I absolutely lurve the 'Play' button on the transport controls...
 
It lets you listen to your project.
 
Man I was fumbling around in the dark for three years until I discovered that.
 
If anyone else is struggling to hear what they've recorded and programmed, you can find this awesome button here:

I love the track templates. They make it so much easier to get to creating music without having to set up all your tracks, go to synths, and plugins. It let's you "strike while the iron's hot", and not lose your inspiration.

Leadfoot
I love the track templates. They make it so much easier to get to creating music without having to set up all your tracks, go to synths, and plugins. It let's you "strike while the iron's hot", and not lose your inspiration.

And I think what makes them "underrated" is that they can do so much more than just bring in a track...I have a "multiband construction kit" track template that brings in buses, effects, crossovers, the whole shot with a couple clicks. So much easier than setting up from scratch each time.
 
A track template can even be an entire mixer setup! So you can choose the various ProChannel modules to create something like a faux SSL console.
 
An underrated keyboard shortcut is select clip > Shift+Space Bar to play only that clip. For quick auditions you don't have to mess around solo or mute.

Steve,
 
another great hint is the Red button to the right of play.  Red stands for "record" so you don't have to play all your parts live each time you want to hear your song.  Saves a lot of time.
 
@

Anderton
An underrated keyboard shortcut is select clip > Shift+Space Bar to play only that clip. For quick auditions you don't have to mess around solo or mute.

You just blew my mind. I didn't know you could do that! I need to get the X3 Power book or something. I'm sure there are TONS of things I'm missing out on.

AT
Steve,
 
another great hint is the Red button to the right of play.  Red stands for "record" so you don't have to play all your parts live each time you want to hear your song.  Saves a lot of time.
 
@

Marvellous
 
 

Jlien X
Scrub Tool would be a great feature if it worked per take lane.

Would be an even greater one if it worked on MIDI as well. It doesn't and there is no logical reason for that.
 
 
An underrated feature is the ability to control Sonar with the keys on your MIDI keyboard. You have to hold down a button (that sends out a MIDI CC telling Sonar to interpret the incoming MIDI notes as Shortcuts instead), then every key of your MIDI Keyboard can become a shortcut. Everything you can bind to your QWERTY keyboard from the "Customization > Keyboard Shortcuts" menu, can be bind to your MIDI Keyboard as well. This way you can manipulate Sonar from your MIDI Keyboard, paying no more attention to the monitor/QWERTY keyboard and focusing on playing music.
 
A few bindings that I made: Record, Playback, Go Previous/Next Measure, Start/Stop Audio Engine (for quick access when a synth is crashing the driver and blows my speakers), Reset All Meters. These are just a few, but he possibilities are many more.

PopStarWannabe...Would be an even greater one if it worked on MIDI as well. It doesn't and there is no logical reason for that...

But you CAN scrub MIDI in the PRV - I'm not Sonaring today, so can't say specifically how they've changed it in X3, but the tool is still there.  Take a look.  Invaluable tool.
 
Randy B.

When I get tired of hearing my playing that "Stop" button saves the day !!

Using drum maps to control articulation switches in kontakt... works great!