I have been using Sonar from the Cakewalk days. I then went over to Logic.I crossgraded from Logic Audio Gold Version 4 to Sonar 3. Upgraded to Sonar 5. A few crashes and I ran back to Logic 5. I again upgraded Sonar to version 7. Hoping still to get a stable version. Some more crashes and I went to a Mac with Protools 7 and Logic Pro 8. I really wanted to stick with Sonar mainly because I can build a good PC. I again upgraded until I am now on version X2. I am still using Protools 10.3.5 and Logic Pro 9. I just went and load a session in X2. Inserted Waves EQ 10 and the whole Sonar X2 GUI turned white. I am desperately trying not to upgrade to Protools 11. Protools is very stable on my system. I just need a stable Sonar. That's all.

The Waves plug-ins have been an issue that I'm sure many have had, including myself. I've addressed this with Cakewalk and Waves, and neither seem to know the best answer, unfortunately. 

Waves mentioned to me that this is due to the fact that the install deploys both 32 and 64-bit plug-ins, regardless of your need, which I believe is a seriously BAD decision on their part, but Sonar does something that is very irritating as well here. It tends to hold exact plug-in versions "hostage" and will cause you lots of grief, if you upgrade minor versions/iterations in the Waves train.

 The best solution isn't in the works, I'm expecting. I think the only way this one will be worked out is when all 32-bit installations are no longer, Waves has gone to v10, which may not include 32-bit plug-ins, and Sonar is at least somewhat more tolerant with 3rd-party plugs.   

I was surprised, myself at how many bugs and crashes Sonar X1 and X2 had/have when I bought into the line. I still feel the burn. But, I'm hoping X2b will finally be the best, most stable version ever. As I've wished in other threads, I want to see that above everything else. 

My perception of Cakewalk is under-staffed, over-worked, and feature-driven. And I know their teams don't like seeing us fuss about their hard, HARD work. 

My Waves Solution: When installing the Waves plug-ins, make sure you set your 32-bit plug-ins location to some arbitrary and very hidden directory so that Cakewalk can't find them. Otherwise, it's like letting a baby have access to pretzels. He'll choke on them. Not meant as an insult to Cakewalk or Waves, but some things are better kept apart.   

Sorry for the duplicate post.

Two suggestions...

1) Run in Windows 7/X2 64bit. Use a wrapper like JBridge if your Waves plugs are 32bit. They work great on my system. 

2) If you're going to be scoring to picture, stay on Logic 9. I switched from Sonar X2 over to Logic because quite frankly, X2 is seriously lacking in that department.

Aside from that, Sonar X2 kills PT10 overall IMHO. PT10 is light years behind in terms of MIDI editing, among other things. I only use it when delivering to clients that require PT format.

Why not just delete the 32 or 64 bit Wave plugins before Sonar finds out about them ?

I am using the three since I regularly get's PT session to convert to Logic sessions. PT is my go to DAW all because of Sonar behavior. Once it get's stable that's it for them. I would have to stop using the waves stuff. I bought Komplete 9. It has the Solid stuff. I would use that instead in Sonar. Thanks.

I use waves 64 bit plugs all the time in X2 Producer with no problems, with the exception of side chaining.

I have Protools and Sonar on the same PC. PT is still 32 bit. I cannot delete it.

jscomposer: I'm not sure I understand your recommendation. If Waves will install the 64-bit plugs, then why would I want to jbridge to the 32-bit versions? Bridging for me isn't successful due to the performance hit I take. I'm limited to about 20-24 tracks with about 2 plug-ins on each before I start getting drop-outs. I agree with your PT and Logic observations. 

Paul P: Waves installs a single WaveShell.dll, which includes all plug-ins, even though you are only licensed to "see" specific ones (unless you own both Mercury and SSL4000 bundles). But in essence, that's what I'm saying, too. Hide the 32-bit version of the WaveShell.dll, but you get the option to do this upon installation by specifying the directory you want the 32-bit WaveShell to install. Waves said that should work. It did for me until I needed to install Wavelab 32-bit and let it find them, for some reason.

There's more to this, but the long-term solution is to wait until every plug-in you use is updated to 64-Bit, and you no longer have to use 32-Bit DAW's to support legacy plugs. I'm waiting for Algorithmix RED and Flux Alchemist to be updated, and then I'm forever parting ways with 32-bit plugs. I'll be quite content!   

bz2838


I use waves 64 bit plugs all the time in X2 Producer with no problems, with the exception of side chaining.

It's only an issue if the 32-bit WaveShell is installed and found by X2. X2 doesn't have a good way to identify which one to load sometimes (so I understand), and Waves doesn't give you the option to install ONLY 64-bit plugins, so you have to "hide" them from Sonar. 

In many cases, the crashes are because there are scenarios like mine, where, to use my Flux Alchemist and Algo Red plugs with Wavelab 7, which are still unfortunately only 32-bit, I have to install Wavelab 7 32-bit. The latest version of Wavelab 7 64-bit will not recognize my 32-bit plugs any longer, and bit-bridging is no longer supported. 

Solution: re-install Waves and clean registry. Ensure that the 32-bit plug-in folder is found ONLY by Wavelab. Reset all plug-ins in Sonar (BEWARE: This may WIPE all your plug-in settings saved!).  

I've reported this to Waves and Cakewalk a few times. they both are aware of the issue, but apparently, it's not serious enough to address (or nobody within either camp has talked about it publicly--i.e. no knowledgebase entires that I found). Recommendations from both camps did not fix the issue. Mine above did.