I was originally a hardware guy who started sequencing songs back in the 80s with my Roland PR-100 and a couple of hardware synths. I am primarily a bassist, but I sequenced the keyboards for several of my bands and the drummer would play along to a click track. Eventually, I moved up to a MC50mkII, which I used through the 90s and into the early 2000s. During this time, I also worked with a bunch of 4- and 8-track recorders. When I finally decided to build a home MIDI studio, I decided to look into a software-based sequencer to control my many hardware synths/drum machines. At the time, I had no intention of recording live instruments or using soft synths, so I settled on a cheap version of Cubase (SE, I believe) that the GC guys recommended to me. I got pretty frustrated with it right away since it didn't seem to cater to outboard synths and the Cubase users forum was less than hospitable to newbies. Then, someone on another forum advised me to look at Cakewalk for its features (esp. instrument definitions). So, I bought Home Studio and watched my musical creativity instantly accelerate. Within about two months, Sonar 5 was released, so I bought the SE upgrade and I'm now on Sonar 6PE. I also own Project5v2.5. Now, I'm down to just 5 hardware synths and rely on soft synths for about 50% of my synth needs and 100% of my drum needs.

Now, if Cakewalk and Access would just get their act together and resolve the ongoing issues with my beloved Virus TI, I'd be very a happy camper...

I dunno... I think this counts....

Pro Tools, Nuendo, and SONAR in my studio.

I prefer to track and mix in SONAR.

And it keeps gettin' better.

Keep it up Cake!

Switched from Cubase 4/Nuendo 3 primarily due to Steinberg arrogance.
I feel a better rapport between users and developers here, there seems to be a real 2 way dialog.
I also appreciate the lack of copy protection, it's nice to be trusted.

For my job in 2 studios using Roland workstation I only use Sonar as a midi editor and vst host, in my home was other history and two months ago I did a demo with SP6 and the band later record it in the studio with the workstation, after the final mix they like the sonar version and that did a bunch of changes with my boss, now the vs is in the closet, SP6 is running the main recording studio and the secundary studio too, we lost some jobs from people asking us for protools and after the good results with Sonar they change their minds, from a stand alone mixer to the enviroment of a Solftware like Sonar is much easier do the job faster and better.

I've used SONAR since the DOS version, before computers had mice. There was a brief moment where I had strayed..........

At one point in the mid 90s, I had gotten curious as to what else was out there, as Cakewalk was all I had known. The rep told me that anyone who had used software as long as I had should stick with it, and in hindsight he was right. I'm lighting fast with the keyboard shortcuts, and clients are amazed at how quick the windows and dialogs fly by while I'm working.

HOWEVER: A couple years back I had decided to see what all the fuss about Cubase SX was. Unfortunately it was indeed a fuss. My main 'reason' for switching to Cubase SX was well.....Reason. Propellerheads Reason that is. Cubase integration was a little more seamless than Sonar at the time, I needed to control more than 16 tracks in Reason from SONAR, especially when in Sonar the parts that I did not want to control in reason counted as some of the 16. So over to Steinberg I went, and stayed for a year or two. Cubase however is slow to address many issues, and as any forum geek will also know, Cubase scrapped an long anticipated and promised update entirely. If I were STILL using the DOS version of Cakewalk/Twelve Tone, I'd understand if I had no tech support or updates, but what Cubase did was wrong, and anyone doing research will see that it's a normal behavior for that particular company. Last straw was DX support being dropped without notice. Dropping technology that is considered obsolete? fine, but WARN some customers, or they're gonna think you wanted their money before they found out. Cubase SX had to go.

To make a long story .....end, during my digression, all my particular gripes about Sonar's integration with Reason had been addressed. Cubase was buggy and unapologetically flippant. Not to mention the major difference in attitude from the two companies when contacting technical support in any way shape or form. That, coupled with the cutting edge features that Sonar has been getting with each update, I'm sorry I strayed.

Jumping ship left me stranded, but now I've found my way home.

Brief affair, but back for good.

I started on the hardware side with a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder - moved to a Fostex 8 track and then bought a Fostex 16 track tape machine.

Computer wise - Atarti Edit Tracks Pro - then Logic. I think it was called something else when I first started. I stayed with Logic from Ver 1 through 5.51 and then it was rewritten for Mac only. Funny thing - I still recorded my Audio for the most part on tape using smpte to manage the midi in Logic. Never really like Logic’s Audio setup - slow and clunky for me. I did - love their midi tools. Maybe it was because I knew them so well.

I cross graded to Sonar 3 and started using it for both Audio and Midi and loved it. It was a huge decision for me. I had so many hours on their forums, reading the manuals and studying the software. And of course you had to study it – the envoirment page – while powerful – was a pain for me. I used to wonder why they tortured me with that page. It was time to find someone I could depend on – and I wanted to record Audio dependably. Everything I read pointed to Sonar. Many of my friends switched to Cubase from Logic - but Sonar won me over in the end. I am so glad I followed my own intuition versus my circle of friends. The Sonar sound is incredible - and ease of use is very reasonable. I have upgraded each time and plan to always keep up to date. I love your tools, your attention to your customers and reliable recording. Great job - I am a lifer.

Some things I would enjoy: I would love to have more options to select and 'type' parameter changes on multiple tracks. I would also like to see the midi side of Sonar take a leap forward. I want all the editing tools to pop up for me with one key stroke (cut, split, paste, copy, glue/merge). Post quantizing should be easier to get to as well. I also think the event editor could use more column headings and wider rows - spread it out a bit. I love to tweak inside of that screen. I also liked double clicking an audio track in Logic and it popped up in a basic editor. Great for making quick minor changes. I really like having my SF program integrated with Sonar - but sometimes that takes too long to load when all I need to do is either take a closer look or make a minor change. Logic was quirky with their track icons - but I also liked their layout for the most part. When they were emagic - they took a similar approach for paying attention to their forums. However, I would not switch back. I really like Sonar the best if for nothing else - I feel like I am recording safely and with a great sounding audio engine! I speak with pride when asked which program I use. Sonar is a top-notch program that allows me the opportunity to make a magical recording!

I had Sonar 1.2 for years, didnt really ever use it, had cubase, didnt understand it.
Had Sonoma Riffworks i really love that program even now, but was limited (the drum program
that comes with it still kicks sonar drum programs to the curb in alot of ways) but is very limeted for advanced recording.
Then i got Guitar Tracks Pro 3 and loved it and wanted more, got Studio 6 then upgraded
to Producer Edition. Still not satisfied with a drum program for it yet, i prefer the smartloops over thier
drum program, but i think ill try EZ drummer and will be hapier.

I jumped onto Sonar within the last few months after about 6 years being away from music because of living here and there - all places without enough space for a corner to put my gear. Now I'm living in Moscow in a three room flat with a corner I can call my own.

Back then, I used Logic Audio on the PC, and was fairly happy with it but of course we all know what happened there. This time round, I carefully looked at what was available. I narrowed it down to Cubase SX and Sonar 6. A friend of mine let me borrow his copy of Cubase to try for a couple of weeks. Although the toolset seemed fairly complete, it's interface seemed very 'clunky' and sluggish and a couple of plugins would nearly max out my CPU (this was on my old Pentium 4 computer). I tried the Sonar demo and was immediately impressed on how much immediate and snappy everything felt. I didn't feel like I was teetering on the edge of a crash like I did with Cubase.

The main deal clincher was the attitude of the companies. I was horrified at how Steinberg treated its customers, are we people or cattle?? When Cubase 4 came out and they dropped the plans for the SX 3 update and DX, that was it. I have serious doubts about the future of Steinberg if they treat people this way. Their popular name on the market can only last so long. It becomes more and more apparent that they are confident that only their market position built over the last decade or so will be enough to guarantee their success in the future. Good customer service doesn't come into the equasion, or so it seemed.

Cakewalk, on the other hand, seemed a much more friendly bunch, listening and responding to people on the forum (without requiring you to post your serial number to register), no dongle (God, they actually trust their customers. Imagine that!), and the people who frequent the forums seemed much more helpful and friendly. Their business tactics recently (with the push of Project5, Studio Instruments and releasing some plugins to be bought seperately shows that they are definately thinking of the future and are not resting on their laurels. I feel confident that Cakewalk have listened to customers' comments on the shortcomings of Sonar (and other products) and aim to rectify it in future releases.

Therefore, I bought Sonar 6 along with Project5, Dimension Pro, Rapture and Z3ta+ and am incredibly happy with these products and the support they receive.

Good luck with the future, Cakewalk. I am sure you have it well planned!

I started making music on the computer back in the early days of computing with a Radio Shack TRS-80 and Jon Bokleman's Orchestra-80 program. At the time (early 1980's) that was the only reasonably priced option available. Then, in the early 1990's I migrated to the Atari ST 1040 and Master Tracks Pro and then later to eMagic's Logic and several hardware boxes (Yamaha TG77, Proteus, Roland JV880, and Alesis S4.) I used this setup until eMagic sold out to Apple and product support for the Atari version of Logic was dropped. Also, about the time that happened I went through several medical problems which caused me to stop doing music at the computer entirely.

3+ years ago, after getting my medical issues under control, I decided to start back with making music. Knowing I would need a new computer and software and being a Windows guy I did a lot of online research and talked to a lot of sales people at several different retailers and the consensus was that Sonar might offer me the easiest way back in with my background in Logic. I bought Sonar 4 and have been very comfortable with the workflow and the final results. I'm currently on Sonar 6 and find that it meets almost all of my musical needs. Thanks.

I very recently switched from Cubase 4 to Sonar 6 PE. My first computer based sequencing was done with Cakewalk (don't remember what version but it was an early windows version.) I had upgraded up to Cakewalk Pro Audio before switching to eMagic Logic for Windows. When Apple bought emagic, I decided to switch to the closest thing to Logic which (at the time) seemed to be Cubase SX. I upgraded to SX2, SX3, and finally to Cubase 4 but never completed a lot of music. During that time I had only managed to complete 2 original songs and some arrangements for my sister-in-law's wedding. When I upgraded to Cubase 4, I was trying to determine what was hindering my creativity.

I finally decided that I had too much gear. I was overwhelmed by the options I had and decided to simplify my setup a bit. In the process, I decided to give the Sonar 6 web trial a try, and I really loved it. The familiarity was still there even after not using Cakewalk since Pro Audio. Cubase 4 is a nice program with many features, but the workflow in Sonar 6 just seems to work better for me. I'm looking forward to getting back into the creative process and creating some music again with this fine piece of software.