I am using Cakewalk Sonar, and I will cling to it as long as possible.
On the other hand, as a "counterpoint" I am using Sibelius, as I am much in classical music, have grown to use notation even when things become complex. It seems to me a close choice to learn using ProTools which allows to switch between a DAW, and the notation program. 
But I must say there are so many features in Sonar that I know already now, I'll miss it when I ever deinstall it from my PC in a hundred years. 
What I am saying is, you find an alternative to Sonar by the needs and expectations you have. Who is not in classical or film music, or arranging for BigBand, does not need Sibelius really. For me, Sibelius is really as essential as Sonar still is.

Have anyone one tried samplitude? The pro's seem to like it....

Is there a Cubase 9.5 trial available?  I've been playing with the Studio One demo.  I could work in Studio One if I had to, but I'd really like to try Cubase before I pull the trigger.

mritenburg
Is there a Cubase 9.5 trial available?  I've been playing with the Studio One demo.  I could work in Studio One if I had to, but I'd really like to try Cubase before I pull the trigger.

Someone posted a link - it's not on their main site (sorry I can't find it).  I "signed up" but have not gotten the authorization yet.  From what I hear - it's supposed to happen Wed.

Actualy, my first inclination is to continue to use Sonar.. but I have many "projects" that are not finished so they will remain in the Sonar domain until completion. For any new projects.. I am strongly considering using a new DAW. Heck, I've even begun planning to build a hackintosh to go "mac os" and run one of the other DAW's in Mac OS (I am not fond of Windows.. this is my chance to escape. LOL!).
 
I have Pro Tools 12.5 (which I got with an Avid Eleven Rack), and also Studio one 3 just this past weekend. I jumped at the price on GC which was just over $200 for S1 PLUS Notion 6.. straight up. Anyways...
 
Cubase for me is a no go.. past experience.. don't plan to give Steinberg my money.. so I'm going to work with and learn both PT12 and S1. So far I like S1.. but given the stature of PT and how there's EVERYTHING made for it under the sun and support (third party) is second to none.. it would almost seem to be a touch ahead (for me at least.. though I wouldn't spend $600 on it today to replace Sonar.. hell no!). PLUS the "Cloud Collaboration" now with PT seems REALLY intriguing.. I'm going to check into that.. but their upgrade policies/plans are lousy.. but I have S1 ready and Sonar (praying that someone buys Cakewalk) too just in case...

Besides.. not sure how many of you ever used/owned Gigastudio? But one of the VSTi's in Studio One Professional can play .gig files.. just FYI. =) And Studio One DOES have a nice "browser" that can access online content in real time that you can import to your projects.. pretty slick!
 
Anyone here planning to go to Linux and try Ardour or one of the other DAW's there?

Sonar, until it becomes impractical.
Reaper, genuinely inexpensive considering the functionality and a great backup DAW.
Mixcraft. I had never even heard of it until our current predicament but I tried the demo, found it quite simply clicked for me and was very pleasantly surprised by the video features and other aspects. 
One of the great things about Sonar is that I have found it to be an inspiring tool, to the extent that I feel I could work with any modern DAW, if necessary. Bakers, thank you for the ideas and motivation.

Whoa, Cubase is an absolute beast by the looks of it - hadn't checked in there for a while. But, expensive. Not in the budget at the moment. 
S1 - looks quite slick, I could probably make it work for me. The crossgrade is a very nice offer. 
Mixcraft - I'm intrigued for sure! Missed the sale by the looks of things but I'll keep it in mind for later. 
I'll probably end up with one of those at some point. Meanwhile I'm taking the time to reacquaint myself with Reason, and try to wrap my head around Live. And poking away at Mixbus as a mixing environment. Reaper is always there in the back of my mind as well. So it goes. 
 

One thing I like about Studio One is it has grown to much bigger user base and as a result there are more tutorial videos in youtube and Groove3. Every time when you have a question you can always find the answer on the net very quickly.