X3e Producer Audio dropout

I have recently started experiencing audio dropouts where the audio engine stops unexpectedly.  This had not been a problem until about 2 weeks ago when two things happened.  1. I upgraded from X3a to X3e in one fell swoop.  2.  I added the Isotope Nectar plug-in that was offered as a promotion. It does not happen on all projects but it has now happened on three projects.  On each of these it has occurred at the same place in the project on playback. The first one I was using the Nectar plug-in, so I removed it, but it didn't solve the problem.  I increased the buffer size and that seemed to resolve the issue.  The second one I was not using Nectar.  Increasing the latency again did not resolve it.  Finally, following the advice of the help menu that suggested that the project may be fragmented, I saved it as a bundle and then reopened it and it was resolved.  This most recent time, neither of those two efforts have resolved the issue and the hard disc itself shows that it is 0% fragmented. Closing and re-opening Sonar does not resolve the issue.  The dropout always occurs at the same place during playback of the project which has 16 tracks of audio and one EZ Drummer MIDI track.
 
My setup: Gateway DX4860, Core i7 2600, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit V. 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1, 6GB RAM, 1 TB HD, AKAI EIE Pro USB audio/MIDI interface.
 
As I say, this has not been a problem before.  Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Hi - I am a bit unclear on a couple of things:
 
1.  Are you having these problems during recording, or are you doing mixing/mastering?
 
2.  Can you please list all the plugins present in one of these projects where this is occurring?
 
3.  Please post back the Sample Rate for the audio interface, as well as from Sonar its Sample Rate, Driver Mode, Record Bit-Depth, and Total Roundtrip Latency.
 
Thanks, 
 
Bob Bone
 

Sorry I wasn't clear.  This problem is occurring during mixing.  These are older projects that were initially recorded in X2 now being mixed in X3.  There are plug-ins, a couple of reverbs (Breverb) and a couple of delays (Sonitus) which are on busses that are fed by sends from the tracks.  Other than the Pro-Channel modules, which are used on each track, there are only two additional EQ plug-ins on individual tracks, in both cases it is the LP-64 EQ.  The Nectar is not in use on this particular project.  Sample rate is 44.1, bit depth 24, Driver mode ASIO.  I'm not sure where to find the roundtrip latency.  I have boosted the ASIO buffer to 1024, I will try higher.  Thanks. 

I dug this up for you:
 
Look-ahead and Latency
 
The LP-64 Multiband Compressor uses look-ahead peak detection to reduce the gain just before a peak. "Look-ahead" means the limiter analyzes the audio input ahead of time by delaying the output. Like many mastering linear-phase plug-ins, the LP-64 Multiband Compressor requires a fairly large look-ahead--on the order of 20 milliseconds. This typically does not present a problem as mastering tools are most often utilized in post-production work.
 
Sure enough, this plugin will need a really high ASIO Buffer Size to work properly, and is meant for mixing and mastering, not for tracking.
 
Soooo, bump that puppy up and see what happens.  :)
 
Bob Bone
 
 

Your PC and sound card drivers are at their limit, most likely. You may need to start freezing tracks.