You can set up what is essentially midi thru if you are using the physical midi jack and the usb port. USB audio 3 at computer recieves midi in from the midi jack in this scenario. So if the vst is outputting thru Sonar to MPK physical midi in, that midi will pass through back to daw as USB audio 3. Not sure why they call it USB "audio" since it is midi. If you are only connected with physical midi or USB midi then this is nof the issue.

So i tried the LoopBet thing, still doing the same crap.
 
I think its time for me to move to Reason.  The MIDI just WORKS there.
 
Cakewalk's MIDI solution under the hood is antiquated and simply doesn't work right.  

Strange. I have not been able to reproduce a problem with this for a long time on my system with multiple hardware MIDI IN ports. It 'just works' for me.
 
On the other hand, it took all of 30 seconds to find an example of MIDI not 'just working' in Reaper; no DAW is bug-free:
 
    http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=153519

brundlefly
Strange. I have not been able to reproduce a problem with this for a long time on my system with multiple hardware MIDI IN ports. It 'just works' for me.
 
On the other hand, it took all of 30 seconds to find an example of MIDI not 'just working' in Reaper; no DAW is bug-free:
 
    http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=153519

Note that he said Reason, not Reaper. Reason began life as a MIDI-only sequencer; audio was added much later, after the "Record" program was, shall we say, less than a success in the marketplace. So Reason's entire heritage is MIDI-based, and the MIDI is indeed solid. Of course Reason has many limitations SONAR does not have, but they may not matter to what SBM does if he's using only MIDI, doesn't use VST instruments, and doesn't need External MIDI Out from VST instruments. You can sort of use VSTi devices in Reason if you rewire into a host like SONAR that can load a VSTi, but that's a whole other can of worms. It seems like enabling another MIDI input in SONAR is a much easier workaround than loading a second host program and doing rewire with Reason, but whatever.
 

SilverBlueMedallion
Also "Enable Midi Out" is on by default when inserting synths (even if you uncheck the option, yet another bug).

 
If a synth has MIDI out, SONAR assumes that's an important part of the synth's functionality, and therefore it should be turned on when you insert it. Of course, you can always right-click on the synth icon in the Synth Rack and turn "Enable MIDI Out" on and off at any time. But if you want to change the default behavior, the simplest way is to save the synth as a Track Template with Enable MIDI Out turned off (e.g., a Track Template like "Reaktor with MIDI out disabled").
 

Anderton

SilverBlueMedallion
Also "Enable Midi Out" is on by default when inserting synths (even if you uncheck the option, yet another bug).

If a synth has MIDI out, SONAR assumes that's an important part of the synth's functionality

Since the introduction of the "Add Track" menu, the default behavior of "Enable MIDI Output" depends on how a synth is added to the project. The "Add Track" menu always adds synths with "Enable MIDI Output" turned off. All the other methods follow the X3 default, turn on "Enable MIDI Output" if the synth supports it. To override the default behavior for everything except the "Add Track" menu, use the "Insert Soft Synth Options" dialog. This setting is not persistent so either make sure to set the dialog to "Ask Every Time" or use the "Add Track" menu.

scook

Anderton

SilverBlueMedallion
Also "Enable Midi Out" is on by default when inserting synths (even if you uncheck the option, yet another bug).

If a synth has MIDI out, SONAR assumes that's an important part of the synth's functionality

Since the introduction of the "Add Track" menu, the default behavior of "Enable MIDI Output" depends on how a synth is added to the project. The "Add Track" menu always adds synths with "Enable MIDI Output" turned off. All the other methods follow the X3 default, turn on "Enable MIDI Output" if the synth supports it. To override the default behavior for everything except the "Add Track" menu, use the "Insert Soft Synth Options" dialog. This setting is not persistent so either make sure to set the dialog to "Ask Every Time" or use the "Add Track" menu.

 
Good to know - I never use Add Track, I always use the [+] option in the synth rack to insert a synth so that if a synth has MIDI out, it's enabled. That's the behavior I want. 
 

Anderton
Note that he said Reason, not Reaper.

Oops. Mea culpa. Nevertheless, the fact remains that no DAW is without bugs. If the OP wants to ditch SONAR for one issue that has a relatively simple workaround, he is welcome to, but I doubt he will ultimately be any more satisfied with Reason in the long run.
 
The question is why the workaround of adding a second MIDI IN port with LoopBe1 apparently did not work in this case. I have to think that there are enough SONAR users running 3rd-party MIDI generators that this would be a more popular topic if it affected everyone regardless of hardware configuration. There must be some other contributing factor.

brundlefly

Anderton
Note that he said Reason, not Reaper.

 
The question is why the workaround of adding a second MIDI IN port with LoopBe1 apparently did not work in this case. I have to think that there are enough SONAR users running 3rd-party MIDI generators that this would be a more popular topic if it affected everyone regardless of hardware configuration. There must be some other contributing factor.

Absolutely this! I see this behaviour ONLY when using D16 group drum machine emulators, of which Nithonat used by the OP is one.
 
FWIW I do have multiple hardware midi I/O as well as active loopbe30 virtual connections, so that particular workaround seems not to work consistantly, at least with D16 group products.