abb
Yes!  This really is essential in 21st century music production.  The tragedy here is that the functionality to map a parameter in Sonar to a hardware controller knob/slider/button/etc. already exists.  What's more, it's fairly straightforward to set up.  However, these settings are *not* saved from session to session! 
 
It seems that with a relatively small investment, Cakewalk could reap a fairly large return by just saving these settings with the rest of the data that's saved with a project.  Maybe I'm missing something here...

Perhaps you've found a way to do this that I haven't, but I've been using the dialog where I can select a function, hit "Learn," then hit a button on my controller (forgive me- I'm at my day job and don't recall the name of this dialog).

It's all well and good, but I still find that this dialog is, disappointingly, missing a lot of options that I'd like to map to my controller. Also, it means I can ONLY map Sonar-level parameters, not VST-level or track-level parameters, other than those listed in the dialog.

However, I've not had to remap my controller once I open a new project, as long as my controller is connected and assigned as the control surface (MIDI input) when I open up Sonar.

1. Please bring back tempo tap as a visible radio button.
 
2. Please give us our colors and customization back to a greater extent.
 
3. Vari-speed. I think this tool should be in every DAW by default. I'm astonished a program as sophisticated as Sonar has not implemented this or at least struck up some sort of deal with zPlane for something like Elastique or something comparable. Having this built into the DAW would be awesome!
 
4. Gapless audio engine: I've grown a bit frustrated with the drop outs I periodically get in Sonar when using lower latency settings that I don't get in other DAW's. It's gotten better in some versions over the years, a bit worse in others. Being ignorant to the fact of what goes on under the hood, none of the others have an audio engine that craps out on me. Do we really need to have one? I honestly don't mean that to sound harsh, I just don't have the same little bothersome things happen to me in other DAW's when it comes to THIS particular issue.
 
While I'm talking about audio engines....I'd love to have something along the lines of the Pro Tools dual ASIO engine/settings thing. That would be great. It really is a pain to have to change ASIO settings...as sorry and lazy as that may sound. It's nice to just record and go, playback and listen without touching anything. Though I'm in really good shape with the pc's I have and rarely have to touch my ASIO settings other than for VSTi's in real time, when I use PT...it's really nice to never have to touch them at all.
 
5. Audio Snap revamp: To me, it's just too involved and there are too many steps for me to use it and use it faithfully. Half of the time I can't tell if it's enabled or not due to the colors of the buttons. I'll admit to not being as smart as I probably could be to use it properly. But I think that may be the problem....you shouldn't have to be super smart to use it quickly or effectively. I find myself just totally intimidated and not coming out with the proper results every time I've ever used it. So I continue to do everything by hand if need be.
 
6. X-ray ability when using quantize and other power windows. Meaning, when I press Q to see my quantize window and options, it's nice to be able to see the notes so:
a) I know I selected the right quantize option due to HOW the notes move
b) I can actually see the notes move without the quantize window blocking my view.
 
I think it would be great to have X-ray windows of EVERY power tool we have at our disposal so we can always see the main work window without having to move stuff around.
 
That's all I got...otherwise, I've been perfectly happy with Sonar for how *I* use it.
 
-Danny
 
P.S. Sorry I couldn't do just 3.

1) A slider volume control for the Audition function. This has become much more important to me since the introduction of Comping as I never used audition before. Now I have to readjust my levels while speed comping because there isn't a 0db option. It would also be nice to set that level exactly how I want to as opposed to 3 seemingly arbitrary level options.
 
2) Overhaul of Audiosnap. I've seen how Reaper and some of the other competitors do this and it is WAY simpler to manipulate audio. Seems like AS was probably highly innovative at one point but is now lagging behind the rest of the pack.
 
3) I'm kind of pulling this one out of my ass but I think the Control Bar could be a little more flexible. Maybe make it so it has scrolling options on the side to reveal more modules. Like maybe you could scroll left to right or up/down throw active modules. Also make it so you can pin a module so they are not affected by the scrolling. It'd also be nice if you could maybe customize the buttons and displays on modules or at least have compact versions of some of the bigger ones that can be toggled so you can cram more modules into the Control Bar without sacrificing essential controls. For example the Now Time Display in the Transport Module takes up quite a bit of room and the Now Time is easily viewable in multiple other locations. There have been many times I would like to just get rid of that to make room for another smaller module. Another idea could be option hotkeys to immediately load modules into the Control Bar when you need them.
 
I'm sure I could come up with a few more but those are what immediately come to mind.

fif4lifefif

abb
Yes!  This really is essential in 21st century music production.  The tragedy here is that the functionality to map a parameter in Sonar to a hardware controller knob/slider/button/etc. already exists.  What's more, it's fairly straightforward to set up.  However, these settings are *not* saved from session to session! 
 
It seems that with a relatively small investment, Cakewalk could reap a fairly large return by just saving these settings with the rest of the data that's saved with a project.  Maybe I'm missing something here...

Perhaps you've found a way to do this that I haven't, but I've been using the dialog where I can select a function, hit "Learn," then hit a button on my controller (forgive me- I'm at my day job and don't recall the name of this dialog).

I think we're talking about the same thing.  Someone in Cakewalk's tech support once referred to it as "MIDI learn" (I'm not sure if that's the official name or just a descriptive one).  Anyway, it works well, but as I mentioned, the parameter-controller mappings are not saved across sessions, so you have to remap them every time you open your project.

sharke

Subjacent
3- Better automation drawing those on the pen tool are also not so good and very constraining, better pre determined drawing that obeys the snap to grid/ time line settings or even better the adaptive grid.

I draw automation that snaps to the grid all the time. Maybe you need to enable Aim Assist?

should have worded it a bit better, sonar is good at snapping to the grid when you manually draw etc I actually like that a lot , but I refer to the shapes drawing tool in relation to the grid, its quite hit and miss at latching on so you can never really be guaranteed with the exception of whole ones and maybe a few others on times, although Personally I just don't get the sine wave Drawing its strange and I still think clumsy even if I can get some use out of it, I only say this after once being a user of that other second newest DAW   !!! (dare I mention any other lol ), anyhow they have it bang on the buck, okay they probably got the idea from sonar or Cubase but their system is much better and usable, so it would be nice to see what we have refined and improved a bit more, you would really have had to use the other to be able to compare, no harm in wanting sonar perfected and no shame in copying standard features even, they are all at these days. 
 
:)
 
 

1. The Track view automatically scrolls and shows the clip double-clicked just above the PRV etc. opened.
 
2. Take Lanes has a main lane where comped track appears so that all muted clips in the other lanes don't appear in the track when the lanes are collapsed.
 
3. Plug-in names in the FX bin are the same as those edited in Plug-in Menu Layout (in Plug-in Manager).

Oh man... I totally forgot one that has been driving me NUTS since I first hopped on the Sonar train.
 
Incremental Scrolling. I cannot STAND the screen to screen jumping so I have to disable scrolling altogether. Also because it's controlled by the Scroll Lock every time I boot up it's activated and I tend to forget until I'm trying to do something. I'd like to see some flexibility with it too like being able to have options like: Always Centered to Now Time (no matter where you are on the screen as soon as you hit playback it centers itself), Start Scrolling at Center (If the Now Time is to the left of center, even offscreen, the screen stays the same until the Now Time reaches the center of the screen then scrolling begins). Keep Right/Keep Left (the Now Time will scroll from the far left or right of the screen so you can see as much data as is possible at that zoom level so you can either see what has just played or is about to be played), Keep Left/Keep Right By x (This would allow you to set it so the Now Time scrolls from a user controlled distance from the left or right of the screen so you can see more or less of what has or is about to be played... I guess the increments would have to be by measures or ticks or something).
 
My old DAW (which shall remain nameless and by old I mean REALLY old) had the centered incremental scrolling and the auto center or play then center options and it was AWESOME. Totally threw me for a loop (and still does) when I switched to Sonar. Someone in a thread a while back mentioned that it was a system resource issue (basically incremental scrolling sucked up too much juice in the old days before the high powered computers we have now) but my old P3 with under a gig of RAM handled it quite well.
 
PLEASE implement incremental scrolling. X3 is absolutely brilliant for how I work and I find it hyper modern but the lack of this simple feature makes the most common tasks seem clunky and awkward.
 
Also this isn't really a feature request but an option for an X4 Producer "Lite" upgrade version would be AWESOME. Basically drop the upgrade price on that version down to the old $100 price, do not include any new plugs but allow it to function as the Producer version and allow us to drag our old Sonar locked VSTs from previous into it. That way people who have been buying Sonar for a few versions can still upgrade and get all the Producer features (like Prochannel and the various other meat and potatoes stuff), still use their plugins that they may have bought previous versions for but save $50 and not get the newer plugs they may not need or want.
 
That said I was a little reluctant about the new tools that came with X3 Pro like AD and the Blue Tube stuff because I didn't feel that I needed them (because I have BFD and obviously there is already a plethora of tools that cover everything the Blue Tubes thingies do) BUT I must say I'm actually really liking AD and those new plugs. AD isn't as flexible as BFD Eco for routing but holy crap does it sound good and the Blue Tubes plugs include a ton of models I've seen in multiple tuts that I never would have been able to afford otherwise like the Pultec. Also the Brickwall that came with it is WAY better than Boost11 for what I need a limiter to do. Boost11 is alright and I see it being useful for certain things but I find it a little harsh on my stuff when I simply want to raise my levels. The BT BW just lets me turn it all up without that extra grit/pumping or whatever is going on there. Very useful.

This Feature was taken out with the SONAR X Series and has never been put back. I want to see more than 2 sends!!!!!!
God knows there is more than enough real estate in the Console View.
 
As Nancy Karagen Said while holding her bashed in knee, WHY!! WHY WHY!!!!!

Hi, CJay. Not as important to me as some of the other things I mentioned but I would like to see a little more strip by strip Show/Hide options and perhaps even rearrange (although that might confuse people about signal paths but if you rearrange you should be aware of it anyway) in the CV. I am not familiar with pre X series so I'm not sure what extra options were available before.
 
However, in regards to the sends, after I learned how to scroll through them I don't find the two visible minimum to be that big a deal but I don't usually have a ton of sends anyway.
 
Thing is, and kind of my point, is that if each strip were more customizable as far as showing/hiding what is needed on a strip by strip basis it could potentially free up room on strips for more sends being viewable. I've also considered maybe a Sends flyout or maybe even an Sends Inspector tab so you could just press I with a modifier and then you could have all sends on a channel with some extra options.
 
Anyway... again not something I get too concerned about personally but I have thought about some CV improvements. I'm working on a single monitor so it can get a little... well... annoying at times. I keep it docked so there's lots of scrolling around and what not which tends to waste a lot of time and can be confusing if I'm having a bad brain day.
 
Cheers.

Beep, of course the things you mentioned are more important to you as those are the things you would like to see. Thats an obvious observation. Im not asking you whats more important. Im, answering the threads questions on what i would like to see for the top 3 feature request.