johndavidross
I appreciate all the feedback very much! You have been more than helpful and I will definitely take advantage of the free trial. My choice is either upgrading my Pro Tools 9 or looking for a new DAW. Not sure if it is just my version but PT9 seems buggy as hell. It is slow and difficult to work with and I always intended on using it solely for tracking and then sending those tracks to a studio for mix/master. That has never happened and I've learned in the process that PT isn't as "industry standard" as I once thought. I went into a studio and they referred to it as Slow Tools. It seems that Cubase is really catching on in the industry and that they don't mind if you bring your PT project files because they will just export stuff into their DAW.
 
Thanks again everyone!

Cubase has been around as long as Cakewalk. Its a very fine DAW. It is not as easy to use as Sonar or as quick to get up and running but it is very powerful. It shines with MIDI. I believe for audio you would be better off with Sonar though. Sonar for me is great for MIDI. My system is built around MIDI. 
 
I ran Cubase SX 1, SX 2 and SX 3. I stopped before Cubase 4. I still have its dongle. LOL 

John
What does "waffle" mean? I know of it as a breakfast food. 
 

The Grim
regardless of that waffle, my advice was to try out several and choose the on that you feel is the best for you, regardless of others opinions, and if you are trying to suggest that people here, or on any other products own forum would give unbiased opinions/answers, all i can say is 'waffle' maybe try a neutral forum like kvr or gearsluts. note i didn't mention or suggest another competing product, but just suggested to try at least a couple of products, of the op's choice
 
waffle on

That would have been a good way of answering which almost all replies already noted, to try the demo. The other comments about bias were to me uncalled for considering the OP had to know where he was posting. Yes I think strongly it is more than possible to give an unbiased answer to this sort of question. As I already stated I believe mine was unbiased.
 
If you believe KVR or Gearsluts are without bias you maybe the only one.  

 
as for waffle i am sure you can figure that out, as to kvr/gearsluts, not without bias no, but about as neutral as you could get with regards to not being owned by the company involved in the discussion.
 
of course you have no bias . . . Love Has Blossomed

Demos exist for most daws... Try um!  My friend bought into Sonar totally based on my love and ended up finding Ableton spoke to his brain... I tried Ableton and went, "no way!"  I bought Studio 1 3pro from a fellow Caker as I'd heard so much talk about it...and I got a deal... in the end a "stupid" deal as it sits on my HD.  Sonar best suits my workflow and S1/3 seems crude/confusing...Is it really?  WTFknows... some who live on this forum (which is wierd) love it and have tried to get me to delve into it more... although it has some things I thought might win me over... I keep falling more in love with S4Life as the bakers keep crankin' out kick butt stuff every month... not to mention we've got the "Craig" tips that just rock...
 
learning curve; what feels right; this is all such a personal decision.  Obviously, Sonar speaks my language; left logic/cubase decades ago.
 
I don't think u can find a more helpful forum... it is truly amazing.  It's free to try... 

The Grim
of course you have no bias . . . Love Has Blossomed

Really liking something does not necessarily indicate bias. It may just be very good! Surely the charge of bias can only be made if  something is considered great despite plentiful evidence to the contrary? No such crime here on the Sonar forum:)

I have:
Sonar Platinum (My go to DAW) - I use this for tracking, mixing, and mastering.  See below comment about mastering!
 
Studio 1 Artist - Never use it.  Tried the New version 3 demo and could not justify the $99.00 to upgrade.
 
Harrison Mix Bus (The cheap version).  - I just got this and so far I am liking using this for mastering.  It seems to have that "Special Sauce" that mastering provides.  I import my two channel mixes into MixBus and apply very little (sometimes no) processing and the output is very nice!
 
Just my 2 cents.
 
I have looked at Tracktion, Reaper, Audacity and other low budget solutions and I just keep coming back to SONAR.  It is what I learned on (Since Pro Audio 9) so it is what I know best.
 
I am a hobbyist with limited time, so I am not spending 8-24 hours a day with it, but I do have a few hours under my belt...
 

The Grim

John
What does "waffle" mean? I know of it as a breakfast food. 
 

The Grim
regardless of that waffle, my advice was to try out several and choose the on that you feel is the best for you, regardless of others opinions, and if you are trying to suggest that people here, or on any other products own forum would give unbiased opinions/answers, all i can say is 'waffle' maybe try a neutral forum like kvr or gearsluts. note i didn't mention or suggest another competing product, but just suggested to try at least a couple of products, of the op's choice
 
waffle on

That would have been a good way of answering which almost all replies already noted, to try the demo. The other comments about bias were to me uncalled for considering the OP had to know where he was posting. Yes I think strongly it is more than possible to give an unbiased answer to this sort of question. As I already stated I believe mine was unbiased.
 
If you believe KVR or Gearsluts are without bias you maybe the only one.  

 
as for waffle i am sure you can figure that out, as to kvr/gearsluts, not without bias no, but about as neutral as you could get with regards to not being owned by the company involved in the discussion.
 
of course you have no bias . . . Love Has Blossomed

I reread my first post here and I now see what you are talking about. As it was it was unintended to read that way. I have edited it and now it reads as I originally intended. 
 
I forgot to include wouldn't and wrote would. That difference should explain my reaction to your post. Here it was my mistake not yours.

I downloaded the Sonar Platinum demo. First off, I'm bummed that it isn't a full demo with a 30 day option. It is stripped of a lot of what I actually wanted to play with. On another note, I really like the workflow. I was able to get up and running within minutes (literally) and the ease of use blows Pro Tools away. The many glitches I get just trying to start up and get going on a project with Pro Tools are gone with Sonar plus the workflow is obvious and natural in the way you use it.
 
I'm not sure how this could be but the audio quality sounds better in Sonar and I've done a poor man's master with the master template and it sounds better than many of my Pro Tools demos. This tells me two things: 1) I don't know enough about working in Pro Tools over my 5 years with the system and 2) I was able to figure out a lot in Sonar within the first 2 hours of using it to justify purchasing.
 
I'm really excited for the built in mastering tool that Platinum has built into it. It looks like a great tool for a guy like me who is no good at those things. I'm also hoping that the plugins that come with Platinum are good or at least as good as I'm used to with Pro Tools. The default plugins with Pro Tools actually suck so I hope they are better.
 
I'll be using this forum in the future. You have all been a big help and I appreciate your input. Let me know any features that you really like or just tell me something that you think I should know about Platinum.

johndavidross
I downloaded the Sonar Platinum demo. First off, I'm bummed that it isn't a full demo with a 30 day option. It is stripped of a lot of what I actually wanted to play with. On another note, I really like the workflow. I was able to get up and running within minutes (literally) and the ease of use blows Pro Tools away. The many glitches I get just trying to start up and get going on a project with Pro Tools are gone with Sonar plus the workflow is obvious and natural in the way you use it.
 
I'm not sure how this could be but the audio quality sounds better in Sonar and I've done a poor man's master with the master template and it sounds better than many of my Pro Tools demos. This tells me two things: 1) I don't know enough about working in Pro Tools over my 5 years with the system and 2) I was able to figure out a lot in Sonar within the first 2 hours of using it to justify purchasing.
 
I'm really excited for the built in mastering tool that Platinum has built into it. It looks like a great tool for a guy like me who is no good at those things. I'm also hoping that the plugins that come with Platinum are good or at least as good as I'm used to with Pro Tools. The default plugins with Pro Tools actually suck so I hope they are better.
 
I'll be using this forum in the future. You have all been a big help and I appreciate your input. Let me know any features that you really like or just tell me something that you think I should know about Platinum.

Well you echo what I pointed out and I'm am glad you see that quality in Sonar which means you are insightful.
 
One big reason the demo is lacking a lot of stuff is to get it all it is a very big DL. It would take too long for a demo.
 
You touched on the main reason I prefer Sonar, its logical and straight forward. Also it tends to work with just about everything. Its a very good base to build a full digital studio from. 
 
The area you may want to look into is the Pro Channel modules add ons. I recommend the Concrete Limiter and the CA 2A which is now free.  The CL is still a paid for addition. 
 
Actually there is way to much within Sonar to try to explain things here. Asking questions is a very good way to get to know Sonar well. But reading the manual is also highly recommended. Learning the terms used by CW is very helpful. Often a new user coming from another DAW starts looking for items that will have a different name with the same function. Same name but different approaches are another trap. Many here run or have had other DAWs or are familiar with them so asking questions is expected.
 
Have fun and happy Sonaring.