I will try any and all options, please bare with me....
 
Regarding RAID I didn't build this computer however the guys who did (visionDAW.com) build computers specifically for this purpose and I have 100% faith in them.  This is my 6th or maybe 7th computer from them.  I will check.
 
Regarding 1.44 drive I tooled around CMOS for a while and gave up without changing anything.  This stuff is way more complex now from the days when I used to build my own computers.  Any specifics I should look for?
 
Regarding antivirus, no antivirus to turn off.
 
Regarding NVIDIA, there is an updated driver I am downloading now.  I will install and see if there's anything I can mess with in the settings that helps my cause.
 
Thanks all for your help much appreciated.
 
 

NVIDIA driver updated, lots of new options but I'm not sure what to look for.  All of the "3d" settings are disabled and everything else looks normal.  Took about 10 auditions before media browser hung for the usual ~20 seconds.

We aren't seeing others experience this issue, and it appears this issue is specifically related to the media browser, no other functionality.
 
My view is either this is related to the audio interface (driver/firmware) or you are pointing the browser at a file or selection of files which are corrupt.
 
So you might try running chkdsk on your hard drive (but don't do it on the SSD) and doublechecking your firmware/drivers for your sound interface is up to date.

Well I had freezing happening with my now retired Sabertooth x58...and I believe a host of issues with that behavior and some other oddness in losing data or tracks from being saved to various HDD from the SSD base OS Drive running the software...when saving, seems it was a issue with the SSD and the on motherboard HDD controllers.
 
So...Some HDD controllers do not play well with SSD drives, and some HDD controllers are buggy...although some older boards have a SSD Port caching setup...it is not recommended to use this for a OS base SSD main drive....If you google the Marvel 91xx or tom's hardware site, you may find that taking this chance with your setup is a futile one.
 
Now what motherboard is asked to seek that info out...or point to it.
Some builders may have put this together not knowing about the issues with certain controllers failing on motherboards with SSD drives connected to them.
 
Also some ssd older drives have had bad controllers in them..which could cause freezing to occur in OS and Software.
 
Nvidia video cards I have no clue, but I remember reading something about them on this forum..So I went with ATI.
Just to remove any problematic Variables...
with which the system I was using had many issues...many, and I was using a crucial M4 sata3 SSD drive for my boot drive on a bad HDD controller now found to be the problem variable with that board...but that is not all...it also may have been, only once I updated the firmware for the SSD, that these freezes/crashes/buggy mouse behavior, and time line movement in sonar occurred, even slow response times after clicking on the play or record buttons, and loss of tracks started to show up...not to mention corrupted projects...most importantly slow boot times with the SSD installed as a boot drive showed something was amess with it, along with usb external drives....and no matter how much I tweaked the system, and bios to try to resolve, and updating the Drivers and windows, the problems worsened.
 
So before you start digging in to this Sonar Business, you should sort out any issues with the system first, if any.
Surely Sonar will help you gauge that performance with your system, but I would not do any real work until it is sorted out...
 
Just saying, and not that anything I say has relevance to your problems or system...Just look into it when other advice seems to not address the issues being found to manifest themselves as they are...
 
Some real good techs and software helpers are here...
 
But me personally...
I would clone the SSD to a nice 500gb or 1tb reliable HDD 7200rpm drive for a test run (WD Black ), if other solutions prove to be unhelpful...Just to say you checked all the balances and benchmarks to solve for.
 
I hope you put more info out for us, when asked...and hope we come to a solution for you.
 
But seeing into things as in "assuming", two E type xeon cpu chips may mean a server board....?...and after looking into those for my own setup and requirements ...I found none had sata 3 controllers of merit if any for proper SSD sata 3 Drive as a OS state of blissful with those tooted performance enhancement....So I went with Asus x58, but did not research the tooted sata 3 support on the board...and so I had issues...as do a lot of other people trying to use such a setup on older built boards using these faulty or buggy or problematic controllers...and some SSD drives also using certain controllers in themselves, also had in my past researching info based knowledge to be buggy...Some times that sort of thing only becomes known after the complaints, and RMAs come in...SO builders sometimes only look at specs...The real test is to make sure it works 100% with all installed or used gear and software...and chipsets, and I do not think builders have that luxury to test for long periods of time a build.
It only gets real work testing after market sale close....with you being the tester....not that this is true for all, as complaints and RMAs usually clear up the confusion when it happens...the bug is usually found, and corrected, and made known to builders through various means of communication....but sometimes it goes under the radar for some periods of time.
 
Just saying, and take it with a grain of salt, and pepper lightly, to be mindful, and do not overlook any variables, by saying the builder made it right....But look into it, make sure is prudent advise of merit...if you feel nothing else is solving your issues....and you have them, then someone didn't do their homework in the build, or something is not gelling with something else, a driver is not working with latest OS updates......or the software is at fault.
 
Cause you will lose hair, and sleep, and such, and possibly more...I believe, if you do not find the route cause and solve it out correctly ...and that will take time, and lots of questions need to be addressed.
 
Be well
 
Sir Les
 

If you browse media specifically on the C drive do get issues? (If you have no media on your C drive please copy some over).

Sir Les thanks for the response I will look into all of it with my builders.  Obviously we are trying to fix the issue but if it happens to be anything sonar-related I figure this is the place to ask.
 
I can recreate the issue on any drive including the system drive (C:) and non-ssd and non-raid drives.  I have not tried running Sonar from another drive is it worth trying to re-install?
 
I updated MOTU 2408 to the latest drivers... there was a very tiny update like .0001 to the version.  At first I thought this had fixed the problem but I got the browser not responding after about 30 auditions.  It does seem like maybe it's "better" but that's a very subjective thing from a small sample size.  And anyway it still will eventually hang.
 
The files are not corrupt, at least that I know of.  I have about 800GB of acid files that I'm trying to use and they hang seemingly at random.  After 20-30 seconds of hanging on a file, when the browser comes back to responding again I can audition the same wave file that caused it to hang with no issues.  It will also eventually hang when I try to audition standard 44.1 wave files like final mixes on my audio drive.
 
By the way I was blown away when I realized it was playing back my non-acidized standard wave files at project tempo.  This is new since 8.5.... very cool.  Though I turned off that option and it still caused the hang.

Something else.... unrelated or related?  On really simple tasks like quantizing a midi clip or moving a midi clip from track to track or copy-and-dragging a midi clip, I get the little blue spinning wheel for about 1/2 second to 1 second roughly.  (The blue spinning wheel is new to me since I just upgraded to win7.)  Is this normal for X3d/Win7?  On 8.5/Vista these processes were instantenous.  What this means is that when I perform these processes during playback I get a 1/2 second glitch/jump in playback that I'm not used to.  On 8.5 I was able to edit midi to my heart's content during playback without affecting playback.  Normal or abnormal?

It certainly looks like software if it is just media browser that is effected.
 
I would... backup.
I would also be looking at firmware updates everywhere.
I would try a reinstall of Sonar.
Then I would contact Cakewalk support.
 
Or you might want to just skip all this and contact Cakewalk support who may (or may not) offer similar advice.

Cheers...

FOUND IT!
 
I'm so happy... and so dumb... don't know why I didn't notice earlier I had inserted an instance of Vienna Ensemble Pro into the track to be able to communicate with another computer running VEPro Server.
 
Took out VEP and solved all of my "sonar" issues.  Now I have to figure out how to get that to work... back to searching the forum... you may see a post on the subject from me... but in the meantime sonar is running solid.  I kept going back to a "blank" track to troubleshoot but I inserted VEP and forgot about it.  Dummy.

I'm confused, you are telling me a plugin screwed up playback with the media browser?
Well that's something new...!
 
Cheers..