I will apologize for my opinions & rant here but I mean no harm to anyone because I'm just as shocked as you are with the current situation that Gibson is experiencing. I feel sorry for all the employees & family members associated with such a great company that was such a leader & so instrumental in product development over the years. I'm sure if companies such Guitar Center paid their bill to Gibson for all the Les Pauls & other Gibson guitars hanging on their walls we wouldn't be having this conversation. However, it is what it is, & the future might even allow Gibson to restructure & who knows, maybe Cakewalk will be resurrected once again. In the mean time I'm puzzled by some of the comments I've read on this forum & on the Web regarding Gibson & Cakewalk.

I don't get it! Just because the company no longer exists some of you folks have the need to get on board with something else. Head for the hills, the end is near! We're gonna die! This is good material for a good old fashion 30's Radio Show. Yikes! 

If GM went belly up would you sell your car? What the Hell are some of you smoking? Even though I bought version X1 & X3 I continue to use Sonar version 8.53 due to issues with my limited vision. I've had a Cornea transplant so X3 doesn't have the contrast that I need when I work for 14 to 16 hours a day. Since I can customize the colors I have a very high contrast setup in Version 8.53 that allows me to see everything I need to get my work done. Thank you 8.53!

I've used Cakewalk since 1987 when it was a DOS product to start with & will continue using 8.53 till the day I die. Sure it's got a few quirks but so does every other software that's ever been developed in the world & currently in use & this doesn't apply to the music industry but rather every other code writing group in the World. There is no perfect software! What are these serious problems in X1, X2, X3 that you claim are serious enough to cause you to move on to another DAW? There's very little that's broken in X3!
 
Keep using what you already have & are used to. There aren't many more features other than ergonomic improvements that can be had in Cakewalk. It performs audio recording perfectly, & can utilize 95% of the plug ins that are currently available Globally for a PC. Finances are the only restriction in this business so getting better plug ins will go a long way in a more consistent performing product. Computers? Maybe even a more powerful PC will help some of the issues you are experiencing.
 
Bottom line for me is even though there are some quirks, Sonar works! I don't know about you but I don't have time to learn every new release or product & go through loading it & then unloading the stuff I never use. I started recording MIDI back in 1987 with Cakewalk & in the mid 90's moved on to Cakewalk Audio & since then I have over 1,950 audio songs that I have worked on & completed recording. My WAV folder that stores all the .WAV files associated with the 1,950+ songs & has 41,012 WAVE files associated with those songs that occupy 776 GB of Hard Drive space. Over the years I have replaced 6 hard drives & created an Archive whereby I am storing every project I have ever recorded since day one. Roughly every four years I copy the contents of the last drive I was working on to a new fresh Hard drive just in case the old hard drive craps out on me due to a mechanical issue where the bearings tend to wear out on the spindle. Even the new SSD's have a limiting factor that is inherent whereby they will only read / write so many times before they stop working & the data is lost forever. Replacing the audio storage device is the most important thing that we all need to do regularly if we want access to historic material. It's equally important to duplicate the archive in case the original is stolen, tampered with, or even lost in a fire. Good backup habits are number one.
 
As you can tell there's many more factors to consider besides the fact that Sonar will no longer have any future improvements.
 
On another note, claims that software such as Reaper are awesome have to be the biggest joke of this industry. I've never seen such a helter skelter piece of software that seems to have been written by a bunch of people that just started learning how to program software & have been given music as the topic for their first learning class project. It ranks second only to a piece of software called Band In A Box. It is so unprofessional & untidy along with "DARKNESS" that the program seems to ozze for lack of a better description so it's no wonder they give it away free. Why would someone pay for something that has endless menus? Each menu option appears to have a paragraph associated with as the description in case you didn't understand what they were trying to label.
 
Out of necessity I've had to use some other DAWs other than Sonar because the project I was finishing was started in a different DAW so I would have no alternative but to install the clients DAW that was being used then scoop the necessary files & import them into Sonar for completion. There were a few projects that I completed using the clients DAW so I am familiar with many different DAWs & plugins that were part of the project.
 
As you can probably tell I'm very passionate about Sonar & recording & I still hold Sonar in the highest regard even if it lacks some routines & features that other software might employ. 
 
Good luck to all of you! I don't think we've heard the last word from Sonar & am very hopeful that they can get some new Capital to resurrect Cakewalk because It doesn't deserve a death such as this. Greg Hendershott was & still is a brilliant visionary & engineer who was very passionate about Cakewalk & I would welcome him with open arms if his presence was somehow reunited with his baby.
 
Cheers to all, & I do hope I haven't offended anyone with my post because this was not my intention! 
 
 

CBJ
If GM went belly up would you sell your car?

If my car required periodic changes to continue to function properly on our system of roads, the answer is "Yes"
 
Not because my car will instantly quit working, but because I know it will quit working eventually.  I prefer prevention over remediation.

Believe me BobF, there are the same problems with cars. They are never perfect. They have a lot of issues, especially modern cars. The only difference is that nobody tells you about and sends you patches, except when it is dangerous to life.

CBJ
Before I get started I will apologize for my opinions & rant here but I mean no harm to anyone because I'm just as shocked as you are with the current situation that Gibson is experiencing. I feel sorry for all the employees & family members associated with such a great company that was such a leader & so instrumental in product development over the years. I'm sure if companies such Guitar Center paid their bill to Gibson for all the Les Pauls & other Gibson guitars hanging on their walls we wouldn't be having this conversation. However, it is what it is, & the future might even allow Gibson to restructure & who knows, maybe Cakewalk will be resurrected once again. In the mean time I'm puzzled by some of the comments I've read on this forum & on the Web regarding Gibson & Cakewalk.

I don't get it! Just because the company no longer exists some of you folks have the need to get on board with something else. Head for the hills, the end is near! We're gonna die! This is good material for a good old fashion 30's Radio Show. Yikes! 

If GM went belly up would you sell your car? What the Hell are some of you smoking? Even though I bought version X1 & X3 I continue to use Sonar version 8.53 due to issues with my limited vision. I've had a Cornea transplant so X3 doesn't have the contrast that I need when I work for 14 to 16 hours a day. Since I can customize the colors I have a very high contrast setup in Version 8.53 that allows me to see everything I need to get my work done. Thank you 8.53!

I've used Cakewalk since 1987 when it was a DOS product to start with & will continue using 8.53 till the day I die. Sure it's got a few quirks but so does every other software that's ever been developed in the world & currently in use & this doesn't apply to the music industry but rather every other code writing group in the World. There is no perfect software! What are these serious problems in X1, X2, X3 that you claim are serious enough to cause you to move on to another DAW? There's very little that's broken in X3!
 
Keep using what you already have & are used to. There aren't many more features other than ergonomic improvements that can be had in Cakewalk. It performs audio recording perfectly, & can utilize 95% of the plug ins that are currently available Globally for a PC. Finances are the only restriction in this business so getting better plug ins will go a long way in a more consistent performing product. Computers? Maybe even a more powerful PC will help some of the issues you are experiencing.
 
Bottom line for me is even though there are some quirks, Sonar works! I don't know about you but I don't have time to learn every new release or product & go through loading it & then unloading the stuff I never use. I started recording MIDI back in 1987 with Cakewalk & in the mid 90's moved on to Cakewalk Audio & since then I have over 1,950 audio songs that I have worked on & completed recording. My WAV folder that stores all the .WAV files associated with the 1,950+ songs & has 41,012 WAVE files associated with those songs that occupy 776 GB of Hard Drive space. Over the years I have replaced 6 hard drives & created an Archive whereby I am storing every project I have ever recorded since day one. Roughly every four years I copy the contents of the last drive I was working on to a new fresh Hard drive just in case the old hard drive craps out on me due to a mechanical issue where the bearings tend to wear out on the spindle. Even the new SSD's have a limiting factor that is inherent whereby they will only read / write so many times before they stop working & the data is lost forever. Replacing the audio storage device is the most important thing that we all need to do regularly if we want access to historic material. It's equally important to duplicate the archive in case the original is stolen, tampered with, or even lost in a fire. Good backup habits are number one.
 
As you can tell there's many more factors to consider besides the fact that Sonar will no longer have any future improvements.
 
On another note, claims that software such as Reaper are awesome have to be the biggest joke of this industry. I've never seen such a helter skelter piece of software that seems to have been written by a bunch of people that just started learning how to program software & have been given music as the topic for their first learning class project. It ranks second only to a piece of software called Band In A Box. It is so unprofessional & untidy along with "DARKNESS" that the program seems to ozze for lack of a better description so it's no wonder they give it away free. Why would someone pay for something that has endless menus? Each menu option appears to have a paragraph associated with as the description in case you didn't understand what they were trying to label.
 
Out of necessity I've had to use some other DAWs other than Sonar because the project I was finishing was started in a different DAW so I would have no alternative but to install the clients DAW that was being used then scoop the necessary files & import them into Sonar for completion. There were a few projects that I completed using the clients DAW so I am familiar with many different DAWs & plugins that were part of the project.
 
As you can probably tell I'm very passionate about Sonar & recording & I still hold Sonar in the highest regard even if it lacks some routines & features that other software might employ. 
 
Good luck to all of you! I don't think we've heard the last word from Sonar & am very hopeful that they can get some new Capital to resurrect Cakewalk because It doesn't deserve a death such as this. Greg Hendershott was & still is a brilliant visionary & engineer who was very passionate about Cakewalk & I would welcome him with open arms if his presence was somehow reunited with his baby.
 
Cheers to all, & I do hope I haven't offended anyone with my post because this was not my intention! 
 
 

Sonar has actually some very serious problems which affect some people depending on the kind of projects you work on with it, and for me those problems became so bad that the program has become a complete and utter turkey, almost completely unusable.

Your comments about Reaper are so far off the mark I don't even know where to begin. The program works so much better than Sonar, is infinitely more customizable to suit different workflows and is so CPU efficient that I can run projects at 96 samples which wouldn't run in Sonar at anything under 1024 samples. In just the couple of weeks that I've been working with it I've seen many ways in which it's functionality and design is strides ahead of Sonar. Take automation. If you're a heavy user of automation like me then it's a huge PITA in Sonar. I could talk all day about the bugs and weirdness and things working inconsistently when doing intricate automation in Sonar. I'm recreating a huge automation heavy project in Reaper right now and I can't believe how much better the automation editing is - I'm breezing through it. Even little things like finding the parameter I need from a list of hundreds of parameters is so much easier in Reaper. In short, it's more powerful, more efficient, better designed and more stable. To describe its developer as someone who has "just learned how to program" doesn't exactly do your credibility any favors, LOL!

marled
Believe me BobF, there are the same problems with cars. They are never perfect. They have a lot of issues, especially modern cars. The only difference is that nobody tells you about and sends you patches, except when it is dangerous to life.

Of course they do.  But I've never had road improvements render my auto unusable for its intended purpose.

I was a Cakewalk user all the way from the earliest stuff up through Sonar Platinum with the lifetime subscription.
 
I was a Live user from version 1.5 all the way through the V9 suite.
 
But then I discovered Reaper, and so even before Sonar had announced it's demise I had already given up on Sonar and Live and it's been only Reaper for me. 
 
I think Sharke makes some good points - Reaper is not going to grab you the first time you use it... it's beauty (and strength) is that you can make it YOUR DAW... you can adjust the menus and toolbars... you can change the themes and tweak them (and there are some AMAZING themes available).   And it's got a small footprint,  it's CPU efficient... it NEVER crashes... and the program is constantly being upgraded, adding new features.   And the program's authors listen to feedback... just 2 days ago they had an upgrade, and based on user feedback on their forum, the program was updated again in 2 days!  Talk about customer responsiveness!
 
Considering that you can try Reaper for free I would especially recommend it those who enjoy digging into a program.  Give it a try and I assure you that if you spend some time with Reaper you will love it.
 

Studio One and Reaper, in that order.
 
I prefer working in SO. If there's something I need Reaper for, I can ReWire it into Studio One.
 
Reaper is outstanding, as was Justin's previous baby, WinAmp.
 
There are a couple of things that concern me, from a long-term view. Things like controller support (my FaderPort works fine, but I needed to figure out which user-developed plugin to download; then the INI file from a different d/l; then I need to deal with a text .INI file to configure it if the default doesn't suit me; blah blah blah). Things like the SWS extension. Things like ReaPack. Things like themes.
 
Awful lot of stuff that's community-developed and supported, or not.
 
I only spent 2 years on SPlat, unlike many who've been users for decades, so my 'loss' wasn't as great.
 
As much as I am troubled by PreSonus' go-to-market strategy for their audio interfaces, they build some excellent gear with outstanding integration with Studio One.
 
I expect to keep both Studio One Pro and Reaper current for the foreseeable future. I'm not going to pick one over the other.
 
One thing I will probably do is uninstall Samplitude and that 70 GB synth/sampler. And maybe even Sound Forge, if the upgrade to v12 is too expensive. Won't bother me. I'm happy to have just SpectraLayers for the $149 sale price.