I'm getting to know CBase and so far it's great. Bought it on 12-31. I got an e-licenser from Steinberg and another from Amazon, rcvd quick, up and running!

You know, something else to consider is Cubase Elements for $99.  It is not crippled other than some track count limitations and lack of the advanced mixing features.  It does not need a dongle to run, and offers much of the MIDI features that big brother Pro has. 
 
I tried the demo last year, right after V9 was released, and was very impressed.  I may still get it no matter what other DAWs I have, just for the MIDI tools. If you have another DAW that lacks certain MIDI functions, you might be able to start a project in here with MIDI, for example.
 
It includes VST instrument support, automation tracks, program change and bank selection, and a lot of MIDI processing functions. Plus basic music notation and score editing.
 
It has a good MIDI editor, plus the arranger track, chord track, chord events, and chord assistant.  Extract chord events from MIDI.  You can change the pitch of chords, the voicing of chords, etc.
 
Here's a comparison of the features in the different versions of Cubase:
https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/comparison.html

Reaper is relenting and will include ARA support fairly soon.  I really like how Reaper handles VSti's.
 
I will keep working with Sonar and Reaper.  Eventually when Sonar stops working (maybe it will never die) I will have Reaper.
 
Sonar does everything I need and there is really no new functionality I require.  My biggest concern would be all my old CWB files not opening some day.

To burgerproduction: You should consider trying the free Home Studio (assuming it is still available). Like you, I happily used 8.5 until the big change (Sonar X series). At that point, I toyed with upgrading, but never did. I started using Reaper when they got a notation editor, but my workflow was not as fast. Then the proverbial hit the fan in November, that Sonar was going away. I scrambled back to 8.5 Producer, but installed Studio as for some reason it works better for me. I was hoping for a way to upgrade to Sonar somehow, when this free Home Studio deal popped up. It does everything I need, is very stable and is only missing Event List, but I'm learning to use PRV better. Other than that, it does all 8.5 did, but with a gorgeous GUI. I sometimes just sit and admire it. I wish the bakers were still around so I could compliment them. And I really wish I had upgraded at some point to at least Artist or Professional. but if that never becomes possible, I will have Sonar Home Studio - a very recent version - along with 8.5 Studio. Both work great on Windows 7, and I'm looking forward to many years of productive use with them.

Thanks for the concern Michael. I've actually got the Platinum lifetime addition, plus a fully paid Artist addition. If either of these stop working due to the servers going off line, the same thing will happen to the Home Studio addition (which I also got, just for the sake of it). Thanks for thinking of me though. I'm sure other people can benefit from your post. ☺