I have a few questions for any of you who may be users of both DAWs or at least familiar with both. My main DAW is X3P. I have an LE version of Live that came bundled with my Focusrite interface box, but I haven't spent any time trying to learn it. What I am wanting to know is this --- Is there anything that Live can do that Sonar cannot do? Pretty open ended question, so let me see if I can narrow it a bit. I record and produce both singer/songwriting/acoustic/vocal pieces as well as electronic/instrumental. For the later, I am starting to experiment with the Matrix in Sonar. I don't yet have a pad controller, like NI's Maschine, but am considering purchasing one. Which DAW is more tailored towards these types of controllers? Or are Sonar and Live equal when it comes to workflow with a pad controller?
 
I prefer to stick with Sonar as I have been using it for years, and am barely scratching the surface of what it can do!  I am curious as to why Live seems to be the example DAW in so many articles and how-to's lately. Is it because Live is truly better with certain workflows, or are they just doing a better job at marketing to the EDM/DJ producers?
 
I hope these questions made sense. I'm basically trying to understand the differences in workflow, and if there is anything one can't do that the other can.
 
Thank you for your help,
 
Todd
 

OK, I just searched and read a few posts related to my questions. I can see these questions have been asked before, so I have some reading to do... If you have any comments or thoughts, please post. I'll also experiment with my free copy of Live LE to learn a bit more.
 
Thanks!

I use both. I spend more time with Sonar and any songs that I publish to the web I've recorded/mixed in Sonar. The work flows are much different or at least the way I use them. I use the session view in Live (which is like matrix on steroids), the arrangement view is like Sonar's track view. I use Live when I'm noodling around. I'll record loops and build them into tracks and I can switch between tracks with a foot controller (I'm a guitarist). If I like something I've done enough to work on as a song I'll take the what I like and go back to Sonar to develop it.
 
If I wanted to use VST instruments or effects live I would most likely use Live.

Thanks rsinger, that helps! I'm trying to learn a lot more about the Matrix in Sonar. Live is what is very new to me. The free version that I have is Live Lite 8, I think pretty old and limited. But it's a chance to at least check it out.

I use both along with reaper and FLStudio but I always finish tracks in Sonar and play live with Live.

Another one who does SONAR in the studio, Live for live performance. For my purposes, Live does what it sets out to do extremely well and that's what it does. SONAR can handle a wide variety of tasks, and if you're not going to be playing live or pushing Live to its DJ/groove-oriented limit, I suspect SONAR and the Matrix view will do what you need.
 
FWIW Live has a very different workflow that seems natural to some people, but drives others up the wall. I was both - it drove me up the wall at first, but then I figured out how to do things "the Live way" and become fluent in the program. OTOH SONAR felt very natural from the beginning.

Thanks karhide, thanks Craig - great input!

One other thing I forgot to mention...I don't even bother booting up Live unless I have a controller connected - at least an APC 40. I would give the same advice about using Matrix View if you plan to use it in real time.

Thanks Craig.  The APC40 is made specifically for Live.  I am assuming it, and other equivalent controllers, work well with the Matrix in Sonar?  (Haven't started playing with Live yet, working through a minor authentication issue with Abelton).
 

Found this as I was just watching Craig's interview on Sonar with Sweetwater team.  I have been a user of Sonar for years (I like the new 'membership' model).  Craig - since you mention that you use Live for "live", what is your workflow?  How do you preserve all the great stuff that you can do in Sonar and move that over to Live for "live"?  OMF leaves a lot to be desired....  I am faced with having to adopt a simlar approach of leveraging these two DAWs, but don't want to do a bunch of re-work in Live after I get everything sounding the way I want in Sonar....any advice?