It would be good if someone from Cakewalk could comment on this thread. It has been a common issue that ACT is hit and miss, and this is particularly frustrating for those who have bought hardware that they expected to integrate well with Sonar. I know there are work arounds ( Azslow3 often promotes one such solution, and I think Craig did an article on this not so long ago) but Cakewalk should really take up this short-coming. Judging from the date stamps on the posts it has been around for a while.
 

IainThompson
 I know there are work arounds ( Azslow3 often promotes one such solution, and I think Craig did an article on this not so long ago) but Cakewalk should really take up this short-coming. Judging from the date stamps on the posts it has been around for a while.

We can call Waves and NI plug-ins "a workaround" for plug-ins delivered with Sonar, but we do not do this usually
 
Discussed in this thread questions are related to two different topics.
* A-Pro is quite flexible and complicated controlling solution. It has several modes of operations and these modes are user configurable. Without reading and understanding relevant documentation it is close to impossible to use its complete functionality. "ACT" has many meanings, pressing one button with that label can not make everything "just work as everyone expect it"
* there is a bug in dynamic mapping configuration procedure which corrupt the file with saved mapping. From the time that happens and till the file is deleted/fixed manually (that is text XML file), "ACT Learn..." is not working properly (with any device, not only A-Pro). There are also several other bugs.
 
But there is nothing without some (relatively easy to use) solution. Note that while inconvenient, that is something to do only once per installed plug-in. I do not claim that part of Sonar can not be improved, but everyone who really wants control plug-in parameters can do this (and from experience I know that the number of such users is significantly smaller then the number of related complains in this forum...).

Could you let us know the fix on the xml files? Which files need to be deleted/reset in order to get around the bug?
 
Thanks!
PK
 

Original problem and the consequences: http://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,5.0.html
Another view on that topic: http://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,13.msg107.html#msg107
 
 

OK, just got off Cakewalk support phone line. We have things one step closer I think...
If you open up the A-500pro properties window and choose one of the presets with the word synths in it that would be step (1)
 
Then look at the buttons, B1-B4. They should say tracks/effects/synths/utility. press button #3. now the title bar has changed to the synth window that is open. Now I shall try to do some ACT learning and see how i do. (when i was on the phone with cakewalk, i WAS able to get a rotary to change control in dimension pro..
 
Let me know if this helps any one...
 
Cheers
PK
 

I can only recommend one more time to read the documentation. That is strait way to understand how these presets ("with the word synths") are constructed. That is not a rocket since and you will be able to create your own preset, customized for personal preferences.
 
One note about the mapping and related bug(s). The only (but 100%) indication you hit it is when your mapping is not persistent. I mean you "ACT Learn" controls and they work as you want, but after Sonar restart the mapping is broken.