I'm 80% convinced I want one.  The Yamaha MOXF6 and Roland FA-06 both look good on paper and in youtube. 
 
Anybody have experience using these in a Sonar environment?  How's the interop?
 
Other PRO/CON/Gotcha to share?  Considerations for one over the other?
 
 

Do you already have a workstation and are just interested in these current versions?
 
I have had the MOTIF for years and it has always played nice with sonar, although with the quality of soft synths that are offered in software now (sonar soft synths included), I find myself using my workstation more as just a midi controller and soft synths for actual sounds. It's good though to be able to just create on the workstation at times without even firing up the computer (which nowadays is rare for me). 
Just my 2 cents.

Double Post

I have a dumb keyboard/controller now.  I've never had a keyboard/workstation
 
I was born a guitar player, but I've been more and more getting into keys/softsynths.  The Roland FA looks like a nice setup for working on song ideas and such without dealing with a DAW, but I expect to transfer things to Sonar once I get far enough along.
 
So I'm interested in using it stand-alone -not performing out though- and in conjunction with Sonar.
 
 

Yes, that is a very practical use for outside of the DAW.....not having to fire up the computer to work on basic song ideas (workstation) from scratch. Another plus is that you can always record the midi out of your workstation and use soft synths for sounds you may want that are not in the workstations library.

The FA boasts the ability to export the audio version of sequenced tracks as well as the MIDI.  That would be a best of both worlds scenario it seems.  Hard to tell for real from boobtube, but the FA sounds are pretty nice from what I can tell.
 
I saw the MOXF after having looked closer at the FA.  Specs-wise, I like the FA better even though the MOXF lists semi-weighted keys. 
 
It really comes down to how well they operate with SONAR.  Beyond basic transport control, what that means to me is how well they integrate and compliment one another as part of the same overall workflow.

You probably don't really want a workstation, but rather a ROMpler. A workstation will have sequencing and sampling capabilities that you (probably) don't need. A ROMpler, OTOH, is a MIDI keyboard controller with ROM-based samples representing a wide range of instruments. However, either would be a fine complement to SONAR.
 
I've had both ROMplers and workstations for, gosh, as long as they've existed. Mainly, though, I've had them because I played in bands, rather than for recording. I do use them occasionally for recording, though, because they offer sounds that I don't have in, say, Kontakt. In fact, I have made Kontakt instruments from my ROMpler samples for convenience.
 
You'd think, then, that in the studio a ROMpler might just get demoted to generic MIDI controller. But that's far from the case, at least here at Casa de Bit. Having a ROMpler or workstation (my current instrument is a bonafide workstation, but I use it as a ROMpler) lets me find a patch that's similar to what I'll ultimately turn to Kontakt/Zebra/Omnisphere for, play and monitor in real time (zero latency) while recording the performance as MIDI, no audio. Now I've got a MIDI track that I can use to audition various synth patches or sample libraries. It's a workflow that exploits the best of both worlds: an expressive, live performance played in real time, coupled with the infinite world of computer-based synthesis.
 
One of the hottest ROMplers ATM is Yamaha's Montage. I've played it, and heard it demoed by an expert. I was very impressed. Expensive, though. But I very nearly bought one. The main reason I didn't was it weighs 63 lb. and I have a bad back. 
 
EDIT: I take back calling Montage a ROMpler. It's got a 16-track sequencer like my Kronos, making it a real workstation.

Thanks bf.  I think I do want the sequencer feature so I can basically build multi-part tunes without firing up the DAW.  I'll check out ROMplers though to make sure I understand.

Come to think of it, my old Yamaha MO8 actually had a MIDI sequencer, but it was so complicated I never used it.
 
When it was stolen, I replaced it with a Korg Kronos 2, which is a full-blown workstation that can record 16 MIDI tracks and 16 audio tracks and is a real sampler/vocoder to boot. Samples are not ROM-based, but rather stored on a 60 GB SSD. It includes nine (!) synth engines, one dedicated to acoustic pianos, another dedicated to EPs. You can use it as an audio interface. You can route external audio through it to make use of its effects (there are a boatload of 'em, too). It can stack patches, arrange them in set lists that you punch up from a 10" touch screen. It has every feature I could ever want or imagine in a workstation.
 
But it wasn't cheap - $3600 after adding pedals and cables; I could only justify it because it was replacing two instruments (the MO8 and Hammond XK-1). A used MO8 can be had for around $800 on eBay/Craigslist.

That Kronos looks VERY nice ... way out of my league.  The price on the FAs is looking really good now