I switched from Reaper and Sonar to just Ableton. In my opinion, I like the more 'flat' sound Ableton has, it gives you a more sonically realistic foundation to work from. I feel like Reaper is treated to sound better honestly, Sonar just has too many buttons. 
---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:08 PM ----------
Personal preference is really what it boils down to. I have an .mp3 converter I use after I export to .wav, doesn't bother me really. If you like how it sounds to you, then use what sounds better to you. If you think one D.A.W. is more user-friendly, then go with that one. A lot of different D.A.W.'s are being used to produce high quality tracks and you can hardly tell a difference which is which when the mixing and mastering is done. It all depends on how you want to manipulate the sounds and use the tools you choose. I've heard tracks made only in FL Studio that have better quality sounds than others that were produced in Ableton. I've also heard tracks produced in Ableton that sound a hell of a lot better than other tracks produced in Ableton. When you get so tedious as to miniscule quality differences based off of a simple sound test, you're really not getting an accurate display of sound quality. You can make little tweaks to a track in any D.A.W. to make it sound nearly the same as any other D.A.W. All depends on how well you know your tools and how you use them. I mean really, if you haven't taken the time to experiment and explore the options available in ableton to improve sound quality, then you might want to learn it a little better.
---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:08 PM ----------
Personal preference is really what it boils down to. I have an .mp3 converter I use after I export to .wav, doesn't bother me really. If you like how it sounds to you, then use what sounds better to you. If you think one D.A.W. is more user-friendly, then go with that one. A lot of different D.A.W.'s are being used to produce high quality tracks and you can hardly tell a difference which is which when the mixing and mastering is done. It all depends on how you want to manipulate the sounds and use the tools you choose. I've heard tracks made only in FL Studio that have better quality sounds than others that were produced in Ableton. I've also heard tracks produced in Ableton that sound a hell of a lot better than other tracks produced in Ableton. When you get so tedious as to miniscule quality differences based off of a simple sound test, you're really not getting an accurate display of sound quality. You can make little tweaks to a track in any D.A.W. to make it sound nearly the same as any other D.A.W. All depends on how well you know your tools and how you use them. I mean really, if you haven't taken the time to experiment and explore the options available in ableton to improve sound quality, then you might want to learn it a little better.