SubSonic
Tempting, indeed. But $599? I'd almost look at the $499 Zoom R24 recorder first, because oh yeah, it is also a DAW surface, loop sequencer, sampler and drum machine too. #justsayin
the R24 and this X-touch are 2 totally different animals: the first is a good work horse for rehearsals (but of questionable quality), the later is a DAW controller (which has yet to prove it's not chinese junk) ...
i don't want to sound all negative but a drummer friend bought the R24 for practise purposes (metronome, loops, play alongs) and quick recordings (for which it is ok), but the pre-amps are certainly not the best (well, look at low price vs. million features) and they get really annoying when used with +48V active ... anyway, it serves its purpose, but you can't record anything serious other than a rough jam session before the beer resets your memory of the tunes ...
well, as regards the x-touch ... it's long standing predecessor (BCF2000) was probably the cheapest mackie protocol CS with motorized faders; it worked ok (if you don't mind how noisy the faders are) but B-products were known to have a shorter life span than other gadgets; anyway, i still got 2 of the BCFs that rattle & work and use them occasionally ... of course, any CS running off the mackie protocol will automatically have lots of "known" issues as there hasn't been any work on the Sonar side in years ...
catcus music advice is probably the best: stay clear until there have been improvements made in Sonar - and you find someone you owned the x-touch for longer than the warranty period ...