[Solved] My old hardware wouldn't support SONAR X2 - RME soundcard to the rescue

When x2 was new to me i inserted lp64 and ?64multiband compressor on the bus and set my audio interface to its minimum latency ( buffer?) with six midi tracks at 192khz sample rate. These settings caused my cp to bsod and crash. I never experienced this to 8.5 producer withe these settings.

mod bod, sorry to hear man, I know your one of the good guys.
and im also impressed with your composer.
not everyone can be as calm and decent as I have seen more than a few rants and just off the wall venting threads.
but you have expressed yourself very clear and decently.
 
BSOD is typically related to an HD issue possibly RAM.
id do a quick check on the HD to rule that out first.
it could be the reason the project will not open a few seconds later because saving was filed in a bad sector.
on the other hand it could very well be sonar and one of its strange coincidence's.
 
hope we don't lose you here.
your the first person I look up when I have a toontrack question because I know its your specialty.
I hope things look for you and my best to you.

Ok.  The craziness continues - after one play in X1 (which was successful, remember), I opened it back up in X2 (no file save in X1 so it should be the same exact file) and it played back successfully again.  This is what makes you nuts.
 
Bob:
Thanks for your offer to help.  I was going to ignore you because I've been doing this stuff since we were overclocking Celerons way back in the day.  But I reminded myself of one of my favorite sayings, "Do you want to feel like you are right or do you want to fix the problem?"
 
So in that spirit:
 
1.  OS version and maintenance level - Win 7 x64 Home Premium Service Pack 1 - latest update a few days ago, IIRC
2.  Audio Interface model and exact driver version - Frontier Dakota Driver version 5.12.1.0
3.  Audio Interface settings for Sample Rate and ASIO Buffer Size - Buffer size 128 Samples 24 Bit, 44.1
4.  Sonar version (X2, X2 with quick fix, or X2a) - X2a x64
5.  Sonar setting for Sample Rate and for Record Bit Depth - 24 Bit,. 44.1
6.  If a USB connection for audio interface, please tell me if it is plugged into USB 2 or USB 3 - No USB audio devices
7.  Please detail the plugins loaded in the failing project, including all synths and effects - Pro Channel EQ, UAD Plugs, Wave Plugs, Eareckon

I'll post the list later because I'm loading the project and it looks like SONAR X2a is wanting to crash again.  (not responding.)
EDIT:  And we're back.
Waves CLA-76, Eareckon Analog PR-EQUA, Slate Virtual Tape Machine, Eareckon Eareverb, Slate Digital Virtual Channel, UAD LA3A, Toontrack EZmix, UAD Pultec Pro, Waves Maserati B72, UAD Cooper Time Cube, Waves L1 Ultimizer, UAD Fairchild Comp, Waves Q3, Superior Drummer, EZdrummer, EZkeys, EZplayer.


 

daveny5
IMHO (and I don't claim to be an expert): Weak link is the Frontier Dakota soundcard. Get a M-Audio, MOTU or Focusrite audio interface. Get it at Musician's Friend or Zzounds and you get 45 days to try it (check on that) and if that doesn't fix your problem, you can return it. 

I think we can both agree with that.  The drivers are from 2007 or so.   I'm looking at RME products at present.  But then the weak link will move to my computer motherboard and it's one and only PCI-E slot.

Me, I don't care what I run if it makes me money.

Is there anything from this thread that applies?
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2726466
 
Bob Bone
 

tecknot
Well, Dave, it was nice having you here on the CW forums all these years.  But as you know, those who complain and announce they are leaving SONAR (X2 in your present case), should just move on and not bash our beloved product.  So, stop the trolling...you should know better...
 
JUST KIDDING!  I just wanted take advantage of this kind of tread like most others have.  Although I am aware of your use of other DAW software (harvest time, hint, hint), I hope you stick around here.  You've always been insightful, level headed with your generous help and suggestions (and "pitches").  I do hope your resolve your problematic system.  I hear you can't go wrong with RME.  (I use a Focusrite Saffire myself.)
 
Kind regards,
 
tecknot

True, I'm not leaving the Cakewalk product but merely rolling back to a version that works for what I have (hardware and 3rd party software-wise).

Truth be told, I don't have a single DAW software product that I am satisfied with as I push into more and more commercial project studio territory.  Cakewalk acts like a midi sequence with an audio product bolted onto it.  Samplitude acts like an audio recording product with a midi sequencer bolted onto it.  And Reaper acts like it was designed by a committee who bolted everything but the kitchen sink to it and there is someone working 24/7 adding new stuff to it.

So if I need midi, I have to start in SONAR.  If I feel like I need pristine sound in an audio project and I really want to utilize my MCU controller, Samplitude Pro X seems to work best.  Reaper is very powerful as well but the contributor who has created the best driver implementation for the MCU doesn't own an extender so he hasn't created a driver for it.

How I work through this temporary set of problems is driven by money - not that I don't have any (money) to do what I want but where to put the money to get the most bang for the buck.  I would rather buy another very nice preamp or channel strip and mics than buy computer gear at this stage because I've found that when I put a client in front of a U87 going into a nice channel strip and they hear a "familiar" tone to their voice that they recognize from commercial recordings, it put's them in the mood to perform and spend money.  Add to this, the "time" factor.  I don't want to be down while I install gear and troubleshoot unknown hiccups with unfamiliar computer gear.

Thanks everyone for listening to me sort through my thoughts about this.

Sorry to hear about your problems Mod Bod. I'm also one of your fans although we've never been introduced.
The only crashing problems I have with SONAR X2a on Windows 8 64 is with the iZotope plug-ins, which I regard highly. They use the same copyright protection as Slate, the infamous iLok 2. Maybe that could be the problematic factor?

Best Regards
Ludvig

Sorry to hear about your woes Mod Bod. I know that, from time to time, I have used an older version of Sonar because a certain project just doesn't want to play nice in a more recent version.

That being said, it is highly unlikely that a BSOD is tied to a specific version of Sonar. More specifically it is a hardware issue that might be quite random, and if it appears to be related to any software then the fault still lies with the hardware.

It's hard to take a screenshot when you get a BSOD (to say the least!), but next time it happens can you take a photo (e.g. with your phone) and post it here? At a minimum, try to make a note of what the first couple of lines say, and maybe we can help nail down the true underlying cause.

For more info:
http://repairpcguide.com/...ath-and-how-to-fix-it/

stevec

Ludvig
The only crashing problems I have with SONAR X2a on Windows 8 64 is with the iZotope plug-ins, which I regard highly. They use the same copyright protection as Slate, the infamous iLok 2. Maybe that could be the problematic factor?

Did you have the same issue on Win7?   I only ask because I'm running Ozone 5 with X2a on Win7 64, but I'm using offline activation instead of i-lok.

I went straight from Windows XP 32 to Windows 8 64.

Best Regards
Ludvig

What is the stop code? Better yet, why not check it directly here:

http://pcsupport.about.co...tp/stop_error_list.htm

Mod Bod, I'm almost to that point, too. Crash, crash, crash. This is the most unstable Sonar I've personally ever dealt with. I'm still working on things here on my end to make sure it's not my issue but, I've NEVER had this much trouble with ANY new version of Sonar.

BRuys : ???

Mod Bod

VariousArtist
Sorry to hear about your woes Mod Bod. I know that, from time to time, I have used an older version of Sonar because a certain project just doesn't want to play nice in a more recent version.

That being said, it is highly unlikely that a BSOD is tied to a specific version of Sonar. More specifically it is a hardware issue that might be quite random, and if it appears to be related to any software then the fault still lies with the hardware.

It's hard to take a screenshot when you get a BSOD (to say the least!), but next time it happens can you take a photo (e.g. with your phone) and post it here? At a minimum, try to make a note of what the first couple of lines say, and maybe we can help nail down the true underlying cause.

For more info:
http://repairpcguide.com/...ath-and-how-to-fix-it/

I wrote down the stop code if anyone knows how to make sense of that.

 
This is written for Windows XP but all Windows versions are almost identical. It just requires your Windows version of the debugger. Won't fix it but at least you'll know what needs fixing.
 
How to decipher a BSOD
 
HTH

Hi Dave
Sorry to hear about these problems.
I upgraded to X2 when first released, but had some strange graphical issues, so went back X1 pretty quickly.
Loaded the X2a patch, but I didn't think it addressed the graphical weirdness, so just kept using X1.
That was many many months ago, and to be frank until a proper bug patch is released, I shall just stay with X1 - X1 is a mature and stable product for me - in the short time I did use X2, on reflection there was nothing feature wise that would really make me want to change from X1 = stable   to X2 = glitchy.
 
With regards to soundcard, I have an RME Fireface 800 - the first one I had after MUCH hassle and some not very good customer support was declared faulty - luckily I had purchased this from Sweetwater and they ended up sorting it out for me - RME themselves were unimpressive to say the least.
I also now have a MOTU 896 Mk III - better product I think and a MUCH better company to deal with.
 
Hope all gets sorted
Nigel