Still persevering with X2a - overall I think stability is better than it was- still more crashes than x1d or 8.x but going in the right direction. My major beef at the moment are the graphical bugs. Sometimes hitting solo or mute causes the sort of 'ripple' effect through the project as the screen gets redrawn, track by track. It is bizarre and pretty embarrassing when working with others. I also have the dreaded moving bug - i.e. when you try and move a clip to another track but it jumps around - everywhere in fact except where you want to put it. Its got so bad I actually tried to download a Cubase 7 demo - however they expect you buy a dongle to try it! major fail from Steinberg. Fingers crossed for a major bug release soon.

dorism : "My major beef at the moment are the graphical bugs. Sometimes hitting solo or mute causes the sort of 'ripple' effect through the project as the screen gets redrawn, track by track. "

Redrawing much more that is necessary is an easy way cover up less than perfect graphics handling. In a fast enough system it can go unnoticed but your's sounds like it's a bit underpowered if you see things happening bit by bit.

Maybe this causes other problems as well, Sonar doesn't seem to like running on a less than optimal system.
X2a appears to be quite a bit more power hungry than X1 or X2.

Hi Paul, my PC is a HP Z420 with a dedicated graphics card - way more powerful than I probably will ever need lol :) I didn't have nay issues like this with X1. I think you are on to something though - it is as if the redraw of the screen has ground to a halt. its bizarre. cheers Michael

my system running X2a is pretty solid. I did have lots of issues at first, but I went back and made sure I had service pack 1 for windows 7 and all the required patches. Every now and then I get a crash, but they are few and far between.  There are a few bugs that I have learned to work around. Even with the bugs, I like it much better than the prevous version I was using. So make sure you have all the service packs for your version of windows, and patches. Like Paul mentioned, is your computer powerful enough or suited for Sonar X2a ?

"My major beef at the moment are the graphical bugs"


Same here, the now time marker disappearing, PRV glitches - I opened a ticket with them months ago and still have no resolution. 

I just updated my graphics driver - no difference. What a mess. In 12 years of sonar ownership this is the worst product I've used from the normally reliable cakewalk. Really disappointed by the poor QC and lack of bug fixing. Poor show.

Spent about 2hrs submitting bug reports this evening! Onwards and upwards.

I thought I'd give X2a a go this week after being very disappointed in the stability of X2.

I too have been seeing a 'ripple' or 'shudder' effect in the graphics after maximising then minimising a track, and my audio drops out when adjusting EQ bands on the ProChannel.  I can adjust the Sonitus EQ till the cows come home without any issues to speak of, so I suspect there's something screwy going on with the ProChannel graphics.  We're not talking big projects loaded with soft synths and plugins either.  My PC is only 6 months old, 16GB RAM, i5 processor, dedicated graphics, Win7 with latest service packs, latest video drivers etc.

X1d runs a lot smoother and 8.5 is golden.  X2 and X2a are stinkers (for me) though.  I'm not about to change my PC to make X2 run - auditioning other DAW's seems like a better route at this point.

On the Quad Curve EQ, moving a node up goes pretty good til I get near the top of the range then, it goes wonky!

I don't really want to move to another sequencer - I've been a loyal cakewalk customer for over a decade. I really like Sonar and I especially appreciate this forum - I lurk more than I post but its been an invaluable resource for me. I've learned loads. I've invested so much time in Sonar I pretty much know it back to front - the prospect of moving to another sequencer scares the beejesus out of me as it will be like starting again. In saying that though - I need to be able to get work done. At the moment I don't see X2 as being stable enough to do serious work in especially with clients in the room - as the graphical glitches make Sonar look pathetic. Every crash, glitch or bug steadily destroys confidence in the product and ultimately the brand. Gong back to X1 or 8.5.3 means losing functionality and some cool new features I am now accustomed to. I'm going to hang about for a wee while and pray for x2b. I'm hanging in there because Cakewalk up to this point haven't let me down but at some point soon I'm going to have to make a decision. I cant keep working in this environment - it needs sorting.