Sorry I was away so I didn't keep up with the thread.
 
First, I'm sorry that I started asking a question, then changing the subject half way in it. My bad... I didn't mean to waist anybody's time or appear to be trolling.. and, also, my English may seem a bit basic at times, this is cause I am of French origins. 
 
About me: (feel free to skip..)
I work in a pro studio as a Engineer/Sound designer/Musician. I consider myself good enough, though not excellent at any of the three. I have received a couple of awards and have been associated with an Oscar nomination. I have scored tv series, wrote theme song for tv, I have mixed movie scores in 5.1, did sound design for film, Imax, publicity, Cartoon, etc etc... Being of the X generation, I have had to work my *** off in a struggling and competitive market doing whatever I could first to survive, then to keep the career going. (don't know why I'm saying this or if it even matters lol) 
 
Here are my thoughts (sorry long post):
 
Regarding the initial question:
 
I heard some say that native systems were less hi-fi, because programmers had to squeeze the maximum out of the limited dsp power available and this impacted on the overall sound quality. Second, there is such an abundance of  vst plug-ins out there, all claiming to sound better then the other, I wanted to know how Sonar's packaged plug-ins and synths compared with the specialized developers stuff (Mc DSP, Wave etc...) But from reading many posts in the thread, my questions have been answered and ty all.
 
Regarding Sonar's handling of the Video:
 
I wouldn't have talked about it unless I had not noticed Mr Anderton's presence on the thread, and knowing he is now working for Sonar/Gibson I asked him about the video.
I agree, my views regarding video handling in Sonar are very subjective, and represent MY needs and experience with Sonar. But, as small of market share my case should represent, the problems I have using Sonar in certain pro situations are real. And I find this sad cause the "Music Making" part of Sonar is excellent and blows PT out of the water.. It is maybe naive of me to wish that Cakewalk would beef up the video app to help users like me. Maybe one day.
 
This said, I still have X2, and some of you wrote on this thread that the video in X3 had evolved. In what way is the new video app different in X3??? 
 
Thanks and have a good year all of you!

CakeAlex..that is awesome.  For those who listen to 80's reggae, the sleng teng riddim was a preset off of a cheap casio consumer keyboard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibr3xX_xOW0
 

ziblip...the video changes are in very early stages.  The changes include stearing away from direct show, allowing more codecs to play and the ability to trim video.  It's a start.  I doubt Sonar evolves in the way Vegas did but one never knows.
 

zblip
 
 
This said, I still have X2, and some of you wrote on this thread that the video in X3 had evolved. In what way is the new video app different in X3??? 
 
Thanks and have a good year all of you!

Hello fellow Sound Designer!

I can categorically say that X3d hasnt moved on fully in video to go pro with it. Perfect example happened to me literally just now....I am exporting a sound design timeline to a mix house in Soho, London and naturally they are using PT11... I cant export an OMF correctly with fades on which renders the whole process useless so am having to export stems into PT10 (which I have here) and then out of PT10 into an AAF.

Its these kind of issues, if corrected are invaluable to us in the industry.

I did try out X3d for a limited time but wasnt too impressed at all but didnt stick with it long enough to fully test, the Bakers have assured me (in another thread I started) that the video side of X3d is "there" but saw very little in my test of it. Having said that I will test further when I get the chance, but no support of OMF *properly* and no support of AAF is kinda right at my core need and X3d doesnt have that.

BTW, Sonar IS amazing enough to sound design a full feature film. I have done this with great success.

Its just the unpack/export project side to share with Studio Houses, also creating cue sheets is a problem.

Sorry to go on about the Video side of things, the forum must be so bored of me banging on about it by now.

Mark, it'd not that big of a deal that you talk about it a lot.  Pretty much any hot button topic that comes up will undoubtedly be jumped on by people who have that particular pet peave with Sonar.  Your focus on this issue pales in comparison to the obsessively endless posts of the Staff View Mafia.  They have valid complaints, but once they get started it feels like every thread for about a week gets hijacked into endless rants about the exact same thing.  You are tame by comparison.  DO keep in mind that whatever video changes Sonar has in mind are allegedly still in early stages and they make it clear it should probably not be used on actual productions yet.  Besides, aside from the one outburst thread, most of your posts on the topic have been simply wishing Sonar did a better job rather than endlessly trashing the product.

dubdisciple
Mark, it'd not that big of a deal that you talk about it a lot.  Pretty much any hot button topic that comes up will undoubtedly be jumped on by people who have that particular pet peave with Sonar.  Your focus on this issue pales in comparison to the obsessively endless posts of the Staff View Mafia.  They have valid complaints, but once they get started it feels like every thread for about a week gets hijacked into endless rants about the exact same thing.  You are tame by comparison.  DO keep in mind that whatever video changes Sonar has in mind are allegedly still in early stages and they make it clear it should probably not be used on actual productions yet.  Besides, aside from the one outburst thread, most of your posts on the topic have been simply wishing Sonar did a better job rather than endlessly trashing the product.

Ta mate, I really am just wishing the best for the future...A future where I dont have to explain to Studio Houses what Sonar is and be slightly embarrassed about OMF's and AAFs.

And yes, I couldnt agree more, ITS EARLY DOORS for Sonar and Video. 
 
Btw..."Staff View Mafia"  .....(Whispers...lets not bring this up)

lol..my bad.  I really do feel for them.  I have been using staff view a little more lately and i am sure i would be utterly frustrated if I relied more on it.

dubdisciple
ziblip...the video changes are in very early stages.  The changes include stearing away from direct show, allowing more codecs to play and the ability to trim video.  It's a start.  I doubt Sonar evolves in the way Vegas did but one never knows.
 

Hability to trim video you said?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? How is that done? by entering numerical values (cutting my wrists) or by dragging edges (happy camper)????????

You CANT trim video in Sonar, whatever the version (flame me if I am wrong).

X3d just uses a new engine as discussed above which means better collaboration on the use of codecs for import/export.

Sonar is a DAW, not a video Editing suite.