If I were a Studio One user and they went out of business, I'd probably look at SONAR and say 'It looks powerful, but how does anybody get anything done in such a complicated program?' Many of us here have used it for so long that we don't notice how complex it has become. Along those lines, I think our beloved SONAR itself is pretty geeky. I never told them that most big mixers are really just one strip repeated fifty times.

When I worked in real-world hardware-based studios it was part of the fun to sit down at a ten foot long board and amaze the clients with my knowledge. I have the feeling this is a very powerful program, and I want to tame it (and the Suite comes with some great-sounding effects and instruments). This should have sent me running, but somehow it appeals to my inner geek. The interface is festooned with so many buttons, links, tabs, menus and hidden functions that at first my eyes glazed over. It does not even pretend to be user friendly. and I can't keep two whole sets of information side by side in my head and still get anything creative going.

I know where everything is in SONAR, all the shortcuts, etc. Originally I thought I would install it and learn it gradually but keep doing my main work in SONAR, but I abandoned my first test song because I guess I'm just not ready to change my workflow yet.

It makes sense to me, as in my testing I felt that S1 was the easiest to learn, although I can't imagine why anyone thinks it's similar to SONAR. My guess (based on reading these forums) is that about half of all SONAR users who are moving on are going to S1, with all other DAWs making up the other half. I bought Studio One and Samplitude and I'm going to stop now. I am burned out on testing new DAWs, and I haven't done nearly as much as some of you.

Spectralayers pro 4 full version