Sonar and Ableton Live

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
 

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.

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

Thanks karhide, thanks Craig - great input!

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).
 

I create all my files for Live in SONAR (and most of my files for Traktor in Live ). So I'm really just bringing over loops and one-shots I've created in SONAR to take advantage of Live's performance-oriented audio engine and ability to switch scenes rapidly, as well as take advantage of Live-specific control surfaces.
 
Although the two programs appear similar on the surface, to me Live is a software version of a musical instrument and SONAR is a software version of a world-class studio. So now that I think about it, it makes sense I create the material in SONAR, then perform that material in Live.

Thanks Mystic38, helpful feedback. It's been a year since the original post, and I have since scrapped Live and started using Bitwig. So now using it along with Sonar. Really liking Bitwig, as it appears to me to merge both of the worlds, and fairly well given that it is still at version 1.x.