Yeah, think so.  Already talked to Sweetwater about the Cubase cross grade.  I got a Christmas bonus from work, so part of that will go to a new Daw I guess.   
 
Certainly will miss Sonar, but am excited about some of the Midi and compositional tools in Cubase. 

Steve Bolivar
Nobody has mentioned it yet and a bit out of left-field but Waveform by Tracktion looks nice. I do a mix of MIDI/virtual instruments, wav and REX loops, and live recording. It looks like it's worth a trial download. Current prices are $99-$200 depending on how many extras you get. Maybe I'm easily impressed but the intro video was impressive.
 

I got into Waveform earlier this year as a secondary DAW, and I can say that it exceeds expectations.  The basic package for $99 is really all that you need.  https://www.tracktion.com/products/waveform
 
It is a very intuitive tool for quick recording or arranging, and lets you focus on music rather than detailed tasks. It also has a lot of advanced features for editing clips and loops, as well as using multiple browser windows at once to preview loops. 
 
If you are into MIDI, the PRV editor can open in a separate editing window. The MIDI pattern generators can also produce bass lines, chords, arpeggios, etc., within your project key and chosen chord progressions.  That is well worth the price of admission, as far as I am concerned! 
 
You may still want to have a full featured DAW for mixing and mastering your project, but this is a great tool for capturing musical ideas.

husker
Yeah, think so.  Already talked to Sweetwater about the Cubase cross grade.  I got a Christmas bonus from work, so part of that will go to a new Daw I guess.   
 
Certainly will miss Sonar, but am excited about some of the Midi and compositional tools in Cubase. 

I tried a demo of the Cubase 9 Elements ($99) earlier this year, and was impressed with the MIDI composition tools in there.  The chord track, the circle of fifths assistant, and the other chord tools were impressive! https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/cubase_elements.html
 

lawajava

Glyn Barnes
Well I am hoping to get a lot of years out of Sonar, even if there are no new updates. But there is always the risk that Windows updates or the need for new hardware, or authorization problems could break it at some point if there is no maintenance.
 
I am thinking I need a two fold strategy.

1. Ensure I keep WAV stems and MIDI files of my projects so they can be recreated in another DAW.
2. In the longer term identify another DAW and learn it, probably by buying the most basic version, so I am not confronted by a massive learning curve IF Sonar becomes unworkable.

I had tried both Reaper and Studio One in the past and liked neither of them, but I think Studio One has come on a lot since then (MIDI was terrible when I last tried it) so maybe its time to try the demo again.
 
I have heard Cubase has the best MIDI implementation so I will also be looking there.

 
Also heading to Cubase. Seems to have more of what I would need than Studio One - but those are the only two in my thoughts. Ableton has a big following but it is so ugly I wouldn't even want to try it.

I would say that if you are into MIDI, realize that Cakewalk, Cubase, and Logic started out as MIDI sequencers that later added audio.  Just saying...

I love Studio One.  I have much respect and love for Cakewalk and Sonar, but I've barely opened it since I started using Studio One this past Spring.  Workflow is insanely fast.

Checked out Studio One.... Hate the gaudy, cartoony look of it. I, personally, love the Concrete Limiter, the CA-2A, the Quad Curve EQ, and the Console Emulator (Neve setting). It's gonna be real hard to replace those, for my particular sound.   

I'm going to look into Cubase.
 
I was impressed with some of the notation features, plus the person whom I record with the most is a classically trained musician so it looks the best fit.

Tried the Presonus demo and instantly did not care for the less than refined look. Plus it looks like its missing some advanced features that SONAR has. Guess I will give Cubase a go now..

oh well.....I'm back to recording song ideas on a tape recorder.....and I'm selling all my gibsons!!! Whats the point of anything, people die, companies go arse up.......why did I ever waste my time and money on this.......pissed off paul!!! I cant afford to just go out and buy all new stuff!!! My older brother was right.....don't waste your money on music!!!! For gods sake Gibson.........ahhhhhhhhhhhhgrrrrrr......... 

i will go on with Sonar platinum till all servers down or my computer and other softwares begin to crash. After that next daw may cubase.

kenny@vhprecords.com
I will be looking at Reaper, Studio One or dare I even mention "alls I have" Protools! Anyone care to comment?

Back years ago when Sonar 8.5 came out and I would have needed a new computer I said F'it and went Mac and straight into ProTools 10. Bit of a learning curve and there were some things in workflow that didn't straight out translate over but I got my head around that. Was able to pull my old audio and MIDI tracks from Sonar into PT no problem. Then PT11 came out and we got faster than real time bounce and a few other tidbits. PT12 is the current version with a lot more goodies. I don't have that because I don't need what's in there. There is a limited version of PT12 called PT First that doesn't need a dongle. Also PT12 now has monthly/yearly subscription for the program as well as getting a permanent license asset. Sorting through the different license options is a bit of a chore; I suggest taking a look at Avid.com and/or the DUC (the PT forums) and look around and ask there.
 
In this journey with PT when PT12 dropped I also got into Digital Performer. Both PT and DP are dual platform - Mac and PC. DP is a lot like old style Sonar before we got true instrument tracks. DP's instrument tracks only host the vi - that's it. You till have to go old school with separate MIDI tracks. With DP you can have multiple sequences which essentially means you could have multiple tunes in one DP project. No dongle needed for DP and there's only one version that does it all. They do have a free fully functional 30 day trial. One of the good things historically is DP will run on just about anything out there - you don't need the latest/greatest computer out there. Downside with DP - the user community sucks. Ask rookie questions over on Motunation (not a part of MOTU which programs DP) and if it even sounds like you haven't read the manual then you get roasted big time. There is a forum over on Gearslutz that doesn't get a lot of traffic. Also a presence on Facebook but I don't go there.

The biggest thing I'm sad about....I'm a novice....sonar and this forum hosted for novices like me.....no I'm not a novice musician..im pro/semi pro.....but learning to use the software..sonar and  this user forum was the best thing since jesus got hung on a cross like structure.......I'm very disappointed!!!!...can nothing ever be simple, and user friendly with no consequences????

i moved to studio one, no regrets

there's only a small number of the plugs bundled with sonar that won't work in other daws, someone posted a checklist/screenshot in another thread already