This isn't really meant to be a DAW vs DAW thread, so heres the situation. I used a version of Cubase a long time ago when I was first learning from a fellow artist who engineers his own music. The artist I do music with now and I bought some gear off another friend and it included Magix Music Studio 12(very old version considering now its Music Maker series). Anyways, Ive actually learned how to do a lot with this program, and get the results Im looking for, but its very outdated. Actually, now that I think about it, it only has 4 auxes n 4 submix buses. Wouldnt mind a program with more, makes me wonder if the newer MX series have more auxes/buses.

We are buying new gear in the near future with tax money, and I was looking to buy the Magix Music Maker MX Premium package, its only $100, and I figure thats not a lot to pay for a newer and updated version of the old program. What I like about it is that its easy to use and I LOVE the fact that it has a mastering suite in the program so I can really polish mixes when Im done. Id like to buy Samplitude Pro X, but it will be a while before I can afford it, so I figured this program would do the job for a while, since Im already very familiar on a Magix program and layout seems to be the same.

However, I rarely ever see this DAW mentioned in forums, and even when researching features like quantization and things like that, I almost always see Sonar and Reaper mentioned. Ive also heard a lot of positive feedback about these two DAW's. Since Reaper is like $60 and Sonar X1 Studio is like $200, Im not at all against learning a new DAW, especially if they are as good as they are hyped to be.

I looked into Sonar X1 Studio and like what I see a lot, but I noticed that unless you buy the $400 Producer version, you dont get the mastering features. I also noticed on their site, that they have effects you can purchase and some are free. So to anyone familiar with the specifics of this program, are the effects they offer separately the same ones used to master in the producer version? If it is I suppose its just a matter of picking out which ones I really need?

Reaper also seems like a very good program, especially when it comes to bang for the buck, though it seems like its hit or miss to most people. Its described as a recording, mixing, and mastering DAW. So Reaper users, how effective is it with mastering? Also how would you compare it to Sonar X1 for those of you with experience with both?

It may not be necessary to even switch, but its hard asking questions when Im stumped about something when it seems like no one else uses the same DAW, granted some Samplitude users can help since the products are similar I suppose(God I want Samplitude Pro X.. :D)

At the end of the day, after we get the gear, Ill probably take a little time and download the demo versions and see which one we like best. I just want to hear from actual users who've used these. I would like to learn Sonar, but my main concern is losing out on the mastering options Im used to from the mastering suite on the Magix programs. If theres a way I can achieve this with Sonar X1, please enlighten me :D