So what do Sonar users think about… http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/the-15-best-daw-software-apps-in-the-world-today-238905/1
 
1st FL Studio 
2nd Abelton Live
3rd Apple Logic Pro
4th Cockos Reaper
5th Sonar X1

I have FL Studio 10 and X1.
FL is great for dance music with its various plug ins like Gross Beat but Sonar has a great audio quality for mixing and i believe that X1 with Ozone gives a (near)studio finish to my productions.If the cake makers get the piano roll a bit more life fruity loops then for me there would be no need to use FL10 as a rewire . However Gross Beat is a tasty application for EDM-which is my genre and for me inspires me more in the initial process of creating than Sonar does. Sonar is my first love though and i always find it more user friendly for mixing than other DAWS (and i have used all top 5 in the list) so in retrospect i'm not surprised Fruity is top .At least X1 made the top 5!!!

I think I have been having the hardest time, trying to sell my licenses to Ableton and Reaper...   Although..  Recently I have found a use for Reaper...  Its called, "lame_enc64.dll"

Other than that...   FLstudio is great.  I don't own it, I don't need it, but its a niche.  Its got a huge following.  ImageLine have managed, unlike Prop Heads, to stay true to what, "FLstudio was supposed to be."   Reason has gone off on some weird tangent...  I liked Reason better when it was, "a quirky, cool, and unique synth rack."

Logic is a joke..  That DAW will cost about $39 come next Christmas.  Its Apples, "pro audio loss leader," and I do not expect it to be updated much..  if ever.  Apple bought some Italian Company.. I could see Apple abandoning Logic, and releasing something entirely different.  Pfft, they want to sell iPads and phones!  Nobody is going to buy a Mac Book Pro when you totally can do the same thing with a $500 laptop..  Its not that economy anymore....

Its great Sonar made it to the top five...  What can do?  Win a popularity contest?  Meh..  Not a scientific poll imo

the poll is based on votes of readers of musicradar.  it's biased by definition toward the user base of that medium.

and I agree with Linear Phase's comment "Win a popularity contest?  Meh.."


to me it means nothing. 

the link is dated 2011 ?  a lot can happen in a year ... e.g. DP going on pc .. 

doesn't mean a lot generally

Personally, the biggest problem I see with this poll is the same as all others like it:  the best DAW for what?   Loop/pattern mode?  MIDI sequencing?   Audio editing?  Mixing?   Everything????   Sure, let the DAW games begin...  

FL Studio does deserve its top spot, you can pretty much do anything you want with it, next version comes with live performance mode like ableton/the matrix.

Seeing its also free updates for life you can't really go wrong with it.

Hey Linear,


What's wrong with Ableton?

The best (and only) opinion should be your own. I can name so many things that were voted number one that I do not like at all ("50 Shades of Grey" ring a bell?) Sonar and ProTools are set up for professionals (and serious hobbyists) right down to the UI. Fruity Loops (and this is just MY opinion) UI looks like a bowl of Fruit Loops. And if you aren't in the position to make a decision for yourself, ask friends, and like-minded musicians that use the tools in a similar fashion as you do. I've received more than enough guidance and advice from the folks in this and several other music forums to help me make the best decisions for the type of music I create.

1st FL Studio 

That pretty much sums it up for me...   
No offense to FL Studio... but c'mon, it's not a full featured DAW.


ie: I seriously doubt that a typical Pop/Rock/Country band or producer would come to the same number 1 choice.