Windows 8.1 / Sonar distortion

Laptop Wi-Fi adapter drivers seem to often cause lots of problems with streaming audio applications, such as Sonar.
 
When I was actively gigging, I had a laptop, and I learned (from running Latency Mon, that something with the Wi-Fi adapter or drivers for it were indeed messing up the ability of Sonar to properly process audio.
 
The solution is easy - and lots of folks do this for their laptops - right before you are going to launch Sonar, temporarily physically turn off the laptop' Wi-Fi adapter (if there is a switch or function key for it), OR go into Windows Device Manager and 'Disable' the Wi-Fi adapter.  Then, Sonar can be launched normally, and hopefully will have better handling of the audio.  Then, when finished with the Sonar session, simply turn the Wi-Fi adapter back on, or 'Enable' it in Windows Device Manager - and be back in business with the internet.
 
There are a couple of freeware programs that folks use to check on their computer's ability to run applications like Sonar - DPC Latency Check and LatencyMon.  When last I looked at it, and to the best of my current knowledge, DPC Latency Check reports erroneous info when used in Windows 8 or 8.1 - since you are running Windows 8.1, I suggest you download and run LatencyMon.
 
You can read about and download LatencyMon fom:
 
http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
 
I hope your issues are as simple as the Wi-Fi adapter/drivers, as that is a super easy fix.
 
There is often a BUNCH of 'bloatware' loaded up on new laptops, as well,so you will want to take a look at what gets loaded at start up on the laptop.  There are often free trials for stuff, and games, and automatic updater software and all that kind of junk - take a look and either get rid of some of that or alter it so it doesn't automatically kick off every time you boot up.  Your laptop will run much smoother and faster once you do that.
 
Be aware that new laptops will often have a free trial of either Norton or MacAfee antivirus software, which are usually only good for 30 days, then they will quit updating virus definitions.  I would URGE you to consider either subscribing to one of those (I myself choose to run Avast - which is free and pretty good), or review and pick a different one, but make SURE you have some kind of active antivirus software running.   When installing any new freeware, and some paid software, be wary of bundled software, where if you don't CAREFULLY read each screen of the install process, you may end up with a bunch of crappy extra programs that are hard to get rid of.  Read everything you see when installing, and be careful.
 
Bob Bone
 

Yeah - you are really going to want to pick up a dedicated audio interface for handling audio with a program like Sonar.
 
There are quite a few to choose from, and while the costs go up depending on the number of inputs and outputs and other features, you can pick up a decent basic one (2 inputs and 2 outputs, phantom power, and decent converters) for between $125-$150, on up to $500 or more (mine has 8 inputs and outputs and runs around $450-$500, but it uses the same converters as their $150 interface - mine just has more ins/outs).
 
An audio interface will have drivers (usually ASIO are the best choice), that will route the work of doing things like analog/digital and digital/analog conversion to its circuitry, which means your CPU doesn't have to do all of that work.  This will do miracles for the performance of Sonar, and for the quality of sound - crackles/pops/lag issues should be able to be eliminated, etc.
 
You might try using a freeware application called ASIO4ALL until you can go buy a dedicated audio interface, and even though at best ASIO4ALL is a band-aid - it may help clean up your sound for now.
 
ASIO4ALL is a 'wrapper' that makes your computer think it is using ASIO drivers even though underneath it all you are actually running with WDM drivers.
 
Please note that ASIO4ALL can interfere with real ASIO drivers once you get an actual audio interface, just by being present on a computer (even if it isn't running), so once you DO pick up an audio interface, make sure you completely uninstall ASIO4ALL.
 
Bob Bone