This seems weird, I'm working on a project which currently has 16 Audio tracks and 12 AD2 midi tracks with a tempo of 98 which seems to work ok, then for no apparent reason (ok I know there will b e a reason) when I play the project it has slowed down to a snails pace. on the last occasion this happened I armed a track ready to record hit Record and it went really slow.
If I close Sonar and re-open it still goes slow no matter which project I open it's the same.
 
If I re-boot my PC it will fix it for a while.
 
I should point out that this is a brand new PC that I have just installed Sonar on - but I have checked the settings with my old PC and it's all the same. (apart from a different audio interface, I'm now using a Universal Audio Apollo Twin Thunderbolt MkII)
 
I've checked the midi file to see if there are any 'Events' that might change the tempo but I can't see any.
 
Even if I load a project without midi, it still runs slow.
 
Any ideas what might be causing this would be appreciated?
 
Thanks
Al.
 
 

Hi. My guess is that Windows uses another sample rate than SONAR. Maybe try to change sample rate in Windows sound menu. Others may know better.
All the best.

Thanks for the reply - I have just checked the Windows Audio Sound bit rate and sample rate 'recording and playback' and they are both  set to '32bit 44100'
 
My Sonar Audio preferences has the default setting of 44100 as a sample rate but the 'Audio Driver Bit Depth' is greyed out and says 24bit
 
Could the bit depth be problem?
 
 

Ok - So I have noticed that in preferences -> File -> Audio data I had Import bit depth as 'Original' - I have changed this to '24bit'   
 
The audio files I was using were supplied by a Roland TD-30 output.
 
I have just reloaded a new project with the new settings and this worked with the correct tempo without re-booting the PC, and loading my existing projects now work ok.
 
So I'm hoping that was the issue.
 
 Al.

Hmmm, it was ok for a while, and now the problem has resurfaced.  
I can play the imported audio file in Media player without problems
 
Struggling here :(
 
 
 

So a power off and power on of the Audio interface sorted it, now to cross over to the Universal Audio Forum to see why my new I/F is causing this issue!
 
(Apollo Twin Thunderbolt MKII) 
 
 

Do you have the latest drivers for it?
Do you have "Share drivers with other programs" checked in Preferences (P), Audio, Playback and Recording?
If so, perhaps uncheck. 
Edited: Saw your AI was a UA device, and removed first sentence of my post.

Thanks again for your replies,

Do you have the latest drivers for it? <- Yes
 
Do you have "Share drivers with other programs" checked in Preferences (P), Audio, Playback and Recording? <- No
 
 
 

What driver mode are you running (asio or wasapi)? There seems to be an issue with some drivers and armed tracks that was introduced in Sonar 2016.10. that causes exactly what you describe. It took me forever to track it down as it seems almost random. I encountered it when using Wasapi mode with an x32 digital mixer. It may or may not be what you are seeing, but it is easy to test.
 
When the slow payback happens, stop playback and use the master switches in the mix module on the control bar to disable echo input and record arm on ALL channels, restart playback and see if it returns to normal.
 
If this is the issue cakewalk are aware of it and are looking into it.

But when Sample rates change the pitch will also change. And bit depth has zero to do with playback speed. That's just how many zero's and ones are representing each cycle of sampling. The more the merrier. 
But Clock rate is not interchangeable.