so basically everytime i try to record something on my mic it's always delayed. i shifted the buffer size key all the way to left for fast. it kinda helped but my recordings usually mess up and get all distorted in the middle of them and the beat skips while try to record. what should i do now?
 
i use a usb mic in case anyones wondering. 
 
thanx

Welcome to the forum.
USB mikes are not the best thing to use for working with recording software.
What model is it?
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcAtPmLtRns
http://www.cakewalk.com/support/kb/reader.aspx?ID=2007012937
From the Cakewalk FAQ:  
My USB Mic does not record.
USB mic's will work best in MME mode. Go to Options | Audio | Advanced and put a check where it says Always use MME Interface (or change the Driver Mode to MME). Close the program and re-open it. The Wave Profiler should run tests. You should now have more devices listed under MIDI Devices and Audio Drivers.
You may not be able to monitor that Mic while recording unless you use MME drivers, unfortunately MME creates a delay or latency. If you are able to use WDM and still get a delay when using (Input Echo or Input Monitoring), check out this link for more info on Decreasing Latency.
A third option would be using ASIO4ALL drivers. You can try out ASIO4ALL from www.ASIO4ALL.com These 3rd party drivers are a good solution for generic or OEM sound cards that have unreliable WDM drivers and/or nonexistent ASIO support. Once installed open Cakewalk and go to Options | Audio | Advanced and change the Driver mode to ASIO. You may need to go to Options | MIDI Devices and shut down the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth in order for this to work. Try using the input echo button on your audio track.
Fog's USB mic set-up post: http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=1618556
 
 
　

Basically they don't work well in Sonar, never have. Sonar is fussy about drivers and needs ASIO or WDM , But you can use programs like Audacity or Gold wave and might get better results.