By the way, are you still playing oboe (or was it cor anglais)?

Too bad. Maybe X4? :)

Hey earwax, why don't you give Sonar X3 a go in conjunction with Reaper?

Susan G
Well, I have to say this has been a very frustrating experience. There are lots of things I like about X3 and part of me wanted to be able to adopt SONAR as my primary DAW again, but I've just had too many problems in the short time I've been using it to warrant switching back. None of it has to do with the workflow, which I'm sure I could get used to; it's the instability that bothers me. I've had at least five (count 'em, five!) hangs in the short time I've been using it.
 
1- Save track template: SONAR auto-generated a problem report for that one, but none since.
2- PRV: As I mentioned before, SONAR went nonresponsive when I tried to drag the end loop point.
3- Auditioning patterns in Addictive Drums: When I switched patterns, there was a motorboating (rapid clicking) noise and SONAR went nonresponsive.
4- Step Sequencer: I added one note, then clicked on another to add it and SONAR went nonreponsive. If it matters, I already had one SS clip in the same track when I tried to create a new one.
5- Switching to Chrome and back: Bang, hang.
 
I'll keep messing around with it and I'm perfectly willing to say the problem is with my system (although I'm not having problems otherwise <cough>) but it's just not working great for me. I've noted a couple other things above that are annoying (to me) but no big deal.
 
For anyone curious:
2.30 gigahertz Intel Core i7-3610QM, 16 gigs RAM
Windows 8.1 x64; Producer X3e x64
Komplete Audio 6
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan

Hi Susan,  If you are using on board audio you might try installing and using Asioa4All to enable Sonar X3 to use Asio audio drivers if you haven't already.   I use Asio4All drivers for Sonar X3 on my laptop with no problems.
 

MFanning
 
Hi Susan,  If you are using on board audio you might try installing and using Asioa4All to enable Sonar X3 to use Asio audio drivers if you haven't already.   I use Asio4All drivers for Sonar X3 on my laptop with no problems.
 

Hi MFanning-
 
I don't use the onboard audio at all. I'm using the Komplete Audio 6 with the latest ASIO drivers.
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan
 

backwoods
Too bad. Maybe X4? :)

Hey earwax, why don't you give Sonar X3 a go in conjunction with Reaper?

Well, I'll definitely see how Reaper works with Sonar 8.5.3. I may try X3e with Reaper at a later time. Thanks for the tip. I noticed in another Reaper thread that someone suggested using Reaper in conjunction with ReaRoute. I'll have to give it a shot. 

Hi Earwax- [sorry for the length!]
 
I didn't upgrade after 8.5 because I didn't have the hardware to handle it. The laptop I have now I inherited from my Dad and it sounded like it could handle X3.
 
I still have no reason to think it can't, since I haven't done anything at all to push it. I've literally just been playing around with some features to get myself accustomed to the workflow and reacquaint or acquaint myself with some of the views, navigation techniques, et cetera.  I've done no audio recording at all, for example. All of the hangs I've gotten have been with tiny "That sounds interesting. I'll just try this" projects.
 
I'm running a clean Windows 8.1 install with none of the bells and whistles that came installed on the laptop.
 
I've been a Cakewalk user since the early DOS days and I was hoping to get back to it with X3e and my current setup, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. You shouldn't take my experience as any indication of what yours might be, however, since as you say, there are plenty of users who aren't running into any issues with X3.
 
It would be different if the hangs I'm experiencing were with projects with tons of effects and where I knew I was really pushing it, but they come up all the time doing the simplest things.
 
For example, tonight, going through the Browser tutorial in the Help file, I got to step 4: Click the Media button, point to Synth Preview Output and select Cakewalk TTS-1 1 on the submenu. Selected Bangin 10.mid and got a hang. That's just not right ;)!
 
As I said before, I'm sure I'll keep playing with it because I really like a lot about X3, but for whatever reason,  it's extremely fragile on my system. I've never had a hang or anything like a "motor boating" sound with my current primary DAW, so I'm not ready to chalk it up to inadequate hardware, settings, etc.
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan

Susan, have you done all the things to optimize laptop performance, such as turning off power management, wifi, etc?  There are several threads dedicated to getting Sonar to run flawlessly on a laptop.  I think that you can get there too.

Hi Susan, reading this I would make a guess that this is totally a hardware issue and nothing to do with Sonar.
 
I too stayed with 8.5 until I got a good deal on X3 studio. I've now run X3 studio on a number of different computers, first was only a dual core, 4 Gigs RAM and I never have had Sonar freeze or die. 
A few audio engine drop outs that were expected with an under powered machine and V vocal stuff.
 
Laptops are often the most finicky computers to use for DAW'S. There is a lot of set up needed compared to a modern desktop. Make sure and run Latency Mon.
  http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
 
 It could also be the drivers for that interface and windows 8.1 as there's another thread with same set up having  issues. The NI website doesn't say much about the drivers and if they are 32 or 64 bit. 
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Sonar-X1-Studio-export-MIDIaudio-troubles-m3141900.aspx
 
 

johnnyV
Hi Susan, reading this I would make a guess that this is totally a hardware issue and nothing to do with Sonar.

 
So would I. All the problems you mentioned are the kind of problems associated with some kind of conflict. 
 
I just did several live recordings on SONAR at CES, with a brand new, high-power laptop running 8.1 and thoughtfully provided by a manufacturer at the show. During a run-through it was a disaster. Couldn't record for more than a few minutes without dropouts, occasional freezes, etc. Turning off wi-fi, changing the power plan, and investigating all the "services" and drivers (three for USB camera alone!) Windows put in there and disabling them, especially the "HD Audio" driver that has nothing to do with ASIO, solved those problems.
 
Whether this kind of tweaking should be a necessary part of the customer experience is a separate issue altogether...but Windows is what it is. With SONAR not being cross-platform and tied deeply into Windows, when Windows sneezes, SONAR catches a cold.
 

Yah, welcome back to SONAR! You also get a complimentary admission to "Configuration Purgatory"...not as nice of a place. 
 
I'd pop open the Task Manager and see what's running in there. Laptops in particular, especially if it's still running with whatever it came installed with, tend to turn on gobs and gobs of things that don't need to be there. 
 
You may want to also pop open msconfig and see what's ticked off for startup.