i have tried just about everything in my search for quality and ease of use and i have to say (because no one else has) that sonar 4 producer edition with reason 3 rewired has got to be my favorite. the step sequencer could be a little better but what it lacks in that department it makes up for every where else. also it comes with a great little program to convert your vsti's so that you may use them in a dx only application. the overall set up is pricey, but well worth it. but thats just my opinion.
I prefer Sonar, it is simpel and productive. On the other side, it doe use a great deal of the cpu.
I keep falling back on the simplissity of the programm. It is so easy to use. For me at least
hands down i like pro - tools when i am dealing with vocals and real instruments, running midi on pro-tools is very good but i like the way logic uses midi just a little bit better
I've owned every version of Cubase since it was first released as a Windows 3.1 sequencer.
Because of that, my learning curve is always cut in half allowing me to quickly adapt to each escalating version. With the exception of Nuendo(Which I understand is really aimed at and superior for Video\Audio production.
I personally got really comfortable with VST/3.7 & 5.1, but I'm currently learning SX after buying a previously loved\owned package that was being replaced by Cubase4 by a friend.
I've tried other brands that friends have set up and don't find any of they as intuitive.