I never like to let facts interrupt a good assertion but the reality is that Sonar now has a workaround for a lacking feature that most GM compatible hardware synths have had by design for at least 10 years..... 
 

garrigus
 
Yep, that's a good workaround if you still use hardware synths.
 
Scott

Whatever I do I cannot get  file to open up with X3 as default.  It always opens with X1.
 
I have tried right clicking on the file and browsing to X3, but still it opens with X1.
 
I have tried changing the default program in control panel, and the same happens.
 
Will someone please tell me how?

This is a great little new feature!
 
You will come to really appreciate it, if you come to use SONAR to listen to a lot of MP3 files.
 
When listening to a lot of MIDI files, this new feature saves a user from having to go through the repeated steps to assign MIDI files to playback using the TTS-1, hence, saving one from the associated time it takes to do this, and the associated annoyance that results from having to do this over and over again!
 
I was wishing for just such a feature. Thanks Cakewalk!

I actually fire up Sonar and then File>Open and navigate to the midi file and then double-click and that does the trick for me.
 
Bob Bone
 

jb101
Whatever I do I cannot get  file to open up with X3 as default.  It always opens with X1.
 
I have tried right clicking on the file and browsing to X3, but still it opens with X1.
 
I have tried changing the default program in control panel, and the same happens.
 
Will someone please tell me how?

 
Try this:
 
Rename the SONARPDR.exe for X1,
 
Right click a MIDI file,  select 'open with,' browse to the SONAR X3 SONARPDR.exe and select it.
 
Now, double-click on a MIDI file, and see if it uses X3 to open it. If it does, rename the X1 SONARPDR.exe back to the original name. And hope X3 is still used to open MIDI files when you double-click on one to open it. :)

thomasabarnes

jb101
Whatever I do I cannot get  file to open up with X3 as default.  It always opens with X1.
 
I have tried right clicking on the file and browsing to X3, but still it opens with X1.
 
I have tried changing the default program in control panel, and the same happens.
 
Will someone please tell me how?

 
Try this:
 
Rename the SONARPDR.exe for X1,
 
Right click a MIDI file,  select 'open with,' browse to the SONAR X3 SONARPDR.exe and select it.
 
Now, double-click on a MIDI file, and see if it uses X3 to open it. If it does, rename the X1 SONARPDR.exe back to the original name. And hope X3 is still used to open MIDI files when you double-click on one to open it. :)

No joy... I manually edited the registry (didn't work), then renamed X1 (which removed it from the "open with" list immediately), but selecting X3 will not "take."
 
Assuming this is an "run as admin" issue, I changed the X3 properties for ALL users to "run as admin" but trying to assign X3 in the "open with" still will not take.
 
Edit: I even went the opposite route to remove "run as admin" from X3, but Windows still will not recognize X3 (or even X2) as the default file association with MIDI files.
 
The "work around" is to open X3, un-assign any midi outputs and open the MIDI file from within X3. This works as expected and is sufficient for me... the rest is more of an educational exercise.

I would try reinstalling X3 and this time make sure you check MID as a file type you want associated. 

mettelus

thomasabarnes

jb101
Whatever I do I cannot get  file to open up with X3 as default.  It always opens with X1.
 
I have tried right clicking on the file and browsing to X3, but still it opens with X1.
 
I have tried changing the default program in control panel, and the same happens.
 
Will someone please tell me how?

 
Try this:
 
Rename the SONARPDR.exe for X1,
 
Right click a MIDI file,  select 'open with,' browse to the SONAR X3 SONARPDR.exe and select it.
 
Now, double-click on a MIDI file, and see if it uses X3 to open it. If it does, rename the X1 SONARPDR.exe back to the original name. And hope X3 is still used to open MIDI files when you double-click on one to open it. :)

No joy... I manually edited the registry (didn't work), then renamed X1 (which removed it from the "open with" list immediately), but selecting X3 will not "take."
 
Assuming this is an "run as admin" issue, I changed the X3 properties for ALL users to "run as admin" but trying to assign X3 in the "open with" still will not take.
 
Edit: I even went the opposite route to remove "run as admin" from X3, but Windows still will not recognize X3 (or even X2) as the default file association with MIDI files.
 
The "work around" is to open X3, un-assign any midi outputs and open the MIDI file from within X3. This works as expected and is sufficient for me... the rest is more of an educational exercise.

 
Wow!

This feature ONLY works when no MIDI output device is enabled in Preferences > MIDI > Devices, right?
You guys don't enable the output of your MIDI keyboard controller? I'm using A-800Pro and it's recommended to enable its output port so I can't benefit from this feature...

Correct, outputs must be disabled to see this feature in action. I have outputs enabled, which is why I never saw this occur. But if you want to use this feature (it is handy for opening old MIDI files), you can simply disable MIDI output first, then open the MIDI file.