SiberianKhatru59
what was jerking my chain was that things worked fine in X2 Studio, X2c Producer but not X3e Producer -- even though the preferences looked the same under cursory inspection.  When I ran the Wave Profiler, it set it to WDM and things worked again.  Then, I simply flipped the device driver over to ASIO/triangle and all was well.

I think (not sure, been a while since I installed Sonar) that part of the installation process is Sonar first runs the WAV profiler to work with the "standard" Windows audio system, because if you're running on a Windows computer, you're sure to have that but you may not have ASIO. Then you do have to select the driver you want to use.

CakeAlexS
Can you check if you have issues with new projects (not using any template)?
 
X3E may have triggered off a bug with your driver or a library dependency issue:
The latest driver is 6.1.10 and you can install it here:
 
 
I also recommend running windows update several times (including optional) in case of library issues (such as C++).
 
Cheers...
 
Alex

OK Alex, I owe you a big thank you and a bit of an apology!  I made an ASSUMPTION that my driver was the latest, and that was because the last time M-Audio updated my sound card driver -- I think Bush was President here in the US.  Turns out had I actually recognized that you were saying V6.1.10, I might have saved myself a ton of hassle.

Long story short -- new driver equals 64bit performance and amazingly better in all ways, not to mention fixing this issue once and for all.


So my take away here is to read the entire answer and assume nothing.

Great, so everything truly works well now and Reason is far better off now with a true x64 driver to boot, so many, many thanks!

Rockin' :)

>I think Bush was President here in the US

Mission accomplished ;)
Cheers..

SiberianKhatru59
I am trying to slog through the 38(!)mb manual to get a sense of installation and preference options now.  A little light reading, as we say at work 

Since you are new to Sonar, it has to be said: You should take a look at Sonar X3 Power!, the book by Scott Garrigus. He's been writing these after market "manuals" for Cakewalk DAWs forever, and many -- myself included -- have found them indispensable, because they are more user friendly than the official documentation. For example, there is an entire section that answers your earlier question about file and folder locations, complete with a good organized way to deal with the issue.
 

SiberianKhatru59
...one advantage I have seen in SONAR town is a happier population which is a blessing.

Word.