My list of problems and bugs in Sonar X2 - Not Comprehensive

TRACK VIEW
1. MIDI INPUT Cannot select "NONE" defaults to OMNI 
Brando Remedy: Untick "Always Echo Current MIDI Track"
 
2. MIDI KEY   Cannot enter a value - not a bug - crappy design decision 
FBB Remedy: Put "MIDI key" in focus and press F2 for direct entry.
 
3. MIDI KEY   Changes by value of 13 instead of 12
 
4. MIDI KEY   TOO Difficult to use mouse to change value- You have to fiddle with it for a while to try to get to the value you want.
 
5. Double clicking on a midi clip will open the PRV but not to the Now Time. Usually opens PRV to begining  of project.
 
6. Browser does not display correctly when first opened.  If plugins/Intruments is selected only audio plugins are displayed. Must toggle plugins and then instruments to have the list populated properly.
This is also visa versa.
 
7. Prochannel EQ Plot does not update when knobs are moved.
 
8. Copy and paste clips does not always work correctly
 
9. Moving a clip - Some clips will not move. Some clips random unpredictable behavior.  Sonar selecting and moving clips on random tracks.
 
10. Cannot always slip edit a clip that has a fade in or a fade out. The fades must be removed first.
 
PIANO ROLL VIEW (PRV)
1. Sometimes will open zoomed all the way out and must be zoomed in to work on data.
 
GENERAL
1. SONAR CRASH on opening a project.
  Projects load in Sonar X1 without problem.
  Same Project will Crash Sonar X2a every time if it is the first project loaded.
  If it is not the first project open, Sonar X2a loads it just fine.
  Plugin which Sonar chokes is Kontakt 5 - Freezing this synth in the project cured  the problem. This was not a project specific problem. A new project was created which exhibited the same behaviour in Sonar X2a.
  NOTE: Sonar 8.5, Sonar X1 do not exhibit this problem.
2. Sonar cannot remember the video state of a project.  A project is closed while working in Track View.
The project will open with Multi-Dock maxed and Piano Roll View open.
 
3. Goes along with #2 above.  Load another project having 2 projects open and switch back to the previous project, same result as #2 above.
 
4. Freeze Synth not avaiable in Synth Rack but is available Via the syth track in Track View. Closing and reopening Sonar fixed problem.
As stated in the thread title this is not a comprehensive list.
You can add your own findings, and I'll update this post to reflect them. 
 

+1000 for MIDI key. How anyone in development could have test driven that horrible little widget and given it the go-ahead is beyond me. You have to "home in" on the value that you want and nearly always overshoot the first time. Same with the slider widgets in the arpeggiator module. 

"Expected behavior" would be to have the option of entering a value numerically. But there's lots of aspects of the Sonar GUI which don't follow expected behavior, for instance the inability to rearrange tabs in the Multidock. I'd dearly like to know which GUI library they used, or whether they coded the widgets themselves from scratch. 

sharke

FastBikerBoy

2. MIDI KEY   Cannot enter a value - not a bug - crappy design decision

Put "MIDI key" in focus and press F2 for direct entry.

Well gee! LOL! Thanks.....


However it really should do that with a double click. There are certain ways in which people instinctively approach a GUI that are the result of experience with common software standards.

No worries. Not arguing about the logic, just providing answers where I can.....

kevo


TRACK VIEW
1. MIDI INPUT Cannot select "NONE" defaults to OMNI
       

I am not seeing this - If I click on the input pull-down arrow for a MIDI track, or for a Simple Instrument track, the first option on the pull-down is "None" (X2A). When I select "None", I confirm that MIDI is not routed to the soft synth it is connected to. 

Brando

kevo


TRACK VIEW
1. MIDI INPUT Cannot select "NONE" defaults to OMNI
     

I am not seeing this - If I click on the input pull-down arrow for a MIDI track, or for a Simple Instrument track, the first option on the pull-down is "None" (X2A). When I select "None", I confirm that MIDI is not routed to the soft synth it is connected to. 

 
I have Sonar installed on 2 systems, and it exhibits this problem on both.
 
None is toggled, but Omni is shown after the selection.
The workaround is to select a midi channel or port not in use.
 

Brando

kevo


TRACK VIEW

5. Double clicking on a midi clip will open the PRV but not to the Now Time. Usually opens PRV to begining  of project.

I can't get this behavior either. I import a MIDI file into a MIDI track. My timeline is set to M:B:T format. My Midi clip is 17 measures long.
I click in the ruler at 12:1:00 to set the Now Time for the project at that point. I then move away to 2:1:00 in the Midi clip and double click. The PRV opens, with a marker at the upper left corner of the Midi to be edited, at 12:1:00.
Is this maybe a function of snap settings?

Also - if I don't set the Now Time before hand, and just double click in the Midi clip, the PRV comes up with the edit marker at the point where the Now Time is set in the project in Track view (the time where I double clicked in the MIDI clip in Track View) - this behavior seems right to me.

kevo


GENERAL 
1. SONAR CRASH on opening a project.
  Projects load in Sonar X1 without problem.
  Same Project will Crash Sonar X2a every time if it is the first project loaded.
  If it is not the first project open, Sonar X2a loads it just fine.
  Plugin which Sonar chokes is Kontakt 5 - Freezing this synth in the project cured  the problem. This was not a project specific problem. A new project was created which exhibited the same behaviour in Sonar X2a.
  NOTE: Sonar 8.5, Sonar X1 do not exhibit this problem.

4. Freeze Synth not avaiable in Synth Rack but is available Via the syth track in Track View. Closing and reopening Sonar fixed problem.
As stated in the thread title this is not a comprehensive list.
You can add your own findings, and I'll update this post to reflect them.
 

I checked Freeze synth in the Synth rack, and in Track View - both seem to work as expected here. I suspect this has more to do with the issues you identified that are having with the browser more generally. I just confirmed with an instance of Alchemy in my project, and the same short 17 measure MIDI clip I used previously. I can select Freeze in either the Synth rack or in Track view, and the freeze/unfreeze process seems to work the same, regardless. I have never noticed the button being missing from the Synth Rack. Again, as before I am not doubting that you are seeing this - I am just letting you know I am not. It may be more intermittent than I have ever noticed before.


On Kontakt 5, I use it all the time, and it is a synth in my default new project template (26 tracks, incl 16 drum tracks and some soft synths and basic audio tracks). Never had an issue with Kontakt 5. My issues tend to be known or expected - 32 bit synths or effects that I haven't figured out a way around yet, or where I push the CPU hard in larger projects. 
I have heard of project import issues from earlier versions of SONAR, from other users. I lost a hard drive between X1 and X2, and made a decision to not re-install X1 or 8.5.3 when I upgraded my OS to win 8. All I can say is I have not noticed this as an issue. 

 For what it's worth - I hope this helps.

Brando

kevo

Brando

kevo


TRACK VIEW
1. MIDI INPUT Cannot select "NONE" defaults to OMNI
   

I am not seeing this - If I click on the input pull-down arrow for a MIDI track, or for a Simple Instrument track, the first option on the pull-down is "None" (X2A). When I select "None", I confirm that MIDI is not routed to the soft synth it is connected to. 

 
I have Sonar installed on 2 systems, and it exhibits this problem on both.

None is toggled, but Omni is shown after the selection.
The workaround is to select a midi channel or port not in use.
     

Not doubting what you are seeing, just not seeing that here. I have "None" as first option, then "All inputs", "Audiobox Midi In", "Oxygen 61 Midi in", "Casio USB- MIDI in", then "studio1" (control surface).
Both the Oxygen and the Casio are USB. 
Maybe a function of number of Midi Inputs? 
(On Edit) - I confirmed (again) that when I select "none" from the pulldown, "None" is displayed in the MIDI input both in Track View and in the MIDI view of the inspector.  

http://screencast.com/t/55sR7lgpjw
 
 

Brando

kevo

http://screencast.com/t/55sR7lgpjw

 

If you go to Edit-Preferences, under MIDI - Playback and Recording - Playback Do you have "Always Echo Current MIDI Track" selected, by any chance?
If I select that, I get the same behavior you are seeing (from your vid clip above). 

Great catch, Brando.  I've just tried it and you're dead right.
 
It makes perfect sense.

@Brando.
 
I agree with everything you said there.
 
I found X1d solid as a rock, and since X2a have found it just as good.  I also have all the PC modules and have no issues with any of them, apart from a lack of talent on my side..
 
I have found that everything I use in Sonar works as expected.  It is strange that people can have such different experiences of the same software.  I KNOW it works here, but have been accused of lying/ working for Cakewalk for saying so by people who seem to be having a terrible time with it.
 
I wish I knew why.  Often it is pilot error, but not, I think, always.