Hey all. I am considering upgrading. but I want to make sure that the audio engine has been updated. I am on the verge of switching to another DAW because of constant audio crashing.
 
I do voiceover which means a lot of cutting and consolidating clips. In my line of work having about 40 clips slows down Sonar to a hault until I bounce everything to one clip and continue on. It gets VERY annoying.
 
Another issue i have is when I move an audio clip while it's playing said clip the audio engine complely crashes and I have to restart sonar.
 
I am using an RME Fireface UFX. Windows 7 64 bit - 32 gb ram - Running Sonar X3e build 352 64 bit  version
 
has anybody else had these issues, or know if they have been resolved in the next sonar?

Why would you "move an audio clip while it's playing", isn't that just asking for trouble ?
Are you using the Sonar comping tool for your voiceover editing ?

Slowdowns when using more than 40 clips points to a problem with your system. Nobody could work with Sonar of that were normal. I don't generally try to drag playing clips but a higher buffer setting helps preventing audio engine overload.

What could I do when experiencing these slowdowns in that case? I think my system is pretty beefed out, so I dont see what the problem could be.
 
Ive tried this on 128 samples and 1024 buffer samples in my RME's config.
 
Also I move it while it's playing so I can easily get to the next part that needs to be edited. sometimes I move the cursor, other times the next part is half a second away so it is better to just let it play.
 
Why would moving a clip be asking for trouble? I can move clips in any other software but sonar. Reaper, Pro Tools, Cubase. but not Sonar. Why?

There may be others more qualified to answer this in more detail, but my take is that Sonar does not have "gapless audio" capability, like other DAWs. What plugins do you have engaged on your voiceover projects, could that be a consideration ?

Something's not right. I have a lot more than 40 clips in a project, move them around while playing, and have a similar system. If you don't have problems with cross-platform software they might not depend on some Windows-specific element. Check for HD audio drivers you don't need, and also check your graphics card drivers. There might be graphic redraw issues with all those clips...I don't know the exact answer...but really, something is not right. I would go insane if SONAR came to a crawl after 40 clips - I also do narration so it's clip city around here.

Ok. I just tried another test project. Perhaps it was many more than 40 clips. I was editing for about 30 mins. So maybe it just seemed like only a few clips (I hate editing) I edited down a 1.5 hour conversation and about 30 mins in it started geting choppy. I don't imagine there were more than 200 clips. I can';t go back and check because I bounced everything. anyways. Let's forget about that. bouncing is just part of the job.
 
also the comping tool seems.... um really bad. I prefer the smart tool with the mod keys.
 
as for the plugins I am using. I use iZotope Alloy for all my VO work. Maybe I'll try my next session with just native plugs and see if that changes anything.
 
Did sonar get the gapless engine in the new installment yet? I guess not judging by your answer but I just wanted to confirm.

A gapless audio engine has nothing to do with a programs stability. While it would be nice to monitor without hearing the slightest gap, it still doesn't effect the outcome. which is perfectly aligned audio.
It seems like you're having problems in X3e, moving to the current version wont help your stability any.
 
X3e & Platinum are probably the most stable versions of Sonar ever released. I don't know what it is but saying you can't see what it could be because you have a beefy system doesn't mean it isn't so.
 
Really we don't know enough about your system to come to any conclusions. Sadly though you've come to a conclusion about Sonar based solely on your system. I would think if your livelihood depends on it that you would get it sorted. I know I would have had it sorted or moved on a long time ago. Lets face it, most DAWs can do pretty much the basics and comping is one of those things.
I would work now to get it sorted once and for all or know definitely that I need to move to another DAW.
 
Just as an example, in recent times its been uncovered that just having Asio4All on your system can be enough to cause instabilities that have long been blamed on Sonar. Delete Asio4all and everything is fine.
 
Another one. HD Audio drivers for on board sound devices are being found to be the culprits behind audio problems and disabling them has fixed issues.
 
For some setups, not using HDMI connections with a monitor screen for audio has fixed some peoples problems.
 
There are so many interdependencies that go to make a stable system that in some cases it will take some effort to create that perfect setup. For some of us it works straight out of the box but not for others.
 
Now lets see if we can't help you sort this out.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Have you done a latency check via latencymon, et. al.? Defragging the project drive is also highly advised if processing clips/bouncing often. There are many things that occur in the system that become audible that have nothing to do with the audio engine.

The way I'm reading the OP's post, he has 200+ clips in a single track. That can cause Sonar to act wonky. I always drag-select and bounce to clip as I go to avoid the issue.
 
To the OP, upgrading probably won't change anything for you, but Platinum overall is improved over X3e.
 
Regards,
Dan