Keni
Thanks for the thought/idea...
But my problem is with the editing, not the recording...
Yes, I meant editing when I said "comping "in my last post (because I edit clips by speed-comping etc). Like you, I hardly ever use the Comping mode when recording.
I don't know your workflow, but mine is this:
1. Record to a desired lane (using the Overwrite recording mode)
2. Edit the recorded takes (by mostly dragging the lower half of the takes and adjusting the split points - I sometimes move only the waveforms to left/right inside the clips)
3. Mixing/mastering
I have two audio recording issues in Sonar that don't happen in another daw I own, and editing takes in Take Lanes is so cumbersome for me, because I can only see 15 lanes or so at a time (due to the fat lanes) and also it's not possible to adjust the comp split points in the parent track or anchor a desired lane when vertically zooming the lanes. So, obviously it's better for me to record and edit (incl. comping) all audio in the other daw and then import the edited audio into Sonar for mixing.
Reading your issues, I wonder why you don't use 8.5.3 for editing (record in the 2015 version and then export the recorded audio to 8.5.3 for editing is a waste of time, which is why I suggested both recording and editing in 8.5.3). I skipped all versions between 2.2 and X1, so I don't know about 8.5.3., but if you don't really need the Smart tool's comping feature added in X3, you can just record takes to multiple tracks and then edit the takes using the Zoom tool, can't you? You can then bounce the clips and export them to the 2015 version.
As I said, I don't think Take lanes will be greatly improved within the next 12 months or so, because not many people seem to be unhappy with the feature, and it wasn't even listed in the response options for the "What features do you want to see improved?" or a similar question in the recent survey.