So as I understand it, the question is...
 
Can you make a hit album with Sonar inside a Ford Mustang whilst watching the share price of Gibson and Roland and videoing somebody doing an oil change....  of course the answer is yes as long as you or somebody else is playing spoons.

Glad that's sorted...

Chuck..there have been people who bought Sony Vegas primarily for it's audio functionality. These days it is a step behind the major DAWs and even a step behind products like Harrison Mix Bus which have no midi capabilities, but one could easily use the audio portion to record and mix a song

Considering platinum selling albums have been created in FL Studio, it's safe to say that most modern software is more tha capable. Like many of the people here, some of my favorite albums were recorded on 4 tracks. If I gave the right person all freeware apps and quality recording facilities ( assuming the talent is there) I like his/her chances of making a great album over an untalented idiot who happens to own pro tools.

I'm a "head sound designer" and a Producer (whatever that means as it changes from project to project) and I have chimed in time and time again that Sonar is the absolute bomb for audio creatives, IMHO it totally outshines PT but then again, every persons DAW of choice is their choice. What makes a project successful is the Operator and not the software......Well, until Sonar come up with that magic button "make my project sound like the absolute **** without me having to do anything" 

Its a bit of a silly thread this one.

I will throw in my 2 cents worth.  This thread was pushing everyone's buttons while the questions being asked were the same one just restated time and again.  Why? 

as mentioned many times in this thread. The software is super powerful (on the right machine etc)!  It is only limited by your skill!

dubdisciple
Chuck..there have been people who bought Sony Vegas primarily for it's audio functionality. These days it is a step behind the major DAWs and even a step behind products like Harrison Mix Bus which have no midi capabilities, but one could easily use the audio portion to record and mix a song

some how I cant see anyone buying sony vegas just for its audio features, sorry.
 
for the cost of sony vegas, you could do a lot better in DAW software.
 
but it is an opinion.
 

Chuck.  I didn't say it was common.  Noticed that I used past tense.  Vegas was once an audio only application.  As a modern DAW it would be awful.  it's not even capable of side chaining .  When Vegas added video features the DAW market was a lot less advanced.  Vegas, even with the new video additions was somewhat of a poor man's Nuendo.  It is wise that they focused on the video aspect because they have not made any major core updates to the audio core of any of their programs in ages.

FCCfirstclass
This thread was pushing everyone's buttons while the questions being asked were the same one just restated time and again.  Why? 

Why indeed? The OP is not exactly a newcomer to Sonar. He's been using it for 10 years. He should be telling us whether it's good enough rather than asking.

I am by no means a "BIG-TIME" producer but many of my projects have gone directly to copy. No mastering house, no mastering engineer. I have had other producers and mastering houses comment about not having to do anything at all to my finished products. Also, they are always asking about the quality of the sound I'm getting. Of course, I have played music, engineered, and co-produced with some of the heroes in this industry. I take no credit for my knowledge. Everything was learned from sitting next to the BIG guy and soaking stuff in like a sponge.
As for Cakewalk, if you had asked this question several years ago I would have said " No, it's not there yet!" But around the time Sonar 8.5 came around, I didn't have to send my stuff off to be mastered anymore. I was able to do it all with that. X1 changed the game all together. 
One of my clients got a deal in hip-hop and his first project was done with X1. Sony released it as is! Another one of my clients landed a deal in Nashville, outlaw country style. The first album I did for him was responsible for getting him that deal. It was also released as it was. Also, done with X1!
As I said many times before, if you have good solid tools and the know-how you can get whatever you want out of what is at hand.