The SONAR 2016.08 update includes the following:

1. Comping & Take Management
2. Plug-in Browser Enhancements
3. Quick Grorup Insert FX
4. SONAR Theme Editor Update 1.1.0.22
5. Fixes and Enhancements

How to Download the SONAR 2016.08 Update

1. Open Cakewalk Command Center. If you don’t have the latest installer, Command Center will prompt you to download and install it. Cakewalk highly recommends that you do this. (Also remember that you can always download the latest version from the Cakewalk Command Center page.)
2. Update SONAR Core by selecting SONAR Platinum/Professional/Artist, then clicking Install.
3. The SONAR Theme Editor will be listed as a separate item in Cakewalk Command Center. Select it and click Install

Comping and Take Management 

Platinum, Professional, Artist

The Comping and Take Management Improvements for the latest SONAR release address many editing, usability, and visual feedback concerns reported by the user community. Copy & Paste, Automation Lanes, Crossfades, and much more have been tweaked to create a better experience for the modern engineer.

• Lane height can now be as small as tracks & the max height has been doubled
• Copy & Paste of lanes has been improved along with the visual feedback with the new active lane
• Automation lanes now have a name field that can be customized 
• Automation lanes now show active lane 
• Splits across clips are no longer visible when comping to improve visual feedback of promoted clips
• The automatic fades on clips are now easier to see at different zoom levels
• New Comping Cursor
• New Stretch Cursor
• New Take direction can now be customized in Preferences | Record
• Adjusting Crossfades is now done via [Ctrl] in Lanes
• Changing the Stretch of a clip is now done via [Ctrl]+[Shift]
• Red, Yellow, & Blue hit zones flags have been removed
• Fade indicators in the corners of clips have been removed

Plug-in Browser Enhancements

Platinum, Professional, Artist

Streamlining your workflow has always been a factor in the design of SONAR’s features. With the latest enhancements to the Plug-in Browser, Cakewalk has upgraded the most important part of your workflow: finding your plugins. Sort by Category, Sort by Type, Sort by Manufacturer and much more are now seamless additions to your plug-in browsing experience.

Enhancements:

• Plug-in can now be categorized in the browser using Type, Manufacturer, or Category
• Plug-ins without  a category can be set to an existing or custom category by right-clicking the plug-in
• Plug-ins can now be in multiple categories i.e. Dynamics and Favorites
• Popular VST2 plug-ins are automatically categorized (UAD, iZotope, SoundToys, NI, and many more)
• Friendly Plug-in names can now be customized through the browser by adjusting the display name when right-clicking a plug-in

Quick Group Insert FX

Platinum, Professional, Artist

Quick Grouping now improves even more aspects of your mixing workflow by allowing you to insert a plugin across all selected tracks with a simple Ctrl + Click.

• You can now insert the same plug-in across tracks using quick group and right-clicking a FX Bin.

Theme Editor Update 1.1.0.22

Platinum

Completing the integration that Cakewalk started in its initial launch, The Theme Editor now ships with all languages that SONAR localizes. This includes Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.

Other Misc Fixes and Enhancements

• VST3 plugins aren't listed in Insert Effect > Audio Effects when custom layout is used
• Process Audio commands are very slow to run on multiple split clips
• Track View snap settings do not work with all tools
• Nudging MIDI notes inside the inline PRV can cause clips to split and notes to disappear
• Resolved an issue where SONAR could crash on adding an envelope
• Stop At Project End can cause unexpected playback behavior in new projects with loop points
• Double clicking on drum-mapped clip does not open it in Piano Roll when Click Sets Now is Off
• Ctrl+Alt+Scroll Wheel in PRV Timeline Zooms In and Out at Non-Linear & Opposing Rates
• Mouse movement over the tracks pane could cause dropouts when using TH3
• Track folders don't open/close right at first after switching screensets
• Resolved an issue where Replace Synth could cause SONAR to hang
• TV fails to scroll when moving(copying) clip with Shift(+Ctrl) held down
• Fixed an issue where Track Manager Keep Track / Console Visibility In Sync could fail
• Drawing notes in Lanes could display temporarily in another Lane
• Adjusting the background color of multiple clips no longer changes the foreground color unexpectedly

2016.08 Update 1 Fixes:

• Resolved a potential crash on launch of SONAR 2016.08
• Updated installer version number to match build number