Cactus Music
I'm not paying 1 cent for another DAW. Possibly never. I have the best DAW and it will still run 10 years from now,,, I'll be 74..
Actually let me add that I will pay for a new DAW if that new DAW is the res-erected Sonar. I'm more optimistic than ever. Sonars code is priceless and we WILL see it return. 
 
So like many of you I kicked the tires on a bunch of DAW's, for me it was just something I do from time to time to re confirm my loyalty to Sonar. And reading all the latest posts is also a great insight into what is what. I've learned more about these other DAW's in the last 2 days than I have in the last decade. 
 
Bottom line- Every DAW I either demoed or looked at on web pages was like going back to Sonar 8.5 GUI and midi editing wise. 
So I see it as a huge waste of time and money to even think about a different DAW, Some are pretty cheap, like Mix Craft but what am I getting? I'm getting a DAW that is like Sonar 8.5.... I still have 8.5 so why would I spend $100 to buy what I have? 
 
I know some of you are all worked up and feel this is a good time to buy into an alternative while they are offering deals, But those deals will probably always be there in one way or another. And ask yourself this.. why would I want to stop using Sonar? You already have what you want. 
 
The bottom line is Sonar 23.10 is years ahead of all these alternatives as far as my brief foray showed me. I guess it comes down to what tools you were using.  But for me MIDI editing and the new PVR is just something I cannot be without. None of the DAW's I tried, including Cubase are as advanced as Sonar for using VST's and midi. Even Home Studio is more advanced than most these DAWs and it was a bargain @ $50. 
 
So I have 5 new Daw's installed on my computer some make noises, some expire in 14 days and some 30. I'll poke around a bit more later but right now I've got work to get done so I'm back to Sonar until I'm feeling the urge to explore again.  
 
Here's to a long road ahead using Sonar. 
 

I can't say this enough, but Sonar, for me, is the only one that provides full screenreader accessibility. I'm staying with Sonar as long as I have music and virtual instruments in my heart and my mind!

Gargamel314
 
, converting them over to another DAW is a daunting process.

 
But you only have to do it once if you find something else to use.
 
SONAR is a dead end product, it's finished, and it's just a matter of time before it will cease to function for whatever reason, and I think that will come sooner than people think. It's all well and good to freeze things as they are, but somewhere down the track, what about that shinny new plugin you so want, or that shinny new piece of Hardware you so want, or that spiffy new program, and they require you to update your Windows install, which in tern breaks SONAR, or that new Hardware or software ends up not being compatible with SONAR or the frozen Windows install, I think it won't take too long, for people who now have good intentions, to realize that if they want to keep moving forward they are going to have to say goodbye to SONAR, or stay in the Stone Age

I'll continue to work in Sonar.  I've spent the last couple of days demoing trials of various DAWs and it only made me want to work in Sonar more.  It's the only DAW I've ever worked in (unless you consider Garage Band a DAW) and it just works.  I'll be interested to see what the Presonus offer on S1 is next week.  If its reasonable, I'll pick it up as a backup. Who knows...maybe I'll love it someday but right now all of these demos solidify my decision to upgrade to Splat when it was first announced.   
 
S1 looks really intriguing and I put together a project with no problem, but between the two, I just see no reason to leave Sonar...but I'll be prepared if I HAVE to.  Really looking forward to continuing the forum experience in whatever space we can all agree on.  I don't have the time or desire to check in on two...

Matron Landslide

Gargamel314
 
, converting them over to another DAW is a daunting process.

 
But you only have to do it once if you find something else to use.
 
SONAR is a dead end product, it's finished, and it's just a matter of time before it will cease to function for whatever reason, and I think that will come sooner than people think. It's all well and good to freeze things as they are, but somewhere down the track, what about that shinny new plugin you so want, or that shinny new piece of Hardware you so want, or that spiffy new program, and they require you to update your Windows install, which in tern breaks SONAR, or that new Hardware or software ends up not being compatible with SONAR or the frozen Windows install, I think it won't take too long, for people who now have good intentions, to realize that if they want to keep moving forward they are going to have to say goodbye to SONAR, or stay in the Stone Age

miss matron, typically over dramatic . . . the Stone Age, not quite . . . many of us believe Sonar will remain relevant for many years to come, with no further development, it's true, the other DAWs may catch up and surpass eventually.
No one has a crystal ball that actually works. You took Sonar out of your signature (OK now you revised it), so that means you're done, but many here are not done with Sonar yet.

If they provide an authorization patch and it doesn't break, I see no reason to leave my favorite recording platform.  The only thing I think it really lacks is a simple chord based composition tool.  A program like EZ keys provides a similar function.  
 
Even without updates, other DAWs still have a lot of catching up to do in many respects.
 
A lot of people ignore the fact that many people still use a ~10 year old version of Sonar.  This isn't a MAC product, they tend to remain compatible for a while.  I just hope this holds true for a long time with the latest version of SPLAT.

OK, note to self (and others) . . . now, when you edit your previous post . . . it now gets deleted, interesting . . .

If you PM a host, they'll retrieve it. Post vanishing from an edit has happened for a while.

I'm a hobbyist. I found out about this when I thought "you know, I should check in to command center and update, haven't done that in a while", it wouldn't connect, the site wouldn't come up, so I checked Twitter. 
 
I've been using Sonar on and off for years, mainly because it handled MIDI so well, although I don't need that as much any more. I upgraded when I didn't have to, just to be able to play with the newer stuff, got into things a bit more and went Platinum, and I was liking the subscription model even.
 
So, I'm going to stick with it until bits start falling off of it, or I move to a new system (which shouldn't be any time soon <knocking wood>)

noynekker
OK, note to self (and others) . . . now, when you edit your previous post . . . it now gets deleted, interesting . . .

That happened to me a few times in the last couple of days. In every case, the posts eventually appeared, retrieved by the hosts.

I'm going to continue using Sonar until I can't or have a compelling reason to use something else. I've used it since 1992 and have way over 4000 songs that I occasionally have to open. I have tons of Acronis image files, so if a Win updates messes something up, I just revert back to an old image file. I've downloaded all the Sonar update files, so I can easily reinstall on another computer. Who really knows how long we can continue, it could be 10, 15, maybe 20 years. If something works, then who cares how old it is?
 
If Gibson kills this forum there are already others to replace it. This forum community is incredible with all the helpful people. I’d guess it’ll continue in some form. So worse case scenario we’ll continue on as a user community, best case scenario someone will come forward to save Cakewalk. No reason to panic and jump ship