SilverBlueMedallion
but now this breaks other things. Seriously, seems like Cakewalk still has a lot of MIDI issues to sort out.

You need to be specific about what "breaks." Also, what happens if you select searchback but not zero controllers? Are you clear about how continuous controllers aren't always continuous, in the sense that sending one value will cause that value to be retained until there's another value sent? This is why when you said "to add one more piece of information - while one of those tracks is playing out of key - if I hilight that track and just move the pitch wheel a bit and then let it go back to the center, it then plays the correct pitch!" it's really expected behavior...SONAR is reacting to a previous pitch bend message, and in this case, you're giving SONAR a new one that's what you wanted.
 
It seems that perhaps the problems you're experiencing may not involve SONAR, but stem from a lack of understanding about how MIDI works. If that's the case, you're looking for problems in the wrong place. Functions like zeroing controllers and searchback are common, so someone versed in MIDI would look at the status of those functions first if experiencing a project not following previous controller settings. If you can be more specific about what "breaks," perhaps we can sort this out for you.

Anderton

SilverBlueMedallion
but now this breaks other things. Seriously, seems like Cakewalk still has a lot of MIDI issues to sort out.

You need to be specific about what "breaks." Also, what happens if you select searchback but not zero controllers? Are you clear about how continuous controllers aren't always continuous, in the sense that sending one value will cause that value to be retained until there's another value sent? This is why when you said "to add one more piece of information - while one of those tracks is playing out of key - if I hilight that track and just move the pitch wheel a bit and then let it go back to the center, it then plays the correct pitch!" it's really expected behavior...SONAR is reacting to a previous pitch bend message, and in this case, you're giving SONAR a new one that's what you wanted.
 
It seems that perhaps the problems you're experiencing may not involve SONAR, but stem from a lack of understanding about how MIDI works. If that's the case, you're looking for problems in the wrong place. Functions like zeroing controllers and searchback are common, so someone versed in MIDI would look at the status of those functions first if experiencing a project not following previous controller settings. If you can be more specific about what "breaks," perhaps we can sort this out for you.

Anderton,
 
How is that expected behavior?
 
Track 1 has a pitch wheel change.
 
Track 2 has no pitch wheel changes
 
Track 1's pitch wheel changes effect what is going on in Track 2 somehow.
 
Why on earth would that be expected behavior?
 

SilverBlueMedallion

Anderton

SilverBlueMedallion
but now this breaks other things. Seriously, seems like Cakewalk still has a lot of MIDI issues to sort out.

You need to be specific about what "breaks." Also, what happens if you select searchback but not zero controllers? Are you clear about how continuous controllers aren't always continuous, in the sense that sending one value will cause that value to be retained until there's another value sent? This is why when you said "to add one more piece of information - while one of those tracks is playing out of key - if I hilight that track and just move the pitch wheel a bit and then let it go back to the center, it then plays the correct pitch!" it's really expected behavior...SONAR is reacting to a previous pitch bend message, and in this case, you're giving SONAR a new one that's what you wanted.
 
It seems that perhaps the problems you're experiencing may not involve SONAR, but stem from a lack of understanding about how MIDI works. If that's the case, you're looking for problems in the wrong place. Functions like zeroing controllers and searchback are common, so someone versed in MIDI would look at the status of those functions first if experiencing a project not following previous controller settings. If you can be more specific about what "breaks," perhaps we can sort this out for you.

Anderton,
 
How is that expected behavior?
 
Track 1 has a pitch wheel change.
 
Track 2 has no pitch wheel changes
 
Track 1's pitch wheel changes effect what is going on in Track 2 somehow.
 
Why on earth would that be expected behavior?
 

I would try setting up a new song and listing the steps and seeing if the behavior is reproducible.  If it's not, then it's either your configuration of your current song, or a possibly SONAR bug that effects something about the setup of your existing song.  If the behavior is the same, then it will be easier to diagnose it.  Keep it simple. . . just 2 or 3 tracks.

SilverBlueMedallion

Anderton

SilverBlueMedallion
but now this breaks other things. Seriously, seems like Cakewalk still has a lot of MIDI issues to sort out.

You need to be specific about what "breaks." Also, what happens if you select searchback but not zero controllers? Are you clear about how continuous controllers aren't always continuous, in the sense that sending one value will cause that value to be retained until there's another value sent? This is why when you said "to add one more piece of information - while one of those tracks is playing out of key - if I hilight that track and just move the pitch wheel a bit and then let it go back to the center, it then plays the correct pitch!" it's really expected behavior...SONAR is reacting to a previous pitch bend message, and in this case, you're giving SONAR a new one that's what you wanted.
 
It seems that perhaps the problems you're experiencing may not involve SONAR, but stem from a lack of understanding about how MIDI works. If that's the case, you're looking for problems in the wrong place. Functions like zeroing controllers and searchback are common, so someone versed in MIDI would look at the status of those functions first if experiencing a project not following previous controller settings. If you can be more specific about what "breaks," perhaps we can sort this out for you.

Anderton,
 
How is that expected behavior?

 
It's totally expected behavior if something has been offset by a previous message and you "just move the pitch wheel a bit and then let it go back to the center," as this gives it a new message. 
 
Meanwhile, if you've solved one problem but encountered others, as I said, you need to be specific about what "breaks." And I'm still curious what happens if you select searchback but not zero controllers. I'm trying to find a solution for you; re-stating the perceived problem doesn't contribute enough new data to help. For all I know, you're getting a loopback through your controller that's being picked up by the other channel. 
 

brundlefly
 
Also, make sure you don't have any MIDI track inputs set to All Inputs - Omni and no synths have MIDI Out enabled where not intended.

Did you check what brundlefly said above?
 
Because in combination with...:
 

SilverBlueMedallion
hello, it is an AKAI MPK 25 key.  I enabled write automation on ONE track... hit record and messed around with the pitch wheel on ONE track.  How could ALL my tracks be effected by the wheel changes I made on ONE track?
 
 

...this could be the reason why pitch wheel data is recorded on other tracks, too.
 

Anderton

SilverBlueMedallion

Anderton

SilverBlueMedallion
but now this breaks other things. Seriously, seems like Cakewalk still has a lot of MIDI issues to sort out.

You need to be specific about what "breaks." Also, what happens if you select searchback but not zero controllers? Are you clear about how continuous controllers aren't always continuous, in the sense that sending one value will cause that value to be retained until there's another value sent? This is why when you said "to add one more piece of information - while one of those tracks is playing out of key - if I hilight that track and just move the pitch wheel a bit and then let it go back to the center, it then plays the correct pitch!" it's really expected behavior...SONAR is reacting to a previous pitch bend message, and in this case, you're giving SONAR a new one that's what you wanted.
 
It seems that perhaps the problems you're experiencing may not involve SONAR, but stem from a lack of understanding about how MIDI works. If that's the case, you're looking for problems in the wrong place. Functions like zeroing controllers and searchback are common, so someone versed in MIDI would look at the status of those functions first if experiencing a project not following previous controller settings. If you can be more specific about what "breaks," perhaps we can sort this out for you.

Anderton,
 
How is that expected behavior?

 
It's totally expected behavior if something has been offset by a previous message and you "just move the pitch wheel a bit and then let it go back to the center," as this gives it a new message. 
 

yes - for the SAME track, but not for a track i dont even have in focus.

To rephrase brundlefly's question that I haven't seen the answer yet:
what was the condition of the echo enable button [*)))] on all midi or instrument tracks tracks?
what was the input selection for all those tracks (e.g. your Akai)?
what was the setting in Edit -> Preferences -> MIDI -> Playback and Recording [] always echo current midi track?
 
There is a certain combination of these that could transmit wheel motions to multiple tracks. Depending on the last wheel motion transmitted, several tracks could have transmitted your performance of a wheel setting which then persists in the synths they were sent to. These settings could persist until "Zero Controllers ..." is put into effect or until a new wheel motion is performed into those tracks or until a recorded wheel event is encountered in the track.

bvideo
To rephrase brundlefly's question that I haven't seen the answer yet:
what was the condition of the echo enable button [*)))] on all midi or instrument tracks tracks?
what was the input selection for all those tracks (e.g. your Akai)?
what was the setting in Edit -> Preferences -> MIDI -> Playback and Recording [] always echo current midi track?
 
There is a certain combination of these that could transmit wheel motions to multiple tracks. Depending on the last wheel motion transmitted, several tracks could have transmitted your performance of a wheel setting which then persists in the synths they were sent to. These settings could persist until "Zero Controllers ..." is put into effect or until a new wheel motion is performed into those tracks or until a recorded wheel event is encountered in the track.

It was not on all tracks.  I never touch that button.   

The input selection on all midi tracks is MIDI OMNI (not just my AKAI)... I wish it was, but it would take me having to set each one.  The default is MIDI OMNI ( i guess that is ANY midi)
 
Edit -> Preferences -> MIDI -> Playback and Recording [checked] always echo current midi track? - CHECKED!
 
"Zero Controllers" resolves the issue, but I would like that disabled for other reasons. 
 
 

SilverBlueMedallion
The input selection on all midi tracks is MIDI OMNI (not just my AKAI)... I wish it was, but it would take me having to set each one. 

 
You can actually change the input selection on multiple tracks by selecting the Tracks pulldown menu and then clicking "Selected Track Inputs ...", as shown below.  (There even used to be a key binding shortcut for that, but it seems to be gone now).
 

Klaus

brundlefly
 
Also, make sure you don't have any MIDI track inputs set to All Inputs - Omni and no synths have MIDI Out enabled where not intended.

Did you check what brundlefly said above?
 
Because in combination with...:
 

SilverBlueMedallion
hello, it is an AKAI MPK 25 key.  I enabled write automation on ONE track... hit record and messed around with the pitch wheel on ONE track.  How could ALL my tracks be effected by the wheel changes I made on ONE track?
 
 

...this could be the reason why pitch wheel data is recorded on other tracks, too.
 

Yes, this is almost certainly the problem. As mentioned earlier, you write automation on playback. If you record, any armed track will record wheel events as MIDI data instead of writing an automation envelope on the one write-enabled track.