Hi. I'm new to X2 and I'm having a bit of a problem...

I just did a recording in which I started using guitar plugins--various amps and effects--for the first time. Everything seemed to be working until I tried to mix everything down. First, nothing worked. It seemed to take forever to mix down, and the final product was nothing. When I returned to Sonar after this, the tracks wouldn't play, there was just a small popping sound at the beginning and then nothing. I tracked it down to one of the plugins, a guitar effect. It was causing the track meter to hit over 9db. The only way to get it to play was to restart Sonar. 

I finally solved the issue by freezing the track. This seemed to work as the project would then mix down. But then the other guitar track, using different plugins, wasn't playing (just that one track). I tried to mix it down again twice. Once the same thing happened, and once everything came out as it should. 

This is my question: Is it standard practice, when using a lot of plugins on one track, to tweak everything and freeze the track before mixing down? Or are there just some plugins that don't play nice? 

BTW - When playing the tracks together (15 tracks) they all play fine and the CPU is only at about 25% in one core and about 10% in the other three cores. 

I'd appreciate any advice from some veteran users. Thanks.

Here are my specs:
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.4 Ghz
8 GB RAM
M-Audio Delta 2496 PCI
Internal HDD
Sonar Studio X2a

It depends.

Define how you're 'mixing down'

Are you doing an export or doing a bounce.

I'm exporting 15 tracks. 

Mixing down..... in Sonar means to select the tracks by highlighting them as a group or specific ones and selecting the EXPORT option. This will send the tracks selected to a wave file that should sound exactly like it plays in Sonar.

Freezing or bouncing the CPU heavy or problematic plugs and synths is a good method to get them out of the project during the "mix down" without choking the machine. 

If certain synths or FX are causing issues, you should try to resolve that problem before continuing to use them. 

Don't forget ... you can also freeze or apply the FX to the tracks. Doing so "prints" the FX to the wave and removes the FX from the project. It's destructive in nature but you end up with a wave in the track that sounds exactly like it did on playback..... and it lightens the CUP load.   Before you apply this level of pre-processing, you may wish to do a "SAVE AS" and save the project to a new name..... and then keep one for back up in case something doesn't work right, and then feel free to APPLY FX to the tracks and let it remove the plugs when it's finished. You will end up with a totally audio project with no plugs or synths in the tracks and Sonar handles audio very easily.  just a suggestion. 

Guitarhacker :

"Don't forget ... you can also freeze or apply the FX to the tracks. Doing so "prints" the FX to the wave and removes the FX from the project. It's destructive in nature but you end up with a wave in the track that sounds exactly like it did on playback..... and it lightens the CUP load."

It's not really destructive, in that the original audio is not affected. You can always get it back by unfreezing.

Guitarhacker


Mixing down..... in Sonar means to select the tracks by highlighting them as a group or specific ones and selecting the EXPORT option. This will send the tracks selected to a wave file that should sound exactly like it plays in Sonar.

Freezing or bouncing the CPU heavy or problematic plugs and synths is a good method to get them out of the project during the "mix down" without choking the machine. 

If certain synths or FX are causing issues, you should try to resolve that problem before continuing to use them. 

Don't forget ... you can also freeze or apply the FX to the tracks. Doing so "prints" the FX to the wave and removes the FX from the project. It's destructive in nature but you end up with a wave in the track that sounds exactly like it did on playback..... and it lightens the CUP load.   Before you apply this level of pre-processing, you may wish to do a "SAVE AS" and save the project to a new name..... and then keep one for back up in case something doesn't work right, and then feel free to APPLY FX to the tracks and let it remove the plugs when it's finished. You will end up with a totally audio project with no plugs or synths in the tracks and Sonar handles audio very easily.  just a suggestion. 

if you open the demo projects there mostly done like this,poke around the demo's and see what they did.
 
 i bounce as a rule when using heavy plugs . or v'vocal
 

Let me clarify:

Freezing is reversible 100% 

Bouncing to track renders a new audio track and still leaves the original midi/audio-synth-FX untouched. 

Applying FX to a track is reversible up to the point you close the program after saving the project. At that point the FX has been destructively applied. No going back. 


Depending on the track, the plug, the synth, or the FX, I will sometimes bounce to track, other times I will freeze, and many times I will APPLY EFFECT.... it all just depends. 

Having 3 options at hand is good.

Guitarhacker :

"Applying FX to a track is reversible up to the point you close the program after saving the project. At that point the FX has been destructively applied. No going back."

Why would anything be destructively modified at this point ?

It is my understanding that the source is never modified in Sonar.

They are once you apply Fx to them by freezing the track.

FWIW, I never freeze tracks - it's so much easier and flexible just to freeze the synth

I can see this for bouncing (and deleting the source) but I don't see how freezing a track, effects or not, save or not, destroys anything in the original ?