Interruption occurs every several seconds or so while using Sonar X3 with the message Audio engine quit unexpectedly.  I don't think Sonar X3 is the culprit as I have also been seeing a slowdown in bringing up search results and launching other applications. It is however, mostly annoying  when Sonar quits.  Any simple fixes?
 
More On Audio Dropout
I've tried the fixes suggested in CAKEWALK'S  online help arsenal including increasing the Buffer size etc.  I unfragmented my hard drives.  I created an .cwb file to unfragment the  piece giving me the PITA.   I opened the tracks in the safe mode and omitted all of the plugins.  None of those actions repaired the problem. I finally tried playing back a more complex piece.  It worked flawlessly. I'm now harbor the notion that  may be something in the .cwp/.cwb file causes it to quit.  Wa'da'ya'think?
 

Well, it seems like your system might be powerful enough - I think some additional info from you could help.
 
1.  What is Driver Mode in Sonar?  ASIO/WDM?
2.  Do you have a Wi-Fi adapter on your desktop?  If so, these frequently cause laptop folks to have big DPC Latency spikes, and those folks usually end up where just prior to launching Sonar they temporarily Disable the adapter in Device Manager, then launch Sonar, then when through with Sonar go back in and Enable the adapter.
3.  Do the dropouts go away if you hit 'E' on your computer keyboard, which will toggle on/off 'bypass' of all loaded effects for a given project.  If the dropouts go away after you test this, by bypassing the effects, then that means that one or more plugins loaded in that project are causing DPC latency spikes, and you can go through and figure out which one(s) need to be swapped out for different plugins.  (hit 'E' again after testing the above out, to turn your effects back on).
 
Let's start with the above - I will keep an eye out for a reply from you with information on this subject.
 
Bob Bone
 

Along the lines of suggestion #2 above, you can download and run the free DPC Latency Checker tool.  Although it has not been updated for your Windows 8, it still works and you just have to take note of any red spikes (if any) and track down the cause.  The website has pretty good instructions to help.  If you see no red spikes in the readout, you will have to look elsewhere for your solution, but this is a great first and fast check to see if anything is interfering with using audio on your PC.  Here's the link:
 
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

I bet those dropout happen whenever you get a big DPC spike.
Follow riojazz advice and post your readings.

cpkoch
... I finally tried playing back a more complex piece.  It worked flawlessly. ...
 

Something really quick to check would be the following:

1. Open the project as you have been.
2. Save it to a cwp (not cwb) with a new name.
3. Close the project and SONAR X3 to free memory in the system.
4. Reopen X3 and the cwp file and see if it has any effect.

 
FWIW, cwb files are best for sharing projects as they embed everything into a single file, but for working on your own computer, using cwp files with per project audio is most efficient. There is a lot of undue overhead with cwb files for saving/opening, and I would not recommend that for "regular" usage.
 
Audio buffers, ASIO latency, and read/write buffers tend to be the most common issues with audio engine dropouts (the audio engine is not being fed/processing information adequately to maintain real-time performance); but I have seen a few vsts that have caused issues occasionally. From what you mentioned, I would try removing the cwb file from the workflow first and see if that has any effect for you.

If you do not think its a driver setting or an effect causing your latency issues, check and/or do these things:
 
1. Hard drive space for your audio drive and program drive
2. Defrag all your hard drives. (Use a defrag program other than the one that comes with windows) and back up before doing this.
3. Check for viruses
4. Do a PC cleaning and get rid of tracking cookies and other goodies
 
Good luck and keep us posted after you do these things
 
CJ

I believe the problem is that my 3TByte HDD "dun giv'd out".  I've spent the better part of two days trying to resurrect it with only modest success.  The drive  contains my Win 8.1 operating system which  I installed it in a computer that I re-built with new CPU and Mother Board operating in Windows 7. Ran chkdsk  which never finished but seemed to have done some good to the point where I can copy my Sonar X3 files over to a good HDD and go on from there.  I still can't seem to boot up in Win 8.1  so there is something still definitely wrong with the HDD ... darn it!   
 
By the way  ...RioJazz
The HDD coincidentally crapped out soon after I installed and ran the DPC Latency Checker tool.  Have you ever heard of a bug that might cause issues?  

cpkoch
By the way  ...RioJazz
The HDD coincidentally crapped out soon after I installed and ran the DPC Latency Checker tool.  Have you ever heard of a bug that might cause issues?  

No, not in hundreds of posts about using this test.  It is only a diagnostic tool; it doesn't change anything.  I think you correctly said, it's coincidence.  Or, perhaps the extra exercise of your system caused what was about to fail to actually fail, in which case the test did you a favor since it didn't fail during an audio project.
 

I just experienced the same exact issue. I have a short 31 measure song. Piano Only ( IVORY VST).  Audio Stops everywhere. A little box pops up at the bottom of the screen saying "Audio Dropout" at random points throughout the playback.
 
I downloaded the latency checker....and everything is green.  Increased the Audio buffer size. Changed from cwp to cwb. Reinstalled my MOTU audio interface drivers - NOTHING. Everything is the same.
 
So for grins I created a new project. Loaded my IVORY vst.  Then I performed a simple copy and paste of the MIDI ONLY from the auidio dropout project to the new one....and walaa!!!! no Audio Dropouts. I don't know what was going on but its now solved.

Were there any effects loaded into the version of the project with the dropouts?  I ask because some of the effects can introduce LOTS of latency, and are really meant to be used during mixing/mastering, and not for tracking (recording).
 
For grins, load up the project that had the dropouts, then just prior to hitting Play - hit the letter 'E' on your computer keyboard.  This is a hot key to tell Sonar to toggle the bypassing of all effects either on or off.  So, IF you temporarily Bypass All Effects ('E') and your dropouts magically go away, then that tells you that one or more of your loaded plugins for the project are introducing a bunch of latency.  (hit 'E' again to turn effects back on).
 
Bob Bone