Starise
You have 30 days to try out the product for free. I would imagine you could even make that longer if you used two trials on different computers.
 
There really is no excuse for trying a product for an extended period of time, buying it and then deciding you don't like anything about it. Download the demo, try it out and in the end if you don't like it, don't buy it. I suspect some people might buy without trying it first. No matter what you used prior to this, you will be more familiar with that program initially and a new working environment will take some adjustment.
 
If you download the demo and you can't seem to figure it out there are many  videos and helpful notes in the software. In addition there's always the manual. If you have questions there are plenty of people here willing to help.

 Thanks man, ya know you might have a shot at a career in marketing.. Yep, and all the best wishes.

Sorry Steev. You were the last poster before me and I should have stated that I made a statement and it wasn't really directed at any one individual. 
 
Disclaimer-I don't work for Cakewalk and all my opinions are subject to intense scrutiny. I sincerely believe in them or I wouldn't share them 
 
One thing I noticed in a previous post is that some don't like the business model of Sonar Platinum. For those who might be new here. Cakewalk has choices that are one time purchases and are plenty good enough for a basic user. Platinum has several purchase options. Just sayin'. There should be enough here to make everyone happy.

Is the OP gone yet? 
 
Do we start making fun of him now?

code I wrote yesterday is old if the requirements change.
 

Thanks Starise, but no need to apologize as no offense was taken. And yes indeed I believe SONAR has WAY more then enough to suit anyone's personal workflow needs from capturing live musicians and tracking audio/MIDI performances, to loop and groove based genre specific sequence composition and everything in between to the point of actually offering way too much for any one user too even get a grip on all of it.
 Which I might add is utterly impractical if not impossible to do with a 30 day free trial
 
 I'd go as far as to say that I haven't found much or anything that couldn't be done in SONAR, I just had to go about doing it differently.
 And this I believe was the OP's main problem, he expected SONAR to have silver bullets included to make it behave the way HE wanted it to, with all the controls, buttons, and levers in all the same places which was exactly like FL.
 Most likely one of those who say stuff like; "HELP FILES! I don't needs no stink'in Help Files.
 
Now I was never one who was even comfortable working with prerecord rhythm patterns 
 It didn't take me long to figure out a MUCH easier and smoother way to work with ACID loops in SONAR then it is with ACID Pro, and combining and using Cakewalk's MIDI Groove Clips makes SONAR seem like ACID on STERIODS with a turbo charged engine with overhead cam and glass packs.
 What typically takes hours to arrange and edit in ACID takes minutes to do in SONAR, and you can easily shave off many more minutes from that just with SONAR's ProChannel.
 I tried to convince many of my ACID/artist/collaborators who were blown away with the speed, efficiency, and superior sound quality I was achieving to try the 30 day SONAR trial, and I would not only walk them through it, I offered a custom mixed SONAR project of a song we were already collaborating on in ACID Pro.
 Only 2 out of 10 jumped on the offer, no one else would even budge and only one purchased SONAR, and eventually went back to using ACID after about a year because he wasn't happy at all with support, and because of overly complicated patching and routing issues he had to go though every time he added a track.
 
 A problem which still exists today, even with all the offered templates, all of which miss the mark on basic I/O assignments, though most of us here most likely are so used to it we don't really notice it anymore.
 
Now I know the bakers are all so busy what with getting SONAR to run right on a Mac and all, but............. Ummm..... Well, I don't mean to be disrespectful but my money says that that will prove to be an enormous waste of time and money.
 Does anyone, and I mean ANYONE really believe that they can win over and change the minds of a Pro Tools or Logic Pro user to jump ship?
 Does anyone, and I mean ANYONE really believe Apple will even continue making and developing desktop or even laptop computers long enough for Cakewalk to even attract new Mac Head users that don't automatically [and correctly] assume that Pro Tools or Logic Pro are the ONLY true professional choices for a most powerful, smooth, and reliable workflow?
 
Oh BTW, Logic Pro is the SONAR of the Mac Head World, and it is a VERY SERIOUSLY SERIOUS CONTENDER!
 It is also the hands down winner of the lowest latency with Focusrite Scarlett Gen 2 interfaces. An astonishing 1.7 ms @ 24/96 ROUNDTRIP with USB 2 which easily supports routing and running VST audio plugins as channel inserts or Aux. in real time audio recording with undetectable latency.
 2x-3x lower latency then I register with SONAR which would still be low enough to be great IF SONAR supported running VST audio plugins in real time, which it doesn't.
 
 It's things like these we notice when and if we ever leave the SONAR Bubble.
 
 Sorry boyz and girlz, as much as I love SONAR, it is not the best, nor will it ever be offering it to Mac Heads that been picking on it for the past 20 years or so. LoL
 

Steev Acid pro was great for what it did IMO, however similar to you, I used my Acid loops in Sonar with great success. Maybe you didn't know this , maybe you do. Magix bought Acid Pro.
 
I happen to think that the reason we have 1000 post threads is because people make choices and feel such a confidence in that choice that nothing else can compare. If I buy a Ford, I'm not going on over to the Chevy forum to tell those poor bastards about what a grave mistake they all made.
 
Then there are the disgruntled users.
If a person's inner karma feels bad about Sonar then don't use Sonar. I wish you all the very best. Software is in a constant state of transition and things can happen. Much like life sometimes. The  main ingredients necessary to really get some of it are patience and understanding. Didn't work? Cool your  jets, stop wasting 95% of your energy complaining and use that to find a solution!!!
 
I reckon you can see why I'm not a customer service rep. 
 
Then there's the much less discussed issue. User error. User misinformation. User disinformation. That isn't a very popular subject. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a new user ready to spit bullets over something that they should have done. I was one of those people like 20 years ago. " I have crackles in my audio. Help!!!" It has to be that stupid software. 
 
I'm not saying 30 days is enough time to know everything about the software. It is enough time to evaluate it to know if you'll use the basic functions and like the basic workflow. If a person can't do that, they should probably not be using a computer IMO.
 
I used  Apple computers a long time ago. I like Macs. I think I understand why some people like to use them instead of a PC. I believe there is a real market for software made for a Mac. The studio heavyweights might be less inclined, however I think this is a blanket statement. In addition, there are many more casual mac users out there than pro studio users. If it wasn't a solid approach I don't think Cakewalk would be doing it. There are at least three other DAW software companies that come immediately to mind who also think this is a good idea, have made money on it and continue to make software for both platforms. 

Perhaps my needs are too simple. When I hear complaints about things being clunky I don't notice them much. Not that they are not legitimate complaints, if you're a professional you need efficient tools. I'm just tickled to have the tools we enjoy. In the early 70's when I dreamed of having a studio I never dreamed of to days capability.
So here is my "Old guy rant"
"When I was your age we had to wait for the tape to rewind"
 Have a great take,
Dave G

Trolled by another old thread.  The OP is long gone.  I need to fine tune my forum skills.

Probably time for a lock. There are some really good points in here, but they'll get lost in the noise.
 
Oh, and as to latency...use a PCIe card-based interface, and you'll get Thunderbolt-level latency with SONAR. All Thunderbolt does that benefits audio is bring the PCIe bus out to where it's accessible. People in the Mac bubble don't realize that Windows-based systems have been able to get super-low latency for years...as did the Mac when it had easily accessible PCIe slots 
 
But Thunderbolt is really cool if you're doing audio and video, no question about it.

Anderton
IMO SONAR has reached the point where its feature set is very close to "all you need." Of course there are still holes, like ripple editing and room for MIDI improvement, and there are always things one could want. But if you look over the updates for the past several months, it seems Cakewalk is doing the software equivalent of "renovating" rooms in a mansion.

 

abacab
I think that the core of Sonar is very close to "all you need", at least as a recording studio.
 
There are a few areas that seem to be better addressed by other products. Such as notation based and pattern based composition. 
 

 
I think Sonar needs midi improvement,  and it is long overdue.  I really don't get this concept of product loyalty that's been discussed in this thread.  The only loyalty that I think is necessary is for the companies to make sure that their products continue to be compatible with 3rd party plugins and OS updates.  That being said,  I'm glad that I'm not necessarily satisfied with Sonar's midi implementation.  That coerced me to experiment with other programs,  and I actually enjoy it.  I really like trying out other programs to determine the thought process behind the different workflows.  I've definitely found some alternatives that suit my midi needs better.  
 
I love the way that Sonar handles audio.  I find the thought of Cakewalk revamping the midi sequencing exciting.  I don't have any idea of when or if it may happen,  but if it did,  I think I could find myself working on some projects from start to finish in Sonar alone.  If it never happens,  then that's fine.  I'm more than happy with my current set up.  

I know that this is an old thread,  but I just think that if anyone is unhappy with anything about their DAW,  then they owe it to themselves to experiment with other options.  There are so many other options that I feel you would be doing yourself a disservice by not giving one a try.