I got my new powerful computer up and running, but still running into similar problems I had on my old computer with Sonar X3. 
 
When I first open a project, I get a message.  Unable to open audio record device.  Hit OK and then hit the space bar and then it works.  I am using the presonus Firestudio Tube, and I believe drivers are updated.
 
Also, it is disappointing that I got crashes of sonar again on the new computer.  I was able to narrow down some of the cashing to a particular track in a project while recording to it.  It would crash every-time.  I sent reports to Sonar.  When I recorded to a different track it seemed to work.
 
Using Mylodyne is a problem, too.  I try to move a note up and it sticks.  I move away and then I can't select anything or move anything.
 
Any suggestions or help much appreciated.  With my new computer I was expecting everything to be working perfectly.  I have been a huge Sonar supporter for years so maybe it's time to upgrade to Platinum or maybe it's time try a new software like Pro Tools, Cue-base, or Studio.
 
Thanks

Firewire interface? Did you buy a dedicated firewire card with the appropriate chipset or a motherboard that has the appropriate chipset?
 
If not then that COULD be the issue. I don't use FW myself but it gets reported over and over again that you want a Texas Instruments chipset (I think there are specific versions that work best for audio but others would ahve to help you with that or you could do a google search). Last I checked I found FW cards with the supposedly the correct chips for $20-30 from places like Newegg.
 
There are other troubleshooting things you can try first but since I'm busy I'll leave you in the capable hands of the others here. First step though would be to make sure you have all your Windows Power Management settings set to "Performance" and/or make sure every option under that section is set to acheive max performance/never goes to sleep.
 
Cheers.

Hi, sorry for you, that you have trouble with a new machine.
Your system specs seem to be very good for a DAW.
But why are you sure that Sonar is the reason for that (by the way what ) issues?
any ideas or reasons .......?
Im asking cause I never had issues running X3 and platinum.
regards
Pragi

Also... make sure when doing resource hogging tasks such as doing Melodyne edits (or any heavy editing mixing... well anything other than tracking really) that you increase you interface buffers. This helps immensely. When it is time to track again reduce the buffers to minimize latency and if at that point you experience trouble then Freeze any tracks that have heavy duty effects or synths  enabled.
 
Aaaand with Melodyne or any of the other region effects if you run into problems try doing those edits in small chunks instead of loooong clips. Your system is more powerful than mine at this point though and I don't really ahve to worry about that... but I keep buffers high unless tracking.
 
The other thing is I find it best not to save/close a project with open Melodyne/Audiosnap or other wave manipulating tools open and active. Do your work and bounce the edits before saving and closing. I have experienced some nasty project corruption by not following that procedure. Of course use Save As frequently to "version" your project in case anything ever does happen. That way if something goes wrong you can return to a previously working state without losing too much work.

I am curious, when you use Melodyne, do you have multiple region fx created? I had a problem with Melodyne freezing when I first started using it because I would edit section after section and would have 10 or so region FX clips of Melodyne going. So I started "bouncing to clip" each section after I finished with Melodyne. I found out its best to use Melodyne in small sections of a clip at a time and not long clips. As well, I always change my buffer size. I record at 128 or 256 samples and edit at 1024 samples.
Also, another thing I do, after learning the hard way, is to clone a track that I plan to edit with Melodyne. I will edit the cloned track. This way I will always have the original recording in case I am not happy with the edits I made in Melodyne and bounced the clip.
I have a fairly powerful laptop with Windows 8.1 as well. I had bought the Focusrite 2i2 audio interface but had nothing but trouble. I couldn't use it a all. I had updated everything, searched the internet for solutions. Nothing would help. I returned it and got the Steinberg UR22 and it has worked perfect from the start. I wonder if it is just one of those things like this that you are experiencing cuz your computer sounds powerful enough.
 
Cheers.
 

Beepster
Also... make sure when doing resource hogging tasks such as doing Melodyne edits (or any heavy editing mixing... well anything other than tracking really) that you increase you interface buffers. This helps immensely. When it is time to track again reduce the buffers to minimize latency and if at that point you experience trouble then Freeze any tracks that have heavy duty effects or synths  enabled.
 
Aaaand with Melodyne or any of the other region effects if you run into problems try doing those edits in small chunks instead of loooong clips. Your system is more powerful than mine at this point though and I don't really ahve to worry about that... but I keep buffers high unless tracking.
 
The other thing is I find it best not to save/close a project with open Melodyne/Audiosnap or other wave manipulating tools open and active. Do your work and bounce the edits before saving and closing. I have experienced some nasty project corruption by not following that procedure. Of course use Save As frequently to "version" your project in case anything ever does happen. That way if something goes wrong you can return to a previously working state without losing too much work.

Beepster, when I started typing my reply, yours wasn't posted yet. So, I guess my post was a little redundant. :)

Not at all, IMO. I know when I see multiple people saying the same thing in a thread I am more prone to check those ideas first. ;-)

I may be wrong but when I see an error like this "Unable to open audio record device". To me it means there's an issue with the audio device. I do not use Firewire nor do I have Windows 8 but I Googled your audio card and it seems there aren't any Windows 8 drivers.
 
http://www.presonus.com/products/FireStudio-Tube/techspecs
 
Also, piggybacking on Beepster's comment about chipsets here's a list of approved chipsets for your audio device:
 
http://www.presonus.com/uploads/products/media/files/PreSonus_FireWire_Chipset_Compatibility_7-25-12.pdf
 
You may want to check some threads at the PreSonus forum:
 
https://forums.presonus.com/index.php
 
Melodyne used to be difficult for me to use when I was running X2. Trying to do too large pf a file locked me up all the time. If I want to do an entire track I'd export it and launch Melodyne standalone, work on the track and import it back to the project.
 
Good luck with this. I just bought a new DAW and things are working well. Nothing more disappointing then thinking the problems won't follow you and then they do.
 
Dave-

Beepster, thanks for the post in regard to the Firewire Card.  It is a dedicated card part number, SY-PEX30016 and according to the Drive info in the device manager it is Texas Instruments.  I will try the power management setting at performance.  Also, thanks for the tips on interface buffers.  I never thought of that.  I have the buffers set to 512 for everything I do.  On my old computer I may have had it 1024.  Maybe that would explain why Mylodyne never gave me problems on it.  I will increase the buffers to 1024 and try the edits in Mylodyne and post the results.
 
God-Z, Thank you for your suggestions!.  I usually do have multiple FX regions open.  They are usually short clips.  Great suggestion on Bouncing to Track, and also cloning the track and working on the cloned track instead of the original.  I didn't know what frezzing a track was for, but i think I understand now that it must take up less resources.  Also, I will start doing save as so I have backup projects to go back too.  I will use these suggestions for sure.
 
MrMook, thanks for your suggestions and links.  I have followed the links.  It appears that the Firestudio tube should work with audio driver for the Universal Control with windows 8.1.  The SYBA SY-PEX30016 firewire card is not listed on the link, but that list was published in 2012.  It is a Texas Instrument chip set so I am assuming it is ok, but I will check into this further with Presonus on Monday.
 
Finally Pragi, I am not sure it is Sonar, but I was getting suspicious because every component in the computer except for the three mechanical data drives that I took out of my old system are new in the new computer.  I am also starting to wonder that maybe one of those hard drives could be going bad, but I had done disc check on them before I decided to use them, and they checked out fine.
 
Thank all of you for your input and feedback.  It is all very helpful.  I will follow up with my progress.
 
 
 
 
 
 

New Computer had to be completely redone.  Spent a few days with Technical Support, working on bios, and trying different settings, and reinstalling windows.  This all started because the computer would go into sleep mode, and then I couldn't get it out.  Then I couldn't get it to go to sleep.  I know it was most likely stupid to worry about this as it is recommended that you turn off sleep for audio use.  But, I was worried that there may be other problems and being anal as I am, I wanted to figure it out.
In the end after reinstalling windows like 4 times, I took the motherboard out, took out the battery, put it back in, and reset the motherboard which seemed to fix the entire problem.
 
Now on to more important things like getting great audio and trying all of your suggestions.  I am still getting the issue when I first try to play a file that says unable to open audio device.  But I just say ok, and then it works fine.  The message doesn't always happen either, but most of the time it does.