Hello,
I have been using NI Maschine but am looking for a more traditional DAW for sequencing midi.  Maschine will let you loop over a part and on each pass you can add new drum parts, so you can record in layers, but you can also delete or quantize notes you don't like in real time without stopping.
 
In the Sonar demo I have been loop recording midi with Sound on Sound, and it lets you layer parts, but it puts them in separate midi clips.  They show up in the midi editor on the first pass when you play them, but they disappear on later passes.. .until you stop playback, then they show up so you can edit them. 
 
Is there a way to have the new recorded midi show up in the midi editor without having to stop the playback?  Also, is there a way to overdub them all to the same midi file?  If not, what about combining all the midi clips it created into one midi track?

200bpm
Is there a way to have the new recorded midi show up in the midi editor without having to stop the playback? Also, is there a way to overdub them all to the same midi file?

 
Hi, AFAIK these aren't possible in Sonar, unfortunately.
 

200bpm
If not, what about combining all the midi clips it created into one midi track?

 
Lasso-select all the clips (by right-click dragging) and then right-click on one of the clips and choose "Bounce to Clips" from the menu.

Big Maschine fan here, too...
 
The answer to whether you can add/edit overdubs in real time is both yes and no. If you play MIDI notes in real-time into Sonar, the answer is no. However, if you use the Smart Tool or Pencil Tool to enter notes in the Piano Roll view or a track's inline PRV, then you can basically do anything you want while in record mode - create notes, delete them, quantize, change velocity, ctrl-drag to copy, etc. You need to be in Sound on Sound mode to do this. 
 
When Sonar receives MIDI in from a MIDI input, it will dutifully place that on a new track. However as long as you're not sending something into a MIDI in, Sonar will just keep looping the same section over and over and you can do whatever you want with it. You can even enable and disable MIDI plug-ins as well as edit their parameters, although you can't insert or delete the plug-ins while recording. All the notes end up in the same MIDI track because new tracks aren't created when using this step entry approach.
 
Note that any changes from editing processes (other than the ones you do manually) won't occur until the next loop. For example if you set quantize halfway through a loop, the second half will not be quantized. But when the loop returns back to the beginning, then the quantizing will take effect.
 
I realize this takes the fun out of using a controller like Maschine, but many times I find this technique h to be fast and flexible.
 

I found that what you say is true, it lets you add/delete/move notes in real time.
 
Also tested bounce to clip and that consolidates them.
 
It is a shame that SONAR can't display notes recorded from a midi controller on subsequent passes until transport is stopped.  Seems like this would be easy to do as other sequencers do it and I'd say it has become a recording paradigm.
 
The reason I am doing this is because its not possible to custom map EZD2.  Within maschine, there is no way to play EZD2 with the pads if loaded as a  VSTi, but using Maschine as a midi controller, it can be mapped to EZD2, and used as an input to SONAR that can trigger and record EZD2.  Unfortunately SONAR's loop recording doesnt display notes from earlier passes.  So close yet so far.  Seems like this would be easy for them to add, was hoping it was an option.

200bpm
I found that what you say is true, it lets you add/delete/move notes in real time.
 
Also tested bounce to clip and that consolidates them.
 
It is a shame that SONAR can't display notes recorded from a midi controller on subsequent passes until transport is stopped.  Seems like this would be easy to do as other sequencers do it and I'd say it has become a recording paradigm.
 
The reason I am doing this is because its not possible to custom map EZD2.  Within maschine, there is no way to play EZD2 with the pads if loaded as a  VSTi, but using Maschine as a midi controller, it can be mapped to EZD2, and used as an input to SONAR that can trigger and record EZD2.  Unfortunately SONAR's loop recording doesnt display notes from earlier passes.  So close yet so far.  Seems like this would be easy for them to add, was hoping it was an option.

I think it's a good idea. However, although I don't know much about coding, the whole comping/loop recording is pretty deep down in the code so I'm not too sure whether what you want is "so close" or "so far." If you or anyone else who wants this feature could take the time to write a feature request, Cakewalk pays a lot of attention to these to see if there's a consensus about particular features.

Oh, and don't forget about the Step Sequencer. Although it won't do what you want to do in terms of recording in real-time with a controller (although you can record in step time with a controller), it has some really cool features that make it excellent for creating drum and bass patterns.

I've been trying to use Sonar more and more because it's being so aggressively updated with the new membership plan,  but I've really only been using it for audio.   For audio,  it's absolutely great.  However,  I just attempted to do some midi sequencing in Sonar,  and I really can't believe how convoluted the workflow has become.  Instead of creating a new thread,  I did a search and found this one.  I believe I understand how Sonar's midi implementation has changed,  but I have a few questions.

Is it possible to disable "Take Lanes" for midi loop recording?  In other words,  if I want to set up an 8 bar loop and record midi data,  is it possible to have all of the newly recorded midi data from each "pass" stored in one clip with absolutely no additional "Take Lanes" being created?  In the "Preferences" under "Project" and "Record",  there is an option for "Sound on Sound"  which is what I've been using.  Under "Loop Recording" there are only two options,  "Store Takes in a Single Track" and "Store Takes in Separate Tracks".   There is no option for disabling "Takes".   Sonar didn't always use this system of "Takes" for midi loop recording,  although honestly I haven't sequenced any midi in Sonar since version 8.  
 
Is there any way to get Sonar to behave more like a  traditional midi sequencer?

If you want to record directly in to one track lane,  Sonar seems to only work in "Overwrite" mode no matter what the Global "Recording Mode" is set to.   Is there a way to change that to "Sound on Sound"?  

No. But you can use sound on sound to stack during recording, then afterwards select all takes and bounce to a single clip.

Sanderxpander
No. But you can use sound on sound to stack during recording, then afterwards select all takes and bounce to a single clip.

That's what I thought.  I've never seen a midi sequencer that functions like that.

This feature or lack thereof is killing me. It's one of my main ways to work. Can we make a concerted effort to all feature request this as I feel like it may have me running back to my old sequencer. Hate to resurrect an old thread for this , but it's a huge deal if you work this way a lot.