rontarrant
Is disabling USB hubs really necessary? I read somewhere that turning off each USB hub's power management option (Control Panel > System > Device Manager > USB Root Hub > Properties > Power Management > Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power) would suffice. I did it this way and it cleared up a frustratingly hard-to-find problem I was having with my Privia keyboard.

I too changed Windows default behavior for Selective Disabling of Inactive USB ports, so that they always remain on (did it same way you did), and that has worked for me for multiple computers running XP, Win 7 and now Win 8.  I did not disable any USB hubs.
 
About the only other thing I did was to set the Minimum Processor State to 100%.
 
Bob Bone
 

robert_e_bone
About the only other thing I did was to set the Minimum Processor State to 100%.

I hadn't heard of that one. Must do research.

That setting is under the advanced settings for Power Management.  One person has reported that they do not have that option, but I have always found it in the above settings.
 
Control Panel\System and Security\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings - then click on Change Advanced Power Settings, then under the High Performance Power Plan, expand the 'Processor Power Management' group, and you will see the Minimum Processor State option - set that to 100%.
 
Hope that helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 

robert_e_bone
I am a bit unclear on a couple of things:
 
1.  Are X2 and any other prior versions of Sonar also installed on the same computer that is running X3c under Windows 8?
Yes but not running.
 
2.  It looks like the latest drivers for the FireWire 800 came out in November of this year.  Are you running with this version?  It also indicates that for this version to run correctly that you need to update the firmware, as well.
All my drivers are up to date 


This is the text snippet from the downloads page for your FireWire 800 interface:
 
"Windows 7/8 32/64 bit PnP driver for Fireface 400, 800, UCX, UFX, version 3.081. Requires the latest firmware version! 11/22/2013"
See #2
 
3.  Do you have all Windows 8 maintenance applied?
Not sure.. Do you  mean updates? if so than yes 


4.  You have multiple interfaces listed.  Which one are you using?
All 3 are used in Sonar.  


5.  Are you using ASIO as your Sonar Driver Mode?
 No WDM/KS


6.  What happens if you create a new project in X3c, with some 64-bit soft synths and perhaps some audio?  (does it also stop playing?)
I actually have not done that yet. Have not gotten that far. Need to get the program functioning first.
 
At first GUESS, I would imagine there to be some issues from 32-bit plugins present in these older projects, where something slightly different in X3c is exposing an issue with one or more of those 32-bit plugins, causing your issues.
Good point! I had not thought of that. Tho I do not have some of the plugs anylonger.
 
It seems to me that there have been a pretty good number of threads where one or more 32-bit plugin has had trouble in some version of 64-bit Sonar.
 
Many folks have moved to limit or even eliminate use of 32-bit plugins in a 64-bit Sonar installation.  
 
I have made a deliberate choice to ONLY allow a small number of 32-bit plugins to be even present in the search path for 64-bit Sonar (X1d, X2a, and X3c).  I DO keep 32-bit versions of all 3 of those Sonar releases, and those have access to all of my 32-bit plugins.
 
On my system, running as above, I have no issues such as you are having.
 
Perhaps you could do some experimenting with either swapping out your 32-bit plugs for 64-bit ones, or work in a 32-bit install of X3c, or finish those projects in X2a, and move to either limit or eliminate 32-plugins moving forward.
Is there a tutorial on how to seek out all 32bit plugs in Sonar? I will do research and figure it out. Wierd that it worked in X2 tho.... Go fig?

Thank you all so much for all of your helpful input & feedback! I welcome it. Keep it coming.

Kevin
 
 
 

robert_e_bone
That setting is under the advanced settings for Power Management.  One person has reported that they do not have that option, but I have always found it in the above settings.
 
Control Panel\System and Security\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings - then click on Change Advanced Power Settings, then under the High Performance Power Plan, expand the 'Processor Power Management' group, and you will see the Minimum Processor State option - set that to 100%.
 
Hope that helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 

Just did this... Hopefully it helps. Thank you again kind sir.

Well, you could start by looking at the paths in the x64 Sonar's Cakewalk Plugin Manager.  That would give you all the parent path names it uses.
 
If there are any 32-bit dll's in any path there, you would most likely see some sort of C:\Program Files (x86)\... as part of the path.
 
You can do some advanced searching in a Windows Explorer session.  Try the following:
 
1.  Open Windows Explorer
2.  Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)
3.  In the Search Box at the top right of the Windows Explorer window, type in dll and hit Enter.  This will search the Program Files (x86) folder and all of its sub-folders for all files of type dll, and will display those results.
 
Please note that the above will give you all kinds of dll's that have nothing to do with plugins for Sonar, but at least it does find them.
 
Here is a link for some advanced Windows searching tips:
 
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/advanced-tips-for-searching-in-windows
 
When I installed all of the Komplete 8 Ultimate instruments, it already detected I had installed Cakewalk, and offered to place them all within C:\Program Files (x86)\Cakewalk\Vstplugins folder.  That was quite helpful of the NI install process to have done that for me.
 
Again, though, unless 32-bit plugins are present in one of the search paths specified in the 64-bit Sonar's Plugin Manager, they will not be included or available to that installed version of Sonar, so I would start with looking at the paths specified in the Cakewalk Plugin Manager (find it under Utilities).
 
I hope that helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 
 

robert_e_bone
That setting is under the advanced settings for Power Management.  One person has reported that they do not have that option, but I have always found it in the above settings.

Got it, thanks. Turns out it was already at 100%, so I must have run across that one before and forgotten about it.

4.  You have multiple interfaces listed.  Which one are you using?
All 3 are used in Sonar. 

 
This could be your problem right there.
 
Try stripping your system down to a single interface, switch to ASIO and start playing around with different projects.

Yup.  Your dropouts are likely from the WDM drivers.
 
ASIO only permits 1 driver to be running at a time, so you will have to pick a single interface for using ASIO.  
 
You are only allowed to use a single Driver Mode in Sonar, and my bet is that if you were to drop to a single interface so that you could switch to ASIO as your driver mode, that your dropouts would go away, or at least get way better and then able to be done away with by adjusting some settings.
 
Give that a shot - pick the interface with the best pre-amps and converters, or the most inputs/outputs if that is more important, and get its ASIO drivers installed.  Then, remove your current interface selections in Preferences, change the Driver Mode to ASIO, then go back and select the interface again, and you should be OK.
 
Please do the above and post back.
 
Bob Bone
 

I opened X2 and played my soft synths and played a couple old projects everything played fine moved tracks from interface to interface. Closed it out opened the projects in X3 raised my buffers in Sonar and played with my bit settings and finally getting one of my projects to play but you can still feel my audio drivers stuttering a bit. Still trying to figure things out. So many battles to fight to get this set up functioning the way I need it to do what I need it to do.