Hi, John. I think you and I actually have very different needs for the program from what I've gleaned about how you create music. Also some of the things I need Sonar to do is probably a little more heavy handed/brute force type stuff as far as time correction, editing and restoration. If I were simply working on stuff from scratch then it would be a bit more of a workable situation but I do need to work on stuff that wasn't really created under ideal situations or with post production in mind. Basically set up some mics and let 'er rip type stuff. This is why Audiosnap as it is has been a serious thorn in my side and due to the intricate general editing I require having clips freak out and do weird stuff is a problem. If it's just straight up, in time clips that don't need a ton of manipulation things are tolerable/manageable. If I'm trying to rip apart an old multi track session or some live stereo stuff that requires isolation/slicing and dicing/time correction or other heavy processing the problems and glitches become a major hindrance.
If money were no object then X3 would likely already be on my system as well as the base releases of some competitors software. However considering there are certain things I need urgently first due to the nature of my meager "studio" (like a VRM box and proper mastering tools) the idea of upgrading in hopes things will be better seems like a risky and foolhardy endeavor especially considering X3 is still fresh out of the oven, we do not know what the new management is going to do with the company and well... frankly I'm a little miffed about the last year and how X2 was handled.
But my sentiments here were more observations based on submitter's decision to move back to X1. I find myself thinking perhaps I should attempt to do some of the things I need to within X1 to see if they are better but frankly, for the most part, I feel for me that it is a far inferior program. I just... don't like it anymore, at all.
I will however be completely gutting my system and starting from scratch with the help of support (if they'll still accept my calls after all my whinging... lol) and hopefully that will get my dilapidated, fickle, absent minded yet beautiful and endearing mistress X2 behaving more like the companion I need.