Joe_A
Time to time there are references to "industry standards" which there are (I can't name them without looking them up) but there are IEEE, TIA/EIA, and (here put the recording standards body and articles). If hardware and software are constructed to industry governing body standards all will be compatible. Kind of like other industries.
He who goes proprietary does at own risk.

AHHH... WHAT!!??

Audioicon

John
but keeping those things going is not something most software companies do well. 

Yep, wonder how Pro-tools did it.
All I am hearing are arguments about what's not possible.

Some would say Avid is a hardware company. 

Audioicon
I appreciate all the input. First, this post has nothing to do with Pro-tools. I mention Pro-tools because they have dedicated hardware for their Software, Motu (Digital Performer).

Gibson owns Cakewalk, they also own Tascam, so why will it be far fetched to make a dedicated Interface or Hardware for Sonar?

Dedicated Hardware means better integration and less problems for users.

 
There was this:
http://forum.cakewalk.com...US2x2-In-m3550197.aspx

Just for laughs...
 
Why not write a Sonar interface to Avid Consoles? Let users of their hardware choose the DAW of their' choice?
 
I'm sure they've thought of it....

Dedicated proprietary hardware can also mean less flexibility in future. Not a given, but a hazard that is inherent to using those terms.
But some will like the warm fuzzy, some won't.

PhilW
For the life of me, I cannot imagine why anyone would buy high-end hardware that locked them into Sonar. The inability to use something else just wouldn't fly. Yes, I know, Pro Tools, but they have had that for ages, the ship has sailed. 

With opinion like yours in the board room. Ideas are DOA.

Pro Tools was always a hardware company.  They started out with a dsp accelerator card and interface - that was the first lower-cost, commercially available digital recording solution for home computers.  Even today many "pro tool" systems are DSP units for zero latency (plus a bunch of other stuff) years before anyone else came up w/ home studio digital.. 
 
Just because Avid does the software too (Avid started as video editing systems), one should know they did hardware, too, and went from interfaces/DSP to controllers.  And they can not because they are universal, but most hi-end recording studios use their products and spend the money on expensive hardware.
 
Anyone can always put up the money and invest in a hardware controller designed for only SONAR and how you want to work with it.  It would be expensive, tho, which is probably why no proprietary system (except for protools) is successful.

dwardzala
I think the issue here is what would the benefit be, or the why buy?  Why buy this cakewalk branded hardware?  It may or may not be lower latency.  It may or may not be easier to set up. 

WOW! Maybe I am more optimistic because I work with technology for a living.

You sound like this:

"Why have UBER?" There are taxis and no one is going to ride UBER.
"Why have AIRB&B?" There are hotels and no one will need to stay in peoples house.
"Why have Twitter?" People will prefer to write letters.

See my friend, the idea and premise of technology is to do the unknown, is to break down barriers of impossibilities.

So do you have any thoughts on the possibilities?

Presonous does this for Studio and it is highly attractive and users love it. I am not only talking about Audio Interfaces, I am talking about Controls Surfaces.

My apologies if I sound brash, I am just trying to state, that you have to look at the possibilities of technology, not simply the possibilities of short-comings.

I'll leave you with this: Nothing we have today would exists if the people creating these transformations were more focus on the "Why it may not work."

Think about it.

Majority of the response are about "why it is not possible." To me this is detrimental to the standing of Cakewalk of an industry powerhouse. Making Software alone is not going to push Cakewalk over the edge. I think we can see that all around us.

Cakewalk is owned by  a company who also owns Tascam. I cannot imagine, Tascam releasing a Control 24 for Sonar and nobody wanting to buy it.

We are talking technology here.

3 companies has proved it make no sense to make CW dedicated devices: Peavey, Roland and Nektar
 
I have spend a lot of time to find the reason: close to no one really want it. In fact anyone can integrate any Control Surface with Sonar, as deep as supported by Sonar. And I speak not about AZ Controller (which make that task significantly simpler), I speak about CW SDK which exists much longer. Several people was brave and have used the opportunity. Several more use the result. To make such project commercially successful, you need more (probably much more) then 1k customers.
So I do not think anyone want to commit commercial suicide just because someone has a dream about "high end" (I do not think such definition even exist in audio production world... it comes from selling digital cables for over $100...).
 
Note that SSL with its Nucleus, the device with $5k price tag, have decided to not spend the money (for dedicated Sonar integration). For sure they could sell 100+ more devices with it (with at least $1k interest per unit).

There are various combinations of why you are unlikely to get a dedicated sonar hardware:

1. Sonar is not a hardware company. Many forget that it was Digidesign's hardware that pushed their product protools into prominence and not the other way around. Presonus, a hardware company has taken the plunge into software and even they have made the choice to make hardware usable by most.

2. More and more hardware works fairly well with multiple systems, making the market limiting dedication to one product less advantageous. The nektar keyboard controller works damn near as good as a proprietary device for multiple daws.

3. Sonar is more of an all arounder DAW than a specialized product. A product like Ableton gains far more functionality with a dedicated controller than Sonar or most major DAWs. The most common functions to a DAW are available on any decent control surface. With the nektar controller ( a relatively inexpensive option) I can create new tracks, arm, record, select tracks, control vst instrument settings, control effect parameters and so much more with minimal setup. Ableton, being more of a performance platform than traditional DAW requires it to have needs not really covered by generic controllers.

4. Sonar simply doesn't have the demand for such a product. For many sonar users having such a product may not do much more for them than current setup. When Roland owned company, some purchased controllers that were designed to work well with sonar and results and response were underwhelming. Not dismissing product. It was actually decent, but not so good that it was viewed as must have to enhance sonar experience in way that was significant.

5. The idea that Tascam division of Gibson could somehow create such a product seems farfetched, considering the struggles it has had in recent years. Big roll of the dice for a struggling company to do for a product that may not have the demand necessary to warrant such a risk. Besides, when companies like Gibson acquire companies like sonar and tascam, the level of integration rarely becomes complete enough for fortunes to merge so tightly.

you will never have flying magical monkeys emerge from your butt singing the sound of music.  So, yes, you can say never at times with reasonable certainty. Yes, it is possible someone may develop "high end" hardware specifically for Sonar, but unless something changes where Sonar develops such a unique function set that requires proprietary functionality not available on existing hardware or sonar dominates the professional market in he way pro tools has over the last three decades, it is probably not a wise business move. 

Audioicon

dubdisciple
you will never have flying magical monkeys emerge from your butt singing the sound of music.  So, yes, you can say never at times with reasonable certainty.

Oh snap!!

You know, that may become a hit.

Permission to use lol