I've never really heard of Mixcraft before this thread, so I went and had a look...   Honestly, for the price, it looks like a very decent piece of software.  Particularly taking into account that it also does basic video editing (not bad!).
 
But as far as advanced DAW use goes, a few minutes on the first page of their forum turned up two big no-go's: A) There is apparently no built-in ADC/PDC so latent FX will push track playback behind unless first bounced, and B) The controller support only works with the active track, so there's no grabbing a few faders or knobs, making something like the BCF2000 semi-useless.
 
Everything comes at a price...
 

He has something of a point, although perhaps expressed in a style that would be suited more to a teenage argument about Justin Bieber on YouTube. 

I mean I quite like Sonar, at least I'm sticking with it for the time being, because I've made an investment (both time and money) in the software and I certainly can't afford to be writing off hundreds of dollars and spending more hundreds on another DAW right now. I certainly like it a whole lot better than Pro Tools, which was far less stable for me and couldn't even run a moderate sized VSTi based project without throwing up errors all the time. 

However, if you asked me whether I'd drop $400 again on Sonar if I could go back in time, I'd probably say no. It's not that I don't think that Sonar doesn't have the potential to be the best DAW in the world, because it does. It's just that it doesn't feel like a $400 piece of software. There are too many sloppy design flaws, inconsistencies and plain oddities for that. Hell, I get pissed with the design flaws and bugs in Microsoft Outlook, and that only cost me $100. I can turn the other cheek when dealing with freeware, but these days when you shell out this much for software you just expect it to be so much more polished and stable. Sonar, to me, feels very much like it's still in beta. 

A small example of that was when I posted a while ago about automation for PC FX chain off/on not working unless the ProChannel in question was actually open in the console (or selected in the Inspector), and someone from Cakewalk (Noel?) said that they were aware of the issue, but that it was just too much of an issue to fix, and that fixing it would break other things. This is, I have to say, inexcusable. I have also suffered the same problem with the automation of the arpeggiator's off/on. It wouldn't work unless the track in question was actually selected. This is beyond a bug, it's the selling of an unfinished product that has been shipped part way through its development phase. Perhaps this didn't bother me too much because I'm still a bedroom hobbyist - but if I'd built a commercial studio around Sonar, I would be as mad as hell. 

Yes there are workarounds and hacks to some of these problems, but they are major productiveness killers and leave a bad taste in your mouth when you're using a piece of software you've invested a lot of money in. 

It just seems a bit odd that if you buy hardware that is faulty or doesn't work as advertised, you are entitled to a refund. If you buy software that gives you the same kind of problems, there is no recourse. I really don't know why. 

Anyway I'm not one to moan and complain about Sonar on a daily basis - for me it's performing quite well, a huge step up from Pro Tools, and I am enjoying making music with it. Do I think it's worth what they charge for it? Definitely not. I'd expect a far more polished product for this kind of money. 

To the OP, you're obviously going to come across as a bit of a dick with the tone you're taking. To be honest it's a tone I hear very often from arrogant 20-something EDM producers who are eager to prove themselves. You say you are making tunes that are rocking the clubs, well how about putting your money where your mouth is and posting links to some of these tunes so we can judge for ourselves. Otherwise we're just going to presume that you're full of it. 

Oh really CakeAlexS, and yet my rowing boat just tore your battleship to shreds; to many kinks and navigation potholes in that battleship of yours by the looks of it.

stevec if you think Mixcraft doesn't have PDC then you need glasses. And tell me who uses a controller for anything other than the active track, 1% of musicians? Thought so.

> "who uses a controller for anything other than the active track, 1% of musicians?" Ever mix a song on an analog desk? Didn't think so. Lots of actual audio engineers (out of the box) people like to move faderS (plural). Sorry folks, I said "don't feed the trolls", but I couldn't resist. **** The OP likes Mixcraft; that's totally cool. He doesn't care much for Sonar, and that's also cool. Who cares? Let's move on to the posts where we help other users.

stevec if you think Mixcraft doesn't have PDC then you need glasses. And tell me who uses a controller for anything other than the active track, 1% of musicians? Thought so.

 
- http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12151
 
- Do you really believe that only 1% of DAW users with control surfaces actually need to control more than the active track?  If this were the case, the majority of control surfaces would only need or have one fader... right?   And yet...
 
Sheesh, maybe sharke is right.  Mixcraft may not be a bad app, but your written conversational skills could use a little work.  
 

Oh boy...Particle...you just don't seem to be able to get the picture...Everytime you're back, you sink an inch deeper.....Be happy with your onboard soundcard and let us be happy with what we use. We use SONAR and other software because we want to, you're entitled to use what you want. Mixcraft and One are surely ok. Is it really impossible for you to understand that it's useless to pour your childish frustration on us. We're just users of this and many other software. I'm out of this thread.

If you are only working with an active track what do you need a CS for anyway? 

I take it you have never used a real CS Mr. Particle. 

@op...

Mine works fine... So.. Ner, ner, ner ner ner :).

Using onboard audio and using mixcraft = user smells of poop poo pants.

Is about the level of replies that this thread deserves.

I object to any association with nits, I use "Shake-n-Vac" every day.

Don't think we'll hear any more from him after I asked him for links to his work. I'd like to be proven wrong.