Howdy Punters,
On booting X3 the colours are very dark and drab. I was never really happy with X2 but customised it to a point I could live with. But trying to customise some basics in X3 is driving me mad. Specifically I want to change the background of audio clips. There are plenty of options to change the Foreground, and one to change 'Clip Back Background (Selected)' but I can't find anything to change the background when it's not selected. 
 
Basically I'm trying to achieve something where the clip backgrounds are bright colours and the foreground in black. Like the 'Goobase' Sonar 8.0 template here:
 
https://sites.google.com/...emplates/darktemplates
 
 
I've seen some posts from people saying they managed to import old Sonar colour templates into X2 but I can't get it to work: either nothing happens (using 8.0 .clr template) or it looks totally different (trying X1 template). 
 
Any insights greatly appreciated!

Forget about the old pre-X templates. Clip backgrounds can be set in the Inspector. For more extensive color control consider using Duckbar from http://www.sonarmods.com/forum/index.php (registration required for download).

Yes what you are asking to do is not possible.... believe me I have beaten this one to death.  There are a lot of threads about it.  Some people will claim workarounds, but... in a nutshell, they've taken away this option.
 
Duckbar is a good route, I'm pretty sure there's nothing you can't do with it.  I never installed it because by the time it came out for X3d (very painful for me to admit) I had gotten used to the new colors enough that I decided I can live with them.  Sort of like when you walk into a room that smells but if you stay in there long enough you stop noticing it.

I think what Cakewalk should do is make everything grey. Font, tracks, clips and everything else that way nobody can see anything. Then, maybe, our workflow will improve?
 
I don't get the fifty shades of grey theme. At least give us a section on bondage in the manual.
 
Seriously, what is wrong with color options? Why can't we have them?
 
Ok, I'm done. Carry on.

True color control over X3 would be awesome!  The basic framework of X3 looks like it was inspired by a WWII battleship.  Track colors were a step in right direction, but more steps are needed!