Finally, after years of updates and new "documentation" to read every month, I can finally catch up with, and learn, all the intricacies of Sonar.
I don't have to worry about learning one way of doing something, only next month to have Cakewalk state they're introducing some crazy new workflow that all the regular users are saying "I don't know how I lived without", then have to spend hours learning a new way of doing something.
Some functions, like midi editing, have changed wildly at times, and I've had to drop projects for hours to learn why the midi track view looks the way it didn't do before I installed the previous update.
Finally, I would finish a project, only to find next month's update included something that really made that old song pop and I'd have to spend hours learning how to use that function, slot it into the project in just the right place, then remix all the other tracks just to make it fit.
No, this has been a blessing in disguise. No more hours stuck in the manual, np more pouring over previous forum posts, learning something I thought I already knew how to do. All projects can be signed off on, knowing nothing new will come along to make it better.
Most of all, no more begging treasury for that few hundred dollars for that latest update that our music just cannot do without.
You know what I think? I think Cakewalk realised that Sonar was at it's peak, and any additions were really just icing on the cake so to speak.
No, I'm off to make music with one of the best DAW's on the planet. You'll only hear from me when I release "that single", the one that's going to rock the world.   

rebel007
..... learning something I thought I already knew how to do. All projects can be signed off on, knowing nothing new will come along to make it better.
 
 
You'll only hear from me when I release "that single", the one that's going to rock the world.   

 
 
That first quote is a good one! Do you know how many times I used that one to acquire the funds necessary to make that "last" purchase!!
 
 
And I'm turning on the radio now waiting to hear 'that' song!! 
 
Good luck man! 

I like this line of reasoning and it gives a valid reason, kind of alongside Bitflipper's, to keep using the mature, final version of Sonar for a while - take advantage of the situation! Rather than running for the hills and dumping all that expertise and time spent on the learning curve. The other options will still be there later, better than they are now and others as well, possibly better still... and there will be other sales and opportunities, and instead of paying for the Super Awesome Crossgrade now, then paying again for the upgrade to that program a year or two down the road (unless it's FL Studio), why not enjoy what we have for a while and focus on being creative and productive with it? What's the panic? *
 
* By the way this is a rhetorical question, I don't actually need an answer, I know there are valid reasons to make a change now preemptively, I've read many of them and understand most of them. I'm just saying I kind of feel in many ways like this is a refreshing perspective that actually resonates with me at the moment...

Ahh, the next stage. rationalism.

bitman
Ahh, the next stage. rationalism.

LOL!!

bitman
Ahh, the next stage. rationalism.

Exactly!

subtlearts
 
I know there are valid reasons to make a change now preemptively, I've read many of them and understand most of them. I'm just saying I kind of feel in many ways like this is a refreshing perspective that actually resonates with me at the moment...

Tobias, just a comment here, 
 
My view is that it's over. Get on with it.
 
Then I get the BF upgrade offer and install mess around a bit then....
 
I go to do some work and try to think of how I will proceed. So I have to transfer something to the new program, so I fire Sonar up.  Next thing I know it's several hours later, I am still in Sonar and I am thinking that I have no reason (or intention) of learning a new system.
 
So I guess I am firmly on the fence here!  Thinking:
 
A) I know what I have to do (eventually) so I might as well bite the bullet and get on with it.
 
B) Then the other part of me says why? Work with what ya got!

Grem
My view is that it's over. Get on with it.
 
Then I get the BF upgrade offer and install mess around a bit then....
 
I go to do some work and try to think of how I will proceed. So I have to transfer something to the new program, so I fire Sonar up.  Next thing I know it's several hours later, I am still in Sonar and I am thinking that I have no reason (or intention) of learning a new system.
 
So I guess I am firmly on the fence here!  Thinking:
 
A) I know what I have to do (eventually) so I might as well bite the bullet and get on with it.
 
B) Then the other part of me says why? Work with what ya got!

I hear you. I have been going through similar oscillations (I suppose that should more properly be 'vacillations' but hey, it's a music technology forum!). And I'm frustrated that I'm wasting so much time thinking about it. I don't think we're alone. 
 
I'm not even saying I've decided not to jump on one of the crossgrade offers - I have downloaded and set up the Studio One demo and poked around a bit and am interested enough that I will probably try to explore it a bit more before the window on the very attractive special offer closes. I'm not sure if/when the reduced price on the Cubase CC expires, it's basically double the price but Cubase is a very heavy hitter, no question. I missed the BF sale on Mixcraft and will likely wait while keeping an eye on it, as it looks very promising indeed. I have recently upgraded Reason to 10 as I've always had a soft spot for it despite its limitations, it's a very fun and creative environment and now some of the limitations are gone... and I jumped on Mixbus for $29 and will definitely be trying some mixing to see if I can feel the Analog Feeling that so many claim it nails in a way that nothing else does. And, for pete's sake I have a license for Live Suite 9 sitting on the (virtual) shelf begging to be explored more than I have ever made time for. And I know it's a pretty deep well. 
 
But I have done more work, and work I'm proud of, in Sonar than I ever have in anything else. It's where I am comfortable and can do what I want to do quickly, immediately, while the idea is fresh, rather than going, hmm, I want to do this, how do I do it? Poke away at it trying to figure it out intuitively, RTFM, search forums, watch an instructional video... Wait, what was I trying to do again? Oh look, it's time to go make dinner / pick up kid from school / go to my real job (playing piano in a crazy circus cabaret dinner show, could be worse I guess!)... 
 
So that's why the idea of just saying, hey man, chill out, make some music and let the chips fall where they may, is increasingly attractive. Cubase may be a powerful beast but so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. Studio One might be slick and stable but for the most part, so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. Mixbus may sound great but so does Sonar and I already know how to use it. And so on. 
 
Make sense?

subtlearts
 
 Cubase may be a powerful beast but so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. Studio One might be slick and stable but for the most part, so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. Mixbus may sound great but so does Sonar and I already know how to use it. And so on. 
 
Make sense?

Great minds think alike!!
 
To me it makes all the sense in the world!!
 
The above post is what I think about while working in Sonar since this has happened. : )
 
 

Grem
Studio One might be slick and stable but for the most part, so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. 

Yeah, I hear you ... that will work for now but eventually Sonar will stop working, or at at least become increasingly unstable as the years go by and Windows updates roll in. And then you'll finally switch to another DAW anyway.
 
So you'd probably be better off switching to a different DAW now for any new work you start. Otherwise you'll have the problem down the road of having these projects in Sonar format that nothing else is going to be able to read. Whereas if you make the switch now and create any new work in another DAW you won't have that problem.
 
Anyway, last night I downloaded Studio One to give it a whirl. The first half hour or so I kept wishing I was back in Sonar, but stuck with it and ended up being surprised at how similar to Sonar it is. In fact, I had the eerie feeling a few times that it was just a different "skin" over Sonar!