I just had to put my two cents into this...  I am a professional recording artist and producer and I used to use Sonar exclusively to make music and compose for film.  I am a member of BMI and the Recording Academy.  The bottom line is Cakewalks Tech Support sucks.  I had the exact same problem with Sonar 8.5 and V-Vocal and it happened suddenly probably after some sort of Windows update.  CWTS told me to un-install everything and clean the registry which I did more than once and still nothing fixed the problem.  I don't have any more time to mess around with this kind of crap.  I have had more down time than productive time and I blame it on Cakewalk.  Their Tech Support also makes you log back into the site to post a response to the help already given.  (That's CRAP!) I should just be able to reply to the email.   

V-Vocal has always been buggy and the bottom line here is that Cakewalk does need to be held accountable for the flaws in their programming.  Because I have been a faithful Sonar user since version 4 and have upgraded every time I expect that they would really support their product and would have fixed this glitch.  I kept hoping that the next version would "fix" the issues.  They never have.  So because they have neglected their customers and put together work-arounds instead of solutions and or patches to their software I quit using Sonar three weeks ago.  I will never return to Cakewalk.  They have lost me as a customer forever.  I have also stopped using Windows OS because for some reason manufacturer's will not keep up with windows updates.  Drivers stop working, programs stop working or develop glitches every time Windows updates.  I was the last hold out of all my musical peers being a PC user.  Funny thing is...these problems rarely if ever happen with a MAC.  All the drivers and programs work all the time.  You just go in and turn the stuff on and be creative.  On the PC, you turn it on and hope windows doesnt need to update and then pray to God if it does that every thing still works afterwards.
I bought a MAC three weeks ago and started using LOGIC Pro.  IMO It's not as cool as Sonar graphically and it's not as user intuitive.  Logic is difficult at first, there are lots of parameters and it's not set up the same, but it does everything Sonar does and more.  In addition it works without glitches and LOGIC supports all third party software un-conditionally as well as supporting external hardware.  Most plug-ins were developed with Mac first so go figure.  The MAC also runs 32 bit and 64 bit plug-ins side by side without any issues.  No bridge required because of the new MAC OS.

Basically...I'm done with Cakewalk, done with Windows...I'm out.  It is un-acceptable for Cakewalk to ignore the problems especially after we spend thousands of dollars on their upgrades.  My advice to everyone...get a mac and go to ProTools or Logic.  Yes it's a little pricey to start over...but it's doable.  

I can't get beyond Create V-Vocal Clip without Sonar crashing. I did the right thing and contacted CakeWalk Technical Support via the appropriate link, but for over a week now they have studiously avoided responding. Come on Tech Support, you are not doing yourselves any favours. How do I fix this?

Hey Bluesmeister, coincidentally while working on a new project (after my previous post) I found myself in the same boat as you.  Instant crash when I create a v-vocal clip.  I tried the suggestion on the first post in this thread and it worked for me long enough to creat 1 clip.  Then it reverted back to it's instant crashing nonsense.

I have no advice, just sympathizing with you.
-Mike
Another bump for this thread I guess.  Hopefully the next version will have this smoothed out.

I contacted Tech Support again today (July 4, 2010), I will continue doing so until I get a response.

Mike, I tried V-Vocal in another project that only has one WAV file in it. I split the clip and applied V-Vocal and got the same result... kerrash. Next I will try opening an empty project and recording some guitar and apply V-Vocal to that.

-Frank-

V Vocal is such a powerful tool and such a disappointment at the same time. It has, and continues to be, one of the MAJOR design flaws of Sonar. For those of us who use it in a production environment every day, this has been a PITA since its inception.

Even with all the workarounds ( delete old versions from VST list and registry before installing sonar updates, yada yada..)  it still causes system instability from an app that should well past these kinds of oversights by now.

Its the premeir DAW on PC and there are still some pretty major glitches that are several versions old now. Just my .02 cents but I think if Sonar wants to secure its foothold in an app saturated market, its going to have to do some tweaking to stay current.

Regardless if there are convoluted work arounds or not, most engineers have come to expect basic tools from their DAW tools, dependable automation, automatable/mutable busses, audio stretching that actually works while the client is sitting there, pitch correction that dosnt crash the app, buss templates that can be applied AFTER the recording process, more descriptive error reporting so we can troubleshoot problems without tying up app support.

Im hoping the increasing involvement with Roland with add some much needed code cleaning and development.  Seriously, in a world where a fifty dollar app like Reaper is legitimately competing against the big guns, times they are a changing.

Bump....

@BluesMeister, any chance of you PM'ing me the procedure so I can save the hassle of CW tech support?  I'd be most grateful!

Harikaram, I'm sorry, I'd be breaching confidentiality. You're presumably going through the same drama that I did with VV, if so you have my sympathy. Keep plugging away at Tech Support and they'll eventually let you in on the esoteric procedure.