vintagevibe

cryophonik
As a former Cubase user of many years and a current Wavelab owner, I would just advise to not let that one example fool you into thinking that it's somehow representative of how Steinberg interacts with customers on their own forums.  If you think the support here on the X2 forum has gotten bad (and it has), you're in for a big surprise - Steinberg is still far worse IMO.

So far (6 weeks) my experience has been exactly the opposite.
 
Forum:  I have received very generous, friendly and in-depth help from users.  I've been sent instrument patch scripts and walked through several functions. I have found no sniping or disrespectful posts.  Steinberg support is constantly on the forum helping and saying things like "that bug should be fixed in the next release" or "that feature is slated to be added in the .5 release".  But get this... Steinberg staff are doing the same things in Gear Slutz and KVR!!!
 
Support:  I have received a reply to my support emails on the same or next business day without fail so far.  If required they will arrange a time to call me.

Can you imagine if Steinberg cut off communication immediately after 7.0.1?  If after 6 months of bugs, pleading, and customer unrest they finally broke their silence to reveal that they cannot say anything about a possible 7.0.2, or 8.0?

I don't bash Cakewalk or the SONAR platform because I am running legacy hardware that even the manufacturer doesn't support.  Noel personally offered his help but I didn't get a response from the Frontier Designs staff when I asked if they would look at the minidumps generated and contact Cakewalk so that maybe a solution could be developed that would solve my crash problems in SONAR X2a.

In the meantime, I tried out the Studio One Pro demo and transferred all the audio files, midi contained in the problem project and rebuilt the same plugin paths in each track.  Not a single crash or whimper.  So now, I'm using Studio One and really enjoying a more streamlined product that if the truth be told works more like how I want a DAW product to work.

I was once a hardcore devotee of SONAR but after being around the block a time or two and using other products, I'm simply using the one that's works best for whatever I'm doing.  I likely won't abandon the SONAR upgrade path but I will likely let it mature on each cycle before I jump on board.

I think we can find the good and bad in every product.

Mod Bod
I was once a hardcore devotee of SONAR but after being around the block a time or two and using other products, I'm simply using the one that's works best for whatever I'm doing.  I likely won't abandon the SONAR upgrade path but I will likely let it mature on each cycle before I jump on board.

I think we can find the good and bad in every product.

That's exactly where I got to & where I'm at for the next foreseeable future Dave.
 
In fact, it looks like this may be the new 'soup de jour' for some of us.
 
Like having my truck for work, the car for family, and the motorcycles for fun, each doing their own specific tasks better than the others, I'm now using 3 DAWs, each with some strengths & weaknesses, yet without bailing on any one of them.

Impressions so far on a variety of aspects.
 
Cubase itself is most interesting.  I've only previously looked at SONAR in depth.  Some things (tempo editing for example) are vastly better in Cubase.  Some things (SONAR's Pro Channel) are not as well developed.  As to documentation (one of my most important criterea), it looks like about a tie.  SONAR has twice the number of pages, but also has a lot of fairly useless links (useless at least in printed material).  But both DAWs get pretty high marks for the doc.
 
The forums: SONAR/CW wins by a landslide.  You can only post on a Steinberg forum if you have a registered product.  The number of posts is way less there and there's nothing like the quality of help to be found here.  There's a lesson there somewhere about the oft-proposed imposition of limitiations on non-registered users.
 
Halion is interesting and deep.  It's also got inexcusably bad documentation.  There are extensive descriptions of how to use the 20 or so editors in the synth, but nowhere is an architectural overview of just how everything fits together.
 
Lastly ... the grass is greener syndrome.  I was amused to see a post in a Cubase forum by a disgruntled user asking "Do you test your programmers for drugs?".  The post went on to assert that the 7.05 release introduced more new bugs than the old bugs supposedly fixed.  Well, at least it's nice to know that wherever we go, we'll always feel right at home.

dmbaer
The forums: SONAR/CW wins by a landslide.  You can only post on a Steinberg forum if you have a registered product.  The number of posts is way less there and there's nothing like the quality of help to be found here.  There's a lesson there somewhere about the oft-proposed imposition of limitiations on non-registered users.
 
 

I've had the exact opposite experience.  I have had several people take time for detailed explanations and even sending me files I needed.  The user support on the Cubase forum is superb.  Also the Steinberg staff frequently chimes it to help with questions.  The Cubase forum is a tremendous resource. 

dmbaer
The forums: SONAR/CW wins by a landslide.  You can only post on a Steinberg forum if you have a registered product.  The number of posts is way less there and there's nothing like the quality of help to be found here. 

I would agree here that these forums seem to have much more to read and the interaction seems more intense as well.

vintagevibe
I've had the exact opposite experience.  I have had several people take time for detailed explanations and even sending me files I needed.  The user support on the Cubase forum is superb.  Also the Steinberg staff frequently chimes it to help with questions.  The Cubase forum is a tremendous resource. 

But I found this as well - a number of guys chimed in and helped with answers even before I registered my copy.
 
And I see more forums now requiring registration to stave off spammers, and other idiots - so I'm quite ok with that.
 
Lastly, one guy from the Cubase forums PMed me with the invitation to join HomeRecording.com, saying that many Cubase users are actually 'over there' instead, and that he only asks something on the Cubase forums if the question doesn't get solved on HomeRecording.com, which is almost never, he said.
 
I checked it out and it does have a broad spectrum of areas to read & chime in about across many subjects.
 
Admittedly, I'm spending less & less time on the Presonus forums.
Just not the same vibe there.
 
I do like the forums here though, so wild horses will be required for me to depart from here. 

jimusic
Lastly, one guy from the Cubase forums PMed me with the invitation to join HomeRecording.com, saying that many Cubase users are actually 'over there' instead, and that he only asks something on the Cubase forums if the question doesn't get solved on HomeRecording.com, which is almost never, he said.

Not that I need or have time for another forum as a regular destination, but this one does sound interesting.  I've never heard of it before.
 
Perhaps I didn't express myself well about the Cubase forums.  I didn't mean to imply they were of no value.  But there isn't the amount of traffic that we see here and I didn't get the sense of community that I feel here.  But maybe that's just because it's new and unfamiliar.  Anyway, thanks for the tip on HomeRecording.com.

dmbaer
Not that I need or have time for another forum as a regular destination, but this one does sound interesting.  I've never heard of it before.
 
Perhaps I didn't express myself well about the Cubase forums.  I didn't mean to imply they were of no value.  But there isn't the amount of traffic that we see here and I didn't get the sense of community that I feel here.  But maybe that's just because it's new and unfamiliar.  Anyway, thanks for the tip on HomeRecording.com.

No Sweat.
 
There's some good reading over there & lot's of subjects.
 
 
 
 

Well, this story just keeps getting better.  Steinberg has just released Halion 5.  Those of us who bought this bundle in the last couple of months get a free upgrade.  Sweet deal for ~$370.
 
Got the eLicenser to update my license from version 4 to 5 with no problem, but I am having trouble getting to a download.  I'm not seeing what the download/install instructions say I should be seeing.  If I sort it out, I'll report back.

dmbaer
Well, this story just keeps getting better.  Steinberg has just released Halion 5.  Those of us who bought this bundle in the last couple of months get a free upgrade.  Sweet deal for ~$370.
 

 
I'll say!
 
Thanks for the notice. I didn't even know they were going to update it.  
 
I'm on it!