Well it is one step forward two steps back - Sampletank 3 Free has decided not to open at all in standalone or HS now after being fine since I installed it and loaded legacy sounds from ST2 & Philharmonik into it. Sent a support request to IK though I suspect I'll have to reinstall and load all the sounds in again :-(
 

JoeGBradford
 
I've found a workround based on Johnny V's diagram above. Rather than trying to play my controller keyboard directly in the VSTi track I have set up a midi track which is output to the Air Xpand track. That works as does another midi track output to Independence Free with which I had the same problem. I can happily live with this arrangement but the question remains - why don't these two synths receive midi from the keyboard on their own tracks as do all my other synths? Still puzzling me that one -especially as for a while Air Xpand did work ok!
 

 
Using separate MIDI tracks gives a clear view of the signal chain from input to output, and makes it easy to reassign things, while keeping it all straight in your head.
 
Keep in mind that if you manually select the track that you want to play, the 'Input echo' button will light up on that track.  That will transmit the MIDI input from the controller to the instrument track and channel output assigned in that track.
 
If you want to use any other track, or stack/layer multiple tracks on a multi instrument such as Xpand, you need to manually enable 'Input echo' for each track you want to send to the instrument.  Make sure the intended MIDI channel assignment is correct as well.
 
For Xpand, make sure you have the 4 parts in the Xpand UI assigned to their intended MIDI channel in Xpand, i.e. 1-4.
 

JoeGBradford
 
So the other question that remains is why some projects say that certain synths eg Tone 2 Firebird are not installed correctly whilst others have no problem loading them. Now that is bizarre!
 

Hey, I really like Tone2 Firebird, and that is probably the last 32-bit plugin I still use! 
 
It should be fine!  But your issue sounds strange!
 
The fact that it works in some projects and not others would have me trying it in a new blank project.  If OK there, I would open up a project where it isn't working in, and try adding a new additional instance to see if that works.  Then depending on that, I would try replacing existing instances with new ones.
 
I couldn't guess what happened, but maybe in the process of moving things around, something is in a different location than when the project got saved?

JoeGBradford
Well it is one step forward two steps back - Sampletank 3 Free has decided not to open at all in standalone or HS now after being fine since I installed it and loaded legacy sounds from ST2 & Philharmonik into it. Sent a support request to IK though I suspect I'll have to reinstall and load all the sounds in again :-(
 

Before you hit the panic button, have you tried the Sonar preferences > VST Settings > Scan options > 'Reset'?
 
This can clear the VST cache, and you can force a clean rescan of your plugins.  Worth a try before you re-install everything!

There have been reports of TTS-1 not getting installed properly and I do believe the only way to get it is a re install of Sonar. 
 
 

JoeGBradford
Ah I see! Thanks - no wonder it didn't work!

I doubt that was the issue. I just switched to WASAPI and back to asio4all and both work for me. Chuck means well and is a super helpful person but on this I beg to differ :) 

Thanks I'll try that though as it won't even open in standalone I am thinking it's probably something more fundamental. Thanks for the other advice too and, yeah, Firebird isn't a bad synth! I've got a few other 32 bit synths that I got mainly through Computer Music mag that are worth keeping and fortunately most of them seem to work ok - so far anyway!

Thanks Johnny - I may just have to live without TTS1 :-)

JoeGBradford
Thanks Johnny - I may just have to live without TTS1 :-)

You certainly can if you don't use GM midi files. I only use it as I said above to listen to a download file. The only sound I might use are the brushes. They cut through in a mix. 

I've already got a working copy of TTS-1 that works in both Platinum and Home Studio.  It comes as a DXi, rather than a VSTi so the installation is probably bundled with the core parts of Sonar.  You can check in the Cakewalk plugin manager on your system, and it should be located here: 'C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared DXi\TTS-1\TTS-1.dll'.
 
But as Johnny says, I only use it to open up GM MIDI files.  It gives you an idea of how an arrangement should work, but the sound quality is often like a legacy Sound Blaster sound font.
 
It is easy to find better sounds to replace the parts with, especially using something like SampleTank 3. 

Cactus Music
I doubt that was the issue. I just switched to WASAPI and back to asio4all and both work for me. Chuck means well and is a super helpful person but on this I beg to differ :) 

? That does not rule it out.
People's environments will differ. Results may vary.
He should definitely try uninstalling ASIO4ALL for all and reboot to see if it works before jumping to conclusions either way.

CakeAlexSHere

Cactus Music
I doubt that was the issue. I just switched to WASAPI and back to asio4all and both work for me. Chuck means well and is a super helpful person but on this I beg to differ :) 

? That doe not rule it out.
People's environments will differ. Results may vary.

I thought you were leaving?