So I've finally gotten what I feel is a good base for a Sonar 8.5 theme.  There are still a few elements I didn't touch such as the sequencer, the matrix, the staff view and other (I feel) minor areas.  I will slowly complete it though and post my updates here.
 

 
You can download it here:
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s...bvo1e/Sonar85.sth?dl=0

That's awesome. Thank you.

That's awesome. Thank you.

really cool..thanks!!!

Every once an a while I open 8.5 which I still have installed, to look at something to help someone on the forum here and I'm always amazed at how much "brighter" it was. Way easier to see etc. good on ya mate.. 

Good job! 8.5 had several different looks, some better than others. With 8.5 I spent a lot of time really getting everything very clear.
In my screen shot below, check this out:
 track 1 - Vocal. Notice how clear the audio clip is, and the envelope nodes and lines. The different clip color for track 2 - Harmony. On this track notice the colors of the volume slider - blue, pan is red, trim is violet. In Platinum these are all the same color
 
Track 4 - Tr Mix. The clip is selected and is so easy to spot and the waveform is still very clear
Track 5 - the track is muted, so the clip is dim
 
The color coding of the track names is nice too. Audio is white, midi is blue, midi source is green.
 
Thanks TranceCanada for trying to resurrect the 8.5 theme, I hope my screenshot gives you some ideas on further improvements
 

Thanks, Jeremy!
Yet another nice one 
All the best.

gmp said "In my screen shot below, check this out:
 track 1 - Vocal. Notice how clear the audio clip is, and the envelope nodes and lines."
 
Man, I sure have to agree that the old versions had much easier to see track waveforms and envelopes.  Haven't checked out this theme yet but will be very happy if it restores some clarity and visibility to track view.  Thanks for the work on this.
 
EDIT:  Whoa!  I couldn't go to bed without opening this up.  IT IS BRILLIANT in every sense of the word.  The track colors are so clear and vibrant - like rainbow candy, at least on the old projects I opened.  None of this dark, dull stuff.  I have no idea how you did it but THANK YOU from a man with fading eyesight and a love for color.

gmp
Good job! 8.5 had several different looks, some better than others. With 8.5 I spent a lot of time really getting everything very clear.
In my screen shot below, check this out:
 track 1 - Vocal. Notice how clear the audio clip is, and the envelope nodes and lines. The different clip color for track 2 - Harmony. On this track notice the colors of the volume slider - blue, pan is red, trim is violet. In Platinum these are all the same color
 
Track 4 - Tr Mix. The clip is selected and is so easy to spot and the waveform is still very clear
Track 5 - the track is muted, so the clip is dim
 
The color coding of the track names is nice too. Audio is white, midi is blue, midi source is green.
 
Thanks TranceCanada for trying to resurrect the 8.5 theme, I hope my screenshot gives you some ideas on further improvements
 

 
That definitely helps.  I never had Sonar 8.5 and so I had to rely on what I could find on google and I couldn't find any screen shots to see the tracks as well as this, so I'll I'd love to make some touch ups using this screen shot.
 
For the color coding of the names backgrounds, theme editor doesn't allow different backgrounds for each type of track, it only uses the same one for all

Thanks Jeremy!
 
This looks awesome! I'm going to install this one.