I've been dealing with musician's forums since 1995, and have noticed that they tend to fall into three types:
1. Discussions. A serial, round-robin discussion of a topic.
2. Adversarial. The forum is mostly a place for people to get into the internet equivalent of bar fights.
3. Broadcasting. The forum provides a soapbox for people to express opinions, pro or con.
What intrigues me about the Sonar forum these days is how it has become a partnership between Cakewalk and Sonar users. Noel, Seth, Dan, Ryan, and Andrew (did I forget anyone?) have been extremely attentive to what's going on here (I don't know how they manage the time and I doubt they can keep up this pace forever, but it reveals their mindset). As a result, Cakewalk has a "human face" and that old saw about being able to be rude because you're dealing with people who are anonymous no longer applies. These are flesh-and-blood people who have their own styles of posting, are being extremely accommodating, and it's obvious they're sincere in their desire to make Sonar the best DAW on the planet (although I'm sure Andrew will correct me and say they want to produce "the best DAW in the
universe").
In return, the tone of most users has been enthusiastic, supportive, and civil. Instead of "Hey Cakewalk, you morons, there's a bug" y'all are providing reports, helpful advice on ways to reproduce issues, and "testing the waters" with the other forumites to try and determine if you're really experiencing a bug or whether it's perhaps user error.
Frankly, the whole dynamic is pretty impressive.
I think two significant updates in a month is a testimony to the value of this dynamic. This forum has traditionally been a cut above, but now I think it's several cuts above. Major props to the Sonar community, Cakewalk, and the degree of partnership they've created.