Hello all,
 
I'm a longtime user of Cakewalk synths (I have Z3ta, Z3ta 2+, Rapture, and Dimension Pro), but very new to the world of Sonar X3. I must admit to being very frustrated with my experience so far, to the point where I'm really tempted to ask for a refund and go spend the extra money on Live 9.  
 
The short version, for those who don't want to read a whole slog of a post, is that Sonar X3 isn't letting me use the majority of my VSTs.  It detects more than 250 of them (which sounds about right) but only shows me about fifty in the plugin browser.  And Sonar X3 isn't taking input from my Oxygen 49, even though I configured it to use an ACT Controller with Oxygen 49 Preset 10.  
 
But now the longer version:
 
I've been a musician for more than thirty years, playing various instruments (drums, piano, sax, bass).  I've been making music on my computer since January of 2008, using Live 7.03 as my DAW.  While I'm no one's idea of a whiz or a guru, I do understand how MIDI works, the distinction between MIDI and audio, how to handle both types of input, et cetera.  So I'm not a complete n00b to recording music on a computer.
 
My current hardware setup is an I7 4400 with 16GB of DDR3, using a Line6 Toneport UX1 for my audio interface and an M-Audio Oxygen 49 as my MIDI controller. I also have a Maschine Mikro Mk2 and Maschine 2.0.  My DAW is still Live 7.03, and I have NI Komplete 9 Ultimate, as well as various other soft instruments (Guru, Geist, Rhino, String Studio, Ultra Analog). All of this works just fine without Sonar X3.
 
Obviously, Live 7.03 is only 32-bit, so it's time to upgrade to take advantage of all of my RAM. I went back and forth for months trying to decide whether to go with Live 9 Standard (owning Komplete 9 Ultimate, I have no need for what's included in the Live Suite) or go with Sonar X3.  I decided on Sonar X3 for two main reasons: 1) price ($129 for X3 Studio versus the $305 I'd pay to upgrade to Live 9); and 2) Sonar X3 has gotten a lot of positive attention for the superiority of its MIDI-to-audio conversion via Melodyne and ARA.  Honestly, price was the bigger concern.
 
So here I am, having installed X3 on Saturday morning (the 28th of December), getting progressively more frustrated. First, Sonar X3 got stuck scanning two VSTs for nearly 24 hours, namely Gear Box Mono and Gear Box Stereo.  That alone made me think that maybe the program was just FUBAR.  But I took a chance and deleted those two DLLs, since I use Pod Farm now, not Gear Box anyway (Gear Box is the predecessor of Pod Farm).  After that, Sonar seemed to be scanning away happily at that point, and I left it running for hours.  Many, many hours.  Came back to my computer, and went to look for my VSTs...most of which are just missing.
 
Sonar sees my NI instruments, but NONE of the effects plugins from Komplete (no Guitar Rig 5, none of the included compressors, reverbs, or filters, no Traktor 12).  The only audio effects Sonar is showing are the ones that came included. Not cool, given the amount of money I spent on NI's audio plugins.  Sonar also doesn't see the majority of my other soft synths.  It says it detected over 250, but it only shows me about 50. 
 
Then there's the MIDI input issue: I cannot get my Oxygen 49 to work.  Now, I know this keyboard functions perfectly.  I've had it since 2009, and I've used it extensively with Live and with Reason.  No fuss no muss.  If it's plugged in when Live starts, it automatically gets used as the controller for any soft synth.  Ditto with Reason.  Not so for X3.  With X3, even after setting the DAW up to use an ACT controller with Oxygen 49 Preset 10 (and setting the Oxygen 49 accordingly), I still get no joy.  I can "insert" a "soft synth," and if that synth has an onscreen keyboard (like Kontakt 5 does) I can get it to make noise.  But I can't play the instrument with my MIDI keyboard.
 
Look, I came to this knowing I'd have some headaches with learning a new workflow.  Sonar X3 is, after all, quite a bit different from Live in its basic UI design philosophy.  So I don't have a complaint, in general, about things just being different.  But I do want things to, you know, work. And I want that to happen in a straightforward, intuitive manner. So far...no luck.
 
Hopefully, I'm just being dense and missing something obvious.  If anyone can point me in the right direction towards not being a moron with X3, I'd appreciate it.  As it stands now, I'm majorly bummed with this upgrade choice.
 

For starters please install X3D patch. Afterwards reset and rescan your plugins.
Then it would be a good idea to update your footer in these forums so it's like mine. Thanks.

Thanks for the info.  I've installed the X3D patch.  I'll try resetting and rescanning (I think I did this, but I'm not 100% sure).

You've got to reset and rescan afterwards, that means after the patch installation.

For starters on the missing vsts, is SONAR set up to display all plug-ins, or has it defaulted to a different menu either with the plug-in list or the effects browser. When I first started using the program I had to tell it to display all plug-ins not the custom menu ones. The setting is at the top of your menu when right clicking on any effects bin and is called Plug-in Layouts. see if it's set to All Plug-ins or X3D effects before you do anything.
 

Thanks! Will check that when I get home from work (sadly music is the hobby, not the gig).
 

Okay, I've managed to get my plugins recognized, and I can call them up, insert them, et cetera.
 
Now why in the h**l can't I get my MIDI keyboard to work? I can get Sonar to take input from it when I insert just a MIDI track, but for the life of me I cannot get the controller to actually play a damned instrument.
 
This is beyond frustrating. Whatever secret, ninja, 12-menus-deep option I need to magically discover in order for this DAW to allow me to actually play my instruments, it is too well hidden, too obscure, too poorly documented, and too unintuitive.

Perhaps doing the tutorials in the help file will get you familiar with the different work flow as compared to Live.

I'm a total n00b and I know to use google -  try this link, it may help and lead you to finding more info: http://community.m-audio.com/m-audio/topics/oxygen_49_and_sonar_x2
 
Here is a better link: http://forum.cakewalk.com/does-anyone-know-if-sonar-supports-oxygen-49-midi-controller-m2215029.aspx
 
 
PS I've purchased a copy of the X2/X3 videos that were on holiday special price - I've been going through some of them and does cover a lot of ground, talking about almost every option there is etc,..
 
Cheers
Jim

Google? Never heard of it.
 
Oh, wait. Yes I have.
 
As for the tutorials...THEY'D BE USEFUL IF I HAD A DAMNED WORKING MIDI CONTROLLER!
 
Amount of time it took for me to get my controller working in Live 7.03: 1 second.
 
Amount of time in Sonar X3: Four days and counting.
 
Incidentally, I've done ALL of these steps:
 
"Cakewalk supplies a preset for the Oxygen 49 - I just now checked and it is in X1 also. 
I'll assume you've installed the drivers.
 
The steps to install are:
1. Set the Oxygen 49 to preset #10 (look in your Oxygen manual for instructions)
2. Install the Oxygen 49 as an "ACT Midi Controller" in the X1 preferences menu. Insure you enable the input. 
3. In the control bar of X1, locate the ACT module and select the "ACT Midi Controller" from the drop-down.
4. In that same module, click the Control/Surface Properties button (looks like a menu icon).
5. You should now see the ACT Midi Controller Preset window.  Go to the presets, scroll down, select the "M-Audio Oxygen 49 (Preset 10)" preset.  
 
That's it.  It should get you started and you can then edit the preset as you wish and save a new preset as well.  There is a help file to take you further. "
 
Because I used Google and read the forums prior to posting.