I do use Loopbe1 between Notion and Sonar and some of the issue is with Notion too. While Loopbe1 allows 16 channels, for my work, those channels are taken up with different patches on one instrument. I use Loopbe1 to bring the midi into Sonar because Sonar is much better at tweaking the midi data than Notion but Notion is far superior than Sonar at entering the raw note data. I would spring the $20 for Loopbe full but Notion only allows 4 midi out ports whereas via rewire it allows 16 midi out busses with 16 channels each. I still might get the full Loopbe as it would improve that aspect of the workflow 4x currently.
I have read on the interwebs that Reaper (verified in their user guide) and Cubase can bring in midi via rewire. It may not be a big thing now, but I bet as time goes on it get implemented more in the competition.