lgmab
Thank you kindly AZslow,
I do have the original but cannot change any plugin settings. Will your plugin augment the original? Will I be able to us it with the XT and C4 if I also have the original?
thanks

My current mod can only help controlling ProChannel EQ & Comp, controlling FX plug-ins is the same in the original, controlling other ProChannel modules and SoftSynth. In short, FXes should work for you already now.
 
Note that the layout of buttons is NOT original MCU. You need "Sonar layout", there was Lexan overlays before.
For the moment you can use : http://www.azslow.com/files/mcu.png to find correct "names" for your buttons. Check the help file ("F1" when "Utilities/Mackie control - 1" is open). Except filters (not ProChannel) and some dialogs, everything should work as written.
 
What Craig writes about my own plug-in (AZ Controller) is unfortunately true only in theory in your case. I do not have MCU+XT+C4 preset and creating one for me is not feasible (I have created a preset for MCU alone using MCU emulator on my phone, but I have not seen any C4 emulators). What we can do in relatively short term (this year) is a separate C4 preset for AZ Controller to control plug-ins throw dynamic mapping (called "ACT" in many text, unsupported by MackieControl original plug-in, the reason VS-700 is working better with plug-ins then MCU). Then you can use MCU+XT for mixing/commands (where everyone confirm it is good in Sonar) and C4 for plug-ins (including all ProChannel modules and SoftSynth). You will need no special knowledge, but you will have to test it, probably in many iterations till it words reliably (since I can not test it at all). Let me know on my forum if interested.
 

BuleriaChk
How about the Behringer X-Touch as an alternative for controlling Sonar?
 Apparently it works but some buttons are mislabeled compared to the MCU????

X-Touch is a "copy" of MCU (both need Sonar layout, which is different from default). Difference:
1) no XT, no C4
2) cost 2 times less
3) made by Behringer instead of Mackie
 

Well, the nanoKontrol arrived and it is now at the Amazon drop-off being returned.  I spent 3 hours trying to get it to work with Sonar to no avail.  At first, Sonar didn't see it as a device, even though Device mgr. said it was running smoothly.  After searching Google, using Korgs uninstaller for Midi devices, and deleting devices in the Registry, downloading and re-installing Korg's Midi drivers (drvTools), I thought I'd try the firmware update to 1.03 to see if that was the issue (even though the Readme didn't hold out much hope).  It wouldn't even update; first it said there was no device, and finally after I did some more stuff it said Port Error!
 
At that point, I just said Frick It.
 
Why can't Sonar make a simple plastic device like that that does the bread and butter stuff?
I'm not even going to try the nanoKontrol 2 with that kind of experience.  At least Tranzport is working flawlessly; who would've thought....
 
If only Ableton would just implement comping....  but, hey, they finally provided a tuner device....  There is an inexpensive used x-touch available now, but I really think I'll wait for NAMM to see if there is any future for a Sonar control surface.  But will someone PLEASE tell Cakewalk they don't need to put an audio interface in it... 
  
I also fired up an old Evolution UC-33 I found around, and got the faders and pans working, but couldn't figure out how to implement the transport buttons in the ACT plugin interface.  So it is there if I ever decide to jump back in; if any of you know, I would appreciate it.  But right now I am really tired, pissed off, and frustrated by what should be an easy task in 2016 (almost 2017).  Maybe I'll just get a PS4 and say to hell with it....
 
Update: I just discovered that the UC-33 and the transport work simultaneously; the UC-33 to control the volumes and pans, and the Tranzport for the other stuff. So all is not lost.... Still would like to get the transport working on the UC33...

Well, you're right, I'm only an "engineer" when I absolutely, absolutely have to be, and otherwise not.  I am a lone guitarist still struggling with Flamenco technique, trying to get good takes of falsetas (riffs) down before a truck hits me.  My Academy, written in the late '60s, early 70s while desperately trying to struggle for survival (with help from friends who bought my initial course lessons) was done with typewriter, reel2reel, splicing tape, etc..  But I did get it out, because there was an awful lot of confusion about Flamenco rhythms at the time, even though it was a niche market not yet swamped by technology.  (I am not Gitano, or even Spanish, and was fighting family, getting thru UCSB with some marketable skill so I could move to Denmark or Canada - this was the 60s, and my family were Republicans, and I had just been arrested in the Free Speech Movement (I was taking physics at the time at UCB)...
 
Anyway, what I really need is very simple (uh, like practice), and a way of easily being able to edit takes.  I jumped into X3 because of the comping (well, ok, some customer loyalty, since I have been with Cakewalk from practically the beginning - what did they start out as?  I forget...), but have also been very interested in the technical progress in electronic music, although I actually like very little of it (I got left behind after "Flashdance".. :).  I am NOT a DJ.... and am not rich, and will never need motorized faders, since I don't have the money to consort with all the pretty wannabe singers in their early 20's.. In a recording studio in one of the guest houses of my mansion .. :)
 
After working through the options in my latest brush with audio technology, I'm finding that the Tranzport and trackball (mouse when I really want to be precise) will probably be just fine (I'm really happy I found it again) - to get the audio over to Live in clips...
 
(I am NOT dissing engineers, by the way.  I had an experience in 1972 when my wife and I were asked to do a program for CBC in Montreal.  I played guitar, and listened to the recording in the booth - it sounded AWFUL.  But when we listened to the program broadcast that evening, it sounded GREAT!  So I spent the next decade trying to figure out WTF the engineers did with that sound, and of course couldn't afford any of the equipment.
 
The only thing that made sense at the time was when I was in Moron de la  Frontera (Spain) with Diego del Gastor and family and other half-crazed foreigners (1968-69), and all we had were really cheap cassette recorders (which had just come out).  They all had AGC, but when played back, gave a great, if inconsistent, overdriven sound to the guitar, an effect which appeared on a lot of guitar at the time from studios in Spain who were just catching on.  Now I've got a GT-001, and can sound like whatever I want.
 
OTH, I recorded PdL live in concert in LA with a much better recorder in my shirt pocket, no AGC, and he just sounded fantastic.  So... practice...but I'm 76....  You get the idea...
 
I wish Sonar would just dispense with the Groove Clip idea, and just make audio stretching automatic (in Live, you just drop audio to a clip, and if the time signature is even close, it lines up perfectly.  But then we've been asking for stretching in Maschine for a long, long time.
 
But when you gotta be your own engineer, all this stuff is really a PITA. But I think Sonar will work for me with my Tranzport and mouse .. at least for now... And when I want to have fun, there is always Push 2 (that 8x8 matrix in 4ths is just so much fun!), especially with Maschine sound libraries and effects.
 
But Sonar has comping...., and is truly a DAW for real musicians   :)
 
Thanks to everyone, especially azslow3 for their input here (and hats off to Craig Anderton for his lifetime contributions to this world. My UC-33 is back in the closet, replaced by a Launchpad Pro on my desk.   I can go home now, I think.... :)
----------------------
There is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the tools of production are at last in the hands of the workers.
The bad news is that the tools of production are at last in the hands of the workers. 
 

Wow! After your previous post, I have realized that you have a good excuse to dislike Sonar's controller configuration procedure
The discussion about UC-33e details I will continue on my forum.
 

I cut the number of tracks in my project to two:
1. An audio track for guitar (I'll either use ProChannel with a mouse, or Maschine effects)
2. A track for Maschine VST
 
And just a hidden (for now) send track, and the Master track.
The Tranzport handles this scenario just beautifully.  Maschine has enough power for any possible Midi Scenario, and I can use the effects in the audio track, controlled by Maschine .....
 
Very simple and easy to use (so far)
 
(Gotta admit; I had never really looked at Sonar since before X1, when I gave up on control surfaces... so I'm RTFM'ing Sonar Platinum.. a lot of new stuff since them... :)

BuleriaChk
How about the Behringer X-Touch as an alternative for controlling Sonar?
 Apparently it works but some buttons are mislabeled compared to the MCU????

Bought the XTouch recently after doing a similar research and disappointed that Sonar does not work with many of the controllers out there. XTouch works very well.Most of atleast what I use is controllable through the XTouch. The labels on the buttons are not right out of the box. I re-labelled them with a paper tape. Coming from BCF2000, XTouch boosted my productivity instantly.
 

(You rich engineers...  sigh!   :)
 
Turned out I paid $49 for a legacy version of V-Control pro that I'll never use, but ... oh well, that's what it means to be on the Bleeding Edge of Technology.  But Azslow3 is working on my UC33e, and his program is really excellent once you figure out how to use it (much, MUCH better than ACT!!!)  My UC-33 is already working beyond my wildest dreams, and I'm even considering alternatives some day....
 
Cakewalk should be paying him the Big Bucks.....

So I have an original MCU and 2 extenders. At the moment, I am trying to get just the main MCU working with Sonar Platinum.  I am able to add it and select it's MIDI in and out ports in Sonar and when I apply it, the first 8 tracks of the audio demo file get a red highlight which tells me it is connected and assigned.  However, none of the MCU controls cause anything to happen in Sonar when they are touched.  Nothing for the buttons or faders.  Also if I hit play with the mouse the file runs but I don't see any action on the MCU.  Have I forgotten something in the setup?  I watched the cake TV control surface get started video which references a control surface properties button in the menu bar which I cannot find.  I'm lost.

So, you have enabled (one) MCU Input and Output in Sonar, added MackieControl to Control Surfaces and assigned these input and output to it. Enable Control Surface module on the control bar. What you see there? Probably "Connecting...". That means Input or Output is not correctly set. If you do not see "Connecting....", revisit "Control Surfaces". Are Input Output are no longer assigned? is "Mackie Control" in brackets? If yes, you have mix of 32 and 64 bit installations.
If still no progress, follow http://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,341.0.html (good idea in any case, you will be able to control ProChannel with this version instead of immediate crash of Sonar...). "Disable handshake..." in its options. Can you move something by MCU faders now? If yes, but you see no lights and no motor movements, your "Output" is set incorrectly. If still not luck, let me know and I will write what to check as next.

Azslow3,
thank you for the response.  It does indeed say connecting.  I am using a usb single in/out midi adapter for the MCU and that may be the issue.  I'll switch to one of my MOTU midi timepiece ports and re-assign.  Maybe that will work

https://www.jrrshop.com/icon-platform-m-control-surface
 
Just saw this .. a bit cheaper but no support for SONAR [how others are supported?]
Regards
Snehankur