I've noticed that when I'm dragging MIDI files into a track from the browser, Sonar will sometimes lose the file name (it's supposed to name the clip after the name of the file). Sometimes I'll go through a whole folder of GrooveMonkee MIDI clips, and a few of them will end up with a blank clip name when I drag them in. There appears to be no pattern. 
 
If I drag one of my own MIDI clips into the browser, it will be listed with the correct clip name. However, when I drag it back, Sonar renames it to "Track 1" instead of retaining the original clip name. 
 
It's annoying quirks and bugs like this that make me consider moving to another DAW. If you can't get the little things right....
It matters to me because stuff like this makes it very frustrating to keep your clips organized. When you're still in the creative stage of putting together some MIDI based music and you're writing clips and variations of clips (Drums 1, Drums 1a, Drums 1b etc) and you really don't know how you're going to arrange the tune yet...it's so handy to keep track of all these clips in a MIDI folder so that you're not endlessly dragging them around. So imagine how annoying it is to drag your carefully named clips into the folder, only to have to rename them again when you drag them back into the project. 
 
I really don't think Cake has put enough thought into the whole song arranging side of the DAW...they've put an incredible amount of work into recording, editing and mixing - but Sonar really falls short when it comes to helping you put a song structure together. The Matrix is a good start, although that's more geared toward putting ideas together on the fly. I'd at least like to see something like Pro Tools' clip list window, which gives you a library view of the clips in your project without having to save them as MIDI files. I'd also like to see some kind of improved song arrangement system, along the lines of say Maschine's patterns and scenes. One of the things that's always confused me about Cakewalk is that they seem very eager to promote Sonar as a modern dance music production tool (the imagery, the music in their videos, the free content they bundle with it, the step sequencer, the matrix etc) but they are way behind the competition when it comes to the tools that make arranging and sequencing MIDI so much easier and intuitive in other DAW's and sequencers. I wonder if I should ultimately purchase another DAW and ReWire it into Sonar, because I love Sonar's mixing capabilities so much. Then again, I shouldn't have to. 
 

I've been sitting on the Sonar X fence ever since X1 was released... I am still using 8.5. I am getting closer and closer to purchasing X2 specially because of various video's and tutorial's I've seen. While under the hood (or at least in the menu's) not much has changed and a lot of things look like 8.5, I like the improved interface and there are a lot of handy convenient touches everywhere.
 
But...
 
...I also keep on reading posts like this one about bugs and glitches and things not really working as advertised... What if I do buy X2 and a lot of those great features don't really work that well...? So I am also looking other DAWs.
 
But...
 
...obviously no other DAW is closer to 8.5 then X2 is. It's nice that we have various options and choices when it comes to DAWs but in the end I simply want a better Sonar because I've been using CW-software since ages! 
 
So I wonder, sharke, do you have a specific other DAW in mind you would switch to? And aren't you afraid that that DAW will ALSO be imperfect? Has bugs, glitches, things not working as you would like to? Isn't the grass always greener on the other side?
 
I sort of have the idea that the step from 8.5 to X2 is quite big and so this might be THE moment to check out other DAWs... but I am too afraid things won't work out as I hoped, that I can't get used to another workflow, that I am going to miss those great things I saw in the X2 movies... and hence I still use 8.5... which, in the end, does allow me to create the music I want to. Maybe I shouldn't be thinking about upgrading or switching at all...
 
BTW In case someone has some advice for me: it might be good to know my projects are 99% MIDI and soft synths. The only audio I might add are vocals.

Personally, I would recommend downloading the X2 demo to see how it feels.  You can get a better idea how the new stuff works - PRV, automation, lanes, browser, etc.  It will install side-by-side with 8.5 so you can go back and forth if needed.
 
I would also suggest renaming the existing \shared folders first, allowing X2 to create its own.  I don't know that it's actually necessary, but I usually do this since these folders are shared between SONAR installs.   Once your confident everything is working correctly you can always revert to a single set of folders again.
 

hellogoodbye
So I wonder, sharke, do you have a specific other DAW in mind you would switch to? And aren't you afraid that that DAW will ALSO be imperfect? Has bugs, glitches, things not working as you would like to? Isn't the grass always greener on the other side?
 

To be honest, I'm probably going to wait to see what the next iteration of Sonar brings to the table (both in the way of bug fixes and new features). Two things bug me, first of all that I've spent a considerable sum on the software, and secondly that with just a bit of TLC it could well be the best DAW out there. 
 
If it's still rocking these bugs and design flaws by X3 then I think I'm going to either switch outright or try to ReWire some other DAW into it. The two I've considered as possibly being better for MIDI arrangement are Reason and Live. No, I don't know how many stupid irritating bugs they have - I'd just have to demo them extensively beforehand of course. No doubt they will have bugs, but perhaps they won't be the kind of bugs that severely affect my workflow and organization like the ones in Sonar. Who knows!
 
My other alternative is to start using a hardware sequencer like Maschine or one of the Akai MPC's. They certainly look interesting to me at this point, and of course I could use them in conjunction with Sonar.