I have had ongoing problems with X1b-X1d.  The Sweetwater tech wants to try replacing the V-Studio 700 I/O (interface) with a MOTU as a test.  His theory is that bad code in the interface could be causing issues.
 
I did not consider that likely; however, in Jim's thread below which documents X2 issues, he notes that he is using a Roland interface.
 
The verdict: X2a is not good. Unstable and buggy as all heck
 
Here are examples of my issues.  I'd like y'all's thoughts on whether or not they could be related to the interface.
 
Just a few examples:
• Cut, Copy, Paste stop working and require a PC reboot.
• Upon open, a project that was OK before has messed up Ins/Outs (e.g., MIDISPORT C redirected to Fantom, VS700 5-6 redirected to VS700 1-2, etc.).
• Unexplained crashes that are often, but not always, caused by opening the Staff view.
• Audio engine stops working when another virtual instrument (soft synth) is added.  For example, everything is fine with 7 soft synths but all audio stops when an 8th is added.  The number varies. Note that I have 12GB of memory, run in 64-bit, and task manager shows less than 5GB in use.
• Crashes caused by opening a second project for cutting and pasting data.  Sometimes the audio engine stopes; sometimes Sonar crashes completely.

So have you updated your drivers and firmware, and run windows update? That's your first step.

Well konradh I don't think the VS700R is a problem. I used it with Sonar 8.5 without a hitch and also with other apps such as Studio One also without a hitch so if there are any issues it may be that they only involve X1 or X2. I was running a 32 bit system on XP at the time as well.

Sorry a driver may work well with an earlier piece of software but not very well with later software or different software. Its a common misconception that just because X works then it must be Y.  I suggest following my advice first before making assumptions. Cheers.

Questions for the original poster konradh:

1.  I see you running Windows 7, but what flavor of it are you running?  (Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate)

2.  What maintenance level is your Windows currently running at? (System Information will tell you that)

3.  Was your installation of Windows 7 an upgrade or a clean install?

4.  Have you uninstalled and re-installed any versions of X1 in all of your trials and tribulations?  If so, please elaborate - particularly on removal of any registry keys and application data and such.

I do not know enough about our reported issues or about your system to take any stab at what is causing your reported issues.

Thanks, looking forward to your responses, 

Bob Bone

Interesting.  There seems to be a difference of opinion about the effect of Windows versioning on Sonar.  in answer to the questions:

Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1
The PC was built with Windows 7 at Sweetwater
Sweetwater recebtky upgraded me to X1 d.  I don't know the details of the procedure

At one point the entire system was shipped back to Sweeetwater.  They wiped Windows, Sonar, and all my software and reinstalled.  This is also my second I/O unit since Sweetwater has been extremely gracious about replacing and rebuilding everything to eliminate problems.

I am not sure which drivers and firmware we are talking about, but if you guys truly think that could be a problem, I would ask Sweetwater to do it remote so they will know the status.

I was mainly interested in whether anyone thought the type of problems described could be caused by the interface.  I don't want to blow off Sweetwater's suggestion since they are standing behind the system, but installing a new interface is not a trivial proposition since I am using a bundled V-Studio solution (software, I/O, control surface).

Yes it could be the interface and post 2 could resolve it.

So, when you replace the 700r I/O with the MOTU as a "test" does that mean you pay for the MOTU during the test?

Quoting you from earlier: "Interesting.  There seems to be a difference of opinion about the effect of Windows versioning on Sonar"

I expressed no opinion on it - sometimes folks do not apply proper OS maintenance, and sometimes that causes problems.  And for future - X2a requires a certain level of maintenance, as they wrote some aspects of it to rely on particular system routines.

In addition, I was asking about uninstalls of X1, because there are manual things that you must do to remove all traces of prior installs.

Is it possible you are plugged into a USB 3.0 port - with your audio interface?  The specs for it indicate it is a USB 2.0 device, and some interfaces freak out unpredictably if they are plugged into USB 3.0 ports.

I also took a look at the drivers page for that interface.  Wow - seems like several drivers need to be installed - which ones do you have installed?

Bob Bone