My Biggest Fear with X3...

...Is the Pro Channel causing huge drop outs.
 
My experience of X2 was a nightmare because every time I tried to sweep a frequency using the Pro Channel EQ, everything dropped out or buzzed or froze. Constantly.
 
I spent 2 weeks trying to eliminate everything that could be causing it - I went as far (and beyond) my level of comfort with that but nothing solved it. It was the biggest reason I had to stop using X2. X2 is now sitting in my PC like a big broken ocean liner that I wish I could sail again.
 
I'm really hoping X3 has fixed this issue. I've been watching the forums for weeks now and X3 seems to be pretty stable. But if I upgrade and find that the Pro Channel is glitchy for me still - I think I would cry/throw my PC out of the window/give up/want my money back (again).
 
I should say that I have a very powerful and capable PC and everything else I use on it (Home Studio 7 and Power Director 11) work flawlessly.
 
Can anyone comment on whether this issue is still around in X3??
Best regards.
Dave

Well I had drop outs in X2 only if I was not on ASIO - but I guess you are, don't you?
 
Check the ASIO driver setups. May be that the buffers are not sufficiant and you have a latency issue. You find this in:
 
<Audio>/<Driver Settings>,  search the "ASIO Panel..." button. If your latencies are to short, depends on the hardware/driver combination, you will have drop outs, freezing etc. as you describe it.
 
By the way. Why not to check the issue using an other EQ. Disable the Pro-Channel EQ and plug in a decent EQ as an substitute. If you have again drop outs etc. than it's a latency issue in general rather than a Pro-Channel problem.

Can you explain how you were trying to sweep the frequency?
Was it through envelopes or doing it in real time through the UI. If you can repro it log an issue and send a test project that can demonstrate it since it could be specific to what parameters you are changing, or what other plugins are in the project too. Try doing on a simpler project to troubleshoot it.

I had that problem in X1 extended but it pretty much went away after a couple of patches.  X3 for me seems to be free of that, even when I am using ACT controllers.

The list of fixes is pretty extensive.  Not sure if you have taken a look at them.  My computer has issues unrelated to Sonar that affect Sonar (My video card drivers cause dropouts at times but thankfully not on renders or recording) and I still don't get those kind of issues.  I can honestly say my system runs better under X3 than X2 even though none of the specific problems I had were directly addressed. 

As has already been mentioned, your video card can make a huge difference.  Some vid cards and/or their drivers can create all kinds of weird glitches.  Make sure you have the latest drivers for your card. (This is no guarantee, but at least easy to do).
 
Next, I would look at your M-Audio interface.  You can eliminate that (or its drivers) as the culprit by first trying it with the ASIO4ALL drivers.  Or, if still no joy, switch to your onboard soundcard (w/asio4all drivers) and see if the problems go away.

Thanks guys, but I went through all of this before.
 
I have always had the latest MAudio drivers and have used LatencyMon which was inconclusive. I thought it could be the wireless adaptor but it wasn't. I have no sound card issues with Home Studio 7 AT ALL - so does this illiminate it being a soundcard/driver issue??
 
My PC is a purpose-built Audio machine - the soundcard installed on it SURELY must be one that's not gonna get in the way of things. I've not installed another soundcard.
 
I went round and around like this before - nothing fixed it. It must be a bug in X2.

Thanks Brundlefly - it's certainly something I've been thinking about.

This one does sound like a CPU load issue or possibly a bug in the eq plugin itself. 
Its very unlikely to be video related - you should be able to rule that out more or less by automating the parameters and then closing the PC UI. If the glitching only occurs when manipulating the params through the user interface, then its possible that something is blocking the audio processing for too long.
Watch the windows CPU meters while you are doing this from task manager. Do you see excessive spiking while you are sweeping the eq?

One thing I haven't seen mentioned... Did you install the "a" patch (or even Quickfix) or were your initial tests on the original release? Just a shot in the dark.
 
You've already got expert advice coming your way so the following is purely anecdotal. When I first installed X1 (with the d patch) I was having the same issue with the PC and many other parameters. I had just built my system from scratch and it was MORE than powerful enough. After inquiring here and calling tech support it was pointed out that my PCI based interface might be the problem (bridged as opposed to native PCI on the MOBO). It was suggested that I get a new interface (I was pretty annoyed about that but I did it and I'm now quite happy with my 18i6) and use the Sweetwater Optimization Guide to tweak my system (minus a couple steps that screw up Sonar). Once the new interface was installed everything was fine, I did the tweaks and then even the old interface worked better (after spending $300... lol. Still like the 18i6 better and the Layla can now live on my old system again).
 
Then a couple months later X2 came out (and I missed all the specials... bad timing) and tweaks during playback issues lessened even more. Even after the tweaks and new interface in X1 if I was using the heavier duty plugs audio would go silent during the tweak (very annoying). This was no longer the case in X2.
 
X2, for me, was better in many ways than X1. However it does still have a ton of annoying glitches. Just not audio dropout related. More graphical and user input weirdness.
 
/rambling old dude story

stevec

Beepster
 
/rambling old dude story

OK, that make me laugh.   
 
Not that I'm old or anything.    At least not to sexagenarians or above.  
 

By the numbers I'm not that old. On the creaky curmudgeon scale though I'm a solid 11 out of 10.
 
Now it gets off my lawn or it gets the hose again.
 
:-p
 
Also [nigel_tufnel] what's wrong with being sexy(genarian)?[/nigel_tufnel]

All I know is you can't exactly dust for vomit.

it's a fine line between clever and stupid

Thanks for your suggestions guys - I will attempt them one by one.
 
THIS IS THE MOST ANNOYING PART OF MY PROBLEM: It vanishes. Then returns. Then vanishes. Yesterday I decided to have another crack at changing sample rates on my sound card and in sync and caching. 1024 seemed to work great yesterday and the buzzing/freezing disappeared. Pro Channel EQ worked beautifully. So today, feeling confident, I turn on my computer, boot up the same test project from yesterday, still on 1024 samples and... The problem is back. There's just no explanation for it. THEN, I put my sample rate to 256 - and the problem disappeared again!?!?!? ARRRGH!! It literally drives me insane.
 
It will return - probably next time I boot up.
 
What the hell is going on. The problem is intermittent.
PLEASE HELP ME. I will send 50 pounds to the person who fixes this issue for me. I swear it. This is ruining my passion.
 
 

Daylaa,
 
I had the exact same problem when sweeping frequencies in the PC with X2.  I just tried it today with X3 and it never stopped playback.  I could always count on it stopping playback in X2 when I would sweep a freq in the PC EQ.  But it seems to have been fixed in X3.
 
I started a thread about this problem several months ago when it was happening to me in X2...but never found a solution.