I'd say I like them roughly the same. Each has features the other lacks, but there's been enough borrowing between DAWs in general over the years to make them a pretty close match. Both have pretty well thought out workflows in their own ways. I haven't really had any wow moments where I think one blows the doors off the other, though. The big bonuses for me were getting the Overloud plugs unlocked and getting Notion for $49.

The real thing iimho opinon is to really make a serious project in it and you will find a lot of unconveneance in S1 and some big , I to discovered and love some stuff here and there ....but as i started a track ennoying stuff get cumulated qukly


1) Mutimbrale handling and the no template thing (Time impact : BIG)
2) Loop Midi takes handlng : i simply cannot record overdub in takes that get mixed in playback , you cannot edit those takes like clips ... (Time impact : BIG)
3) Screen sets missing ((Time impact : MEdium)
4) No docking of Plugin (Time impact : BIG)
5) No Xray (Time impact : Enormous) havng to close , remove , move stuff around because of editng or controls needs is a pain in the a... on single screen set up (the case here)
6) MEtering : Joke , have to insert real stuff (Time impact : BIG) just to know my peaks ect ...cannot use the master with soloed tracks since there's busses between with process
7) No gain / Phase on tracks (Time impact : BIG)
8) No per Plugin oversampling : (CPU impact : BIG) since you have to work at 96K for the whole session
9)Plugin layout : primitif , can't create layouts per production phase (MIX / MAsterng ect) , Plugins cannot be in 2 folders (like FGX for exemple , cannot be in MAsteriing and Limters ect ...) (Time impact : BIG)
10) No icons (Time impact : Medium)

Yep some stuff get 's you faster in other areas , but so far have the feeling of gettng back in time when those stuff weren't in sonar ...decade ago !!

Brilliant stuff i've found supperior than sonar

1) Plugins routing possiblities
2) Structural options
3) Track manager layout even if options are less than sonar
4) Controllers handlng
5) Performance metering details(latency / cpu ect ...the habilty to reach the plugn from there s not to underestimate in workflow.)
6)MAcro Bar : great but also frustratng since only one , no update context based (like reaper) , not diffrente dowkng option ect ...
7)Plugins miniatures : believe me or not but i have the feeling of having gears and not having spent zillions in the wind since years !! (like a real studio !!)

Rbh
I tried S1 early on when it first came out. I found it efficient - but it didn't ( at the time) cover nearly as many bases as Sonar. I think sonar is very full featured and matured - plus it's backward compatibility is amazing over 20 plus years.

I'm still a Sonar user and fanboi, but let's give credit where it's due... Studio One is now at version 3.5, and is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was when you tried it out.
 
Just saying....

CakeAlexSHere
Everytime I return to Sonar now it feels like a bloated pregnant dead whale.

Now THAT'S an analogy!

lol!!! wow, thats cold man 

Enigmatic
After trying Studio One 3.... I have to say I'm kinda glad Sonar died... I never knew there was such a perfect daw availible... I've been with Cakewalk since 2000ish.  I was hardcore. There were things that bugged me about Sonar but Studio pne Made them much more glaring...

I couldn't agree more. I've tried out Studio One's free version in the past and liked it but never dove fully into it simply because of the years of SONAR knowledge and muscle memory and not wanting to relearn all that combined with the thought of why spend more money on another DAW when I already have one mixed in with maybe some false sense of loyalty. Wish I would've spent more time a year or two ago getting up to speed and then spent the "life time" updates money on the Studio One license. So much that I could've been taking advantage of all this time -- the arranger, the scratchpad, the Remote, the parallel FX chains, etc., etc.. 
 

Zo

2) Loop Midi takes handlng : i simply cannot record overdub in takes that get mixed in playback , you cannot edit those takes like clips ... (Time impact : BIG)

 
Zo is doing something very wrong here. Loop midi recording is where Studio One really excels and it is way better than Sonar in this regard.  You need Record Mix on for a start. You need to expose the record panel which gives you options. Sounds like he has not even found that.
 
Studio One can record midi while in loop mode. Yes it can record those takes to layers for each loop but you can switch this off as well and just keep adding midi data into a single take.  Not only that you can have several external midi or virtual instruments set up all at the same time and jump the midi tracks while in record and looping. Now Sonar falls over when you try this.  This is a revelation for me. One of the main reasons I use it.  As you jump tracks midi data is just added in on the track you land on. 
 
You can also jump out of record and rehearse and then jump back in as well.  This is really quite exceptional.  But the way Studio One also handles midi timing, the timing is faithfully recorded right down to the the most subtle of playing. Something many DAW's actually don't handle well either.
 
It's too easy to keep rabbiting on about the stuff Studio One cannot do but very easy to overlook the stuff it kills other DAW's at. The way it records and handles midi timing is one area where it is way out front.  Probably a bit too subtle for some to even notice I guess.  Some of the higher profile users are using it for this exact reason.
 
After using Studio One for 6 years now when I go back into Sonar for any reason it just feels terrible and clunky and horrible. This is something many here have not experienced yet.  Because they have only used it for 5 minutes and have got no idea.  But as a long term user you really notice this. 
 
 
 

I have had a play round with it and to me it is in the same position to Cubase as Bitwig is to Ableton. A lite version which if you buy you'll be kicking yourself for not just buying the full featured program instead.

Zo, I'm not having the midi loop problems you are having at all.

6) MEtering : Joke , have to insert real stuff (Time impact : BIG) just to know my peaks ect ...cannot use the master with soloed tracks since there's busses between with process

I had the same issue initialy, until Jeff guided me. You can get the numerical peak values in the meter if you hover over and place the mouse pointer over the channel meter.