So, as you can see in my Signature, I have a couple of other nice audio pkgs; which fortunately, are NOT having the same audio issues Sonar is having. I've noticed that Sonar has a particularly tough time keeping the Bit/Sample rates that I established for my Alesis I/O 26 (24/48). According to the Bit/Sample rate display in the lower right corner, it keeps reverting back to 16/44.1 despite verification of ALL...YES, ALL...settings that can be checked, or that I've ever checked before, which incl.: 1.) The Audio tab that configs the ASIO driver. 2.) The Audio Bit Rate under Tools 3.) The Control Pnl under my Alesis device. 4.) The Win7 Contrl Pnl under Properties for my device (Playback AND Recording). Both are set to 24/48. I've even tried setting it to 96kHz, but Sonar keeps resetting it back to 16/44. Neither Samplitude ProX, Audition 1.5, or RealBand, or BIAB2013 does this. Also, I had tried updating to X2 Studio, and was still having the problem. I'm NOT bashing Sonar, just stating facts, so please hold the negative comments. Thanks, KC

The drivers for your audio interface are what allow you to choose between different sample rates. 
But one thing to try if you had saved a template that was @ 44.1 and then open it?? Just a long shot. You certainly have looked in all the right places, even though the only place that matters is the ASIO control panel for the interface. Might be a bug in the Alesis Driver, do they have a users forum? 

Tnx Cactus, I do have an Alesis Rep looking into it as we speak. And as for the template issue, I thought about that, and have tried to address that. There isn't anything I should check in any of the .ini files, is there? KC

My bad. I finally found where I had not specified the correct settings in Sonar. Everything is kosher now.

OK. Actually, I did get the Bit Rate issue fixed, but the sample rate is still slipping in Sonar ONLY. Stays glued like epoxy in Samplitude, Adobe Audition 1.5, BIAB2013. The AUD.INI file says 48k. There are some files that retain 48k, but there's others that are created from the same Template the ones with 48k that revert back to 44.1. I've converted the individual wav files to 24/48 in Samplitude, but I'm still having issues.

From SONAR 8.5 Reference Guide pdf page 845:
Only one sampling rate is allowed per project. It’s usually better not to change the sampling rate of a project, because this involves exporting your tracks one at a time, and then importing them at the new sampling rate. During this process you lose clip boundaries, envelopes, and other separate data that is mixed into the exported tracks.

The detailed instructions to convert a project to a new sample rate are provided on pages 845 and 846 of the pdf.

Cactus, I may have spoken too soon re:my fix. My Alesis ASIO control pnl DOES indeed retain the sample rate that I determine...UNTIL...however, when I open particular Sonar projects. Some of those projects remain on my preferred 48k, but others revert back to 44.1, despite the fact that ALL of my settings, including the files loaded are at 48k. The other reason I still contend that it's a Sonar issue is that none of my other apps have this issue. Tnx Again, KC

Once you've added audio to a project, the sample rate becomes fixed at whatever was previously specified and cannot be easily changed. SONAR will subsequently instruct the driver to set the interface to that rate, and will resample new audio to that rate if necessary, but it cannot alter the sample rate of audio that's already in the project.

Thanks Bitflipper. So, does that mean I should NOT convert a wav file once it's already imported? Or should make sure the wav file I'm importing is the proper sample/bit rate, then create a brand new project, THEN import the proper wav file? Thanks, KC

The documented process did not work for you? Here is the section of the pdf I referenced above:

To Change the Sampling Rate of a Project

1. Select an audio track and use the File > Export Audio command to open the Export Audio dialog.
2. Select the options you want, and click Export to export the track.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for all the audio tracks you want to convert.
4. After you’ve exported all the tracks you want to convert, open the Audio Options dialog (Options > Audio command), and on the General tab, change the Sampling Rate field to the desired number.
5. Use the File > New command to open a new project.
6. Use the File > Import > Audio command to open the Import Audio dialog.
7. Select the audio files you just exported (hold down the CTRL key while you click each one), and click Open to import the files.

SONAR imports the selected files at the new sampling rate.