Hello! I'm a long time hobbyist Sonar user and haven't been on this forum for a while. My hobby has gained a level up as I started Music Production studies last fall @ Tampere Univeristy of Applied Sciences.
 
Now I'm using Pro Tools along with Sonar because that is the number one DAW in our school. Using Pro Tools has really showed me how awesome DAW Sonar really is in many ways. But there are some strange issues I come across every now and then that make me worry if Sonar is a program I could use in future for professional work.
 
Sonar has been quite stable for me but I'm trying to do some Sound Design and it seems Sonar crashes quite easy if you stack 3-4 plugins in a clip fx bin regardless that I don't have anything else heavy going on in the project.
 
And as SFX are usually mono I try to make my recording split mono. Every time I do that this occurs:
 

 
I use the following method: select area -> track -> bounce to tracks -> bounce split mono as track as the source
The noise peak on the right channel appears always. Doesn't matter if I use different dithering or fast bounce off. This is not a major problem because the noise appears in the end of the file and can be avoided be having enough length for the wave + cutting of the end. And in the other hand I could just sum up the signal to mono but this might cause phase problems (?).
 
Then there's problems with video formats. I read that MOV support is restricted because of QuickTime not Sonar but then again ProTools handles the videos quite fine on the same machine.
 
Are there any people in this forum using Sonar for Sound Design? Does anyone else have similar problems? Or should I just stick with Pro Tools for SD? I really don't care for Pro Tools at all but at the moment it seems it might be a better tool for SD especially with video.

The first question I always ask is, are you using any mix of 32 and 64 bit plugins? That's a sure fire recipe for instability especially in fx chains.

The next thing to consider is. Which particular plugins. Some are just dodgy. Of course if they're main stream plugins there shouldn't be problems.

You mentioned that it happens from time to time. Can you create a specific recipe that we could try to recreate to confirm if there's a bug.

Generally speaking there are many people who use Sonar to make their living. I mean working full time in studios that use Sonar. Maybe it would do you good to check out the forum more frequently to give you the support and encouragement to understanding folks use Sonar and ask questions as you've done on this occasion.

Unfortunately I'm on a portable device so I can't see whether you have relevant info about your PC setup and Sonar version in your forum signature. If you don't already, go to your forum account control section and put that info in your signature so you never have to repeat to when people want info about your setup. Check out some signatures of another members and you'll get the idea.

You mention as sfx are mono you use split to mono. why not just record in mono? Also you apply dither when bouncing? Why? You only need to dither when exporting to the final file format for your sound effect.

Just a few thoughts. Hope that helps but can I suggest you focus on individual issues and get them sorted bit by bit, one at a time.

I'm a sound designer.  *waves*
 
I haven't experienced your glitch but I do have one of my own. I am (like you) constantly working with short FX clips and as such, am always fading and gaining clips to balance them in the mix. Often Sonar will graphically fade or gain + or - the clip but the audio doesnt respond. I have to reboot Sonar to get the functionality back.
 
I also use Pro Tools but just as a vehicle to import OMF / AAF files, Sonar to me is a far better creative platform to work from IMO.
 
As for MOV's, I use them all the time in Sonar without any issues. I have the K-Lite codec pack and QT Pro installed on my machine.
 
 

Thanks for the replies guys. :) I guess I was letting a bit of steam with my post because I just finished working for many hours and didn't have any problems. I guess all the DAWs have some bugs. In the end, Sonar seems to be more stable than Pro Tools for my setup.
 
I record in stereo if I'm using a handy recorder like Zoom H6. It's easier to just record everything in stereo and make it mono later on if needed.
 
Thanks for the video codec tips! I will definitely try those out.

BTW do you encounter any of these problems mentioned here about QuickTime: http://betaforum.cakewalk.com/Documentation/default.aspx?Doc=SONAR%20X3&Lang=EN&Req=Playback.40.html ? I see you are on a 64bit system and the documention claims you can only export MOV if you're on a 32bit? I wonder if purchasing QT Pro will allow that.
 
EDIT: I installed K-lite codec pack and I have the free QuickTime player installed already. I tried to import a MOV file to Sonar and it works otherwise ok but the existing audio is not synced. Atleast my 64bit Sonar X3 doesn't allow exporting MOVs like said in the documentation. :(

JoeHans
BTW do you encounter any of these problems mentioned here about QuickTime: http://betaforum.cakewalk.com/Documentation/default.aspx?Doc=SONAR%20X3&Lang=EN&Req=Playback.40.html ? I see you are on a 64bit system and the documention claims you can only export MOV if you're on a 32bit? I wonder if purchasing QT Pro will allow that.
 
EDIT: I installed K-lite codec pack and I have the free QuickTime player installed already. I tried to import a MOV file to Sonar and it works otherwise ok but the existing audio is not synced. Atleast my 64bit Sonar X3 doesn't allow exporting MOVs like said in the documentation. :(

MOV is a wrapper for different codecs, and with some codecs they choke in almost everything, even adobe PP and other video editors/players, etc.
I don't use sonar directly with video very often, but didn't have a problem with h264 if it's compressed, or animation if not.
I don't think having QT pro will help, ... I don't think anyway based on my pro users days long ago. lol
 
With platinum I was going to play with the video options more, but I shoot with a canon dslr and use 64x so I better look into it with sonar more too, and read that article through. lol.

markyzno
[...] I have the K-Lite codec pack [...] 

I downloaded and installed that pack after seeing this post (the mega pack, which is actually not that big). It immediately recommended removing directshow related codecs as they are known to be bad. I said yes (there were like 5), but when it got finished it removed close to 20 registry entries to these bad codecs. Unreal.
 
I finally got a moment to test out things in Premiere Pro, and suddenly importing/exporting is significantly easier. I thought my issue was the settings I was using, but was really the codecs.
 
I just wanted to throw this out there for others, as I have no idea where I picked up the ones I was using.

Thanks again, Marky... "golden nuggets" drop a lot in the forums, but you have to read everything to find them.
 
I will say that K-Lite's installer is one of the most impressive I have seen. I used the advanced installer just to see what it was doing, but is rare to find installers that clean up other program's "trash." I sort of got impatient at the end because it was popping up windows one by one as it scoured the registry (with suggestions on what to do for each). I began wondering, "How many times do I have to do this?" but in hind sight really appreciate how well that installer is written.