This has been mentioned but not sure it was really discussed.
 
When I add too many virtual instruments to a project, all audio dies unless I freeze or delete one.  Note that I have 12GBs of memory and Windows Task Manager shows I am using about half my memory and 10% of CPU.
 
"Too many virtual instruments" can be 10, or 7, or 13—never the same number.
 
When I say audio dies, I mean that the project plays, meters move, but no sound comes out.
 
Any ideas on this?
 
One workaround is to freeze one or more instruments; or I can freeze one, drag the audio to another track, and then delete the instrument.  Of course, either solution greatly restricts editing and arranging.
 
Thanks!

Could it be related to the specific VIs that use? My base template has about 20 VIs, a couple of which are using multiple outs. I haven't had the same issue as you, at least not yet. My VIs are mostly Play and Kontakt.

Just a thought.

Hey, there.  In the most recent case, I have the following:
 
1-EZ Drummer 2 (5 outputs)
2-Ivory II (Comping)
3-Ivory II (Lead Lines)
4-Kontakt (Scarbee Jay Bass)
5-Session Drummer (1 output for a single sound)
6-Vienna Pro (Dimension Strings 1st Violins)
7-Vienna Pro (Dimension Strings 2nd Violins)
8-Vienna Pro (Dimension Strings Violas)
9-Vienna Pro (Dimension Strings Cellos)
10-SI-Elec Piano (Wurly)
 
Adding Dimension Pro killed audio and I removed it.  Adding Arturia Mini-V killed audio and I removed it.
 
This track also has some hardware synths (JV-1080, Kurzweil PC2R, and Tyros 2).  I have been recording audio from them and then muting and hiding the source tracks.
 
On other tracks, I sometime use East-West Play for either Fab Four (one of my favorites) or Hollywood Strings.
 
Every track I ever cut—*except* this one—has one or two instances of RealGuitar.  I also sometimes use RealStrat or RealLPC.
 
I have quite a few Kontakt Instruments and use various ones.
 
Thanks.
 
PS David, I enjoyed your SoundCloud content!
 
 

2 things i do in this situation....empty the Picture Cache folder and raise my audio buffers.  Not sure the pic cache thing helps here much, but it does free memory.
 
I lower my audio sound card buffers when I am composing to min latency...raise the buffers when mixing.

Are you saying that once you get to that point, removing the most recently added synth consistently brings the sound back and and re-adding any other synth consistently makes it go away again? Have you tried toggling the audio engine on and off via the button in the transport module?
 
If audio meters are active everywhere, including on the Main Out hardware bus, and no sound is heard then it would seem your interface driver is getting into a bad state. It would be pretty unusual for the synth count itself to cause that. I'm think it might have more to do with SONAR resetting the driver as new audio tracks are added for new synths, and failing to successfully reopen the port at some point.
 
I had a similar problem with my E-MU 1820m where rewinding the transport would kill input-monitored sound though the meters would remain active. The problem went away when I changed interfaces.
 
 

I had a similar issue in an earlier 64 bit version of Sonar (maybe X2). If I used the 64 bit Dim Pro I had problems. If i used the 32 bit version, everything was OK. It would occur after I was working with a project for a while. For me the issue went away with X3. 
 
It's likely unrelated to your problem, but thought I'd share just in case.
 
Thanks for the kind remarks BTW.
 
Dave

Konradh, your system has a wall, similar to mine, and that wall varies in different projects, depending on the virtual instruments / effects being used, but there's always a wall. Not sure why you don't like the freezing workaround ?
When I unfreeze VSTis, it only takes a few seconds, then you can edit midi, and to re-freeze is still less than a minute for most tracks. (I have 1 Kontakt sample set that takes about 5 minutes to load, and therefore 5 minutes to unfreeze)
You've mentioned "hiding and muting" your hardware synth's recorded audio, but do you also "archive" these tracks ?
My understanding has always been that archiving tracks, frees up more system resources.
 
When my system hits the wall, the symptoms are more like the timeline cursor starts hanging, and crackling sounds occur, unlike your experience where "project plays, meters move, but no sound comes out" . . . so I'm thinking brundlefly's post about soundcard and driver issues may be key.
 
I know from your previous posts that you use Music Lab Real Guitar etc . . a lot. I use this a lot also (64 bit version), and have found it has a very light "hit" on my system . . . I seldom have to freeze these tracks.
 
Finally, where are your VSTi samples located ? On the system drive, on another drive ?
You've mentioned adding Dimension Pro is an issue . . . have you moved the DimPro multisamples to another location or are they still on your system drive ?
 
 
 

Good suggestions.  Thanks.
 
In answer to some questions:
 
My system drive is C. Most VIs are located on D, although the large libraries that stream samples (e.g., Vienna, Hollywood Strings) are on an SSD.  (I added the SSD a few months ago.  I had the problem both before and after the SSD.)
 
I will try restarting the audio engine--not sure if I have tried that in the past or not.
 
I will try increasing the audio buffer.
 
And yes, I can freeze/remove a synth and get sound back; add another one and sound goes away.
 
Freezing is OK but it really slows down workflow.  Of course, if I add a new VI, I can't freeze it until I've created some parts.

I habitually freeze every synth, because I grew up on tape where everything is audio and early computers could barely handle one VSTi.  If you do it at the time, it takes virtually no time.  I've slacked off a little with newer computers, but I still prefer fine-tuning an audio track, not midi.
 
20 VSTis sound like a lot of real time processing for any computer.  Even a 486 could run that many audio tracks if you had a second drive.  Just don't try to use a convolution reverb.  ;-)
 
@

OK, here is an example why this is an issue:
 
1.  Working on a track and wanted to hear how it sounded with Rick bass instead of J-Bass.
2.  Unfroze the bass so I could switch it.  (The bass is a Kontakt instrument.)
3.  Audio immediately died on unfreeze so I couldn't hear the bass part.
4.  I tried freezing the Vienna cellos (one of the few non-frozen VIs) and Sonar crashed.  PC reboot required.
 
Note that I don't immediately freeze everything because I have had trouble with EZDrummer and RealGuitar when frozen.  This song does not have RealGuitar—first time that's happened in years!—but freezing EZD adds random cymbals hits and other artifacts.
 
Since the CPU usage is low and the memory is never more than half-used, I don't understand what is happening.  Is there something simple like a buffer or something I should change?  Could the ASIO driver setting make a difference?
 
PS I have tried concentrating while starting intently at the screen but that did not help, although I did start to levitate.