@Karma - thanks, I never experienced that in X1 but I'll give that tip a go next time

I had this problem even back on X1 ... as soon as I start recording the meters would start working .... But there were times when They wouldn't work on the record ready mode ... I  never could  figure out why ..... Often I would have to set my levels while recording then undo. Quik fix didn't change anything for me. But did stop the crashes

The only solution I have found, including trying everything suggested in the thread (which did NOT solve it), is to change from Main Screen Set to Auto Track Zoom Screen Set, where suddenly everything works.

I am using Sonar X2 with QuickFix on Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 with two monitors. 
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600@ 2.4 GHz
64-bit everything