Did you spend any time looking for it yourself?? :o)
You can get to it clicking the loudspeaker icon on the bottom right of your screen.

Ooooo ok got it.....it looks normal...not muted.....set at 35...was there anything in particular I was supposed to be looking for? I did actually spend time, i went into control panel, audio devices, and found an audio mixer but wasn't sure it was the right one you were talking about.

The Asio thing magically started to work, and now they are all connected and Cakewalk worked for a few glorious hours without trouble. Now this happened. http://img10.imageshack.u...5543/printscreenlq.jpg I can't play back anything, that screen shot was taken directly after I attempted to play with the spacebar. Clicking the play button results in the same thing. No playback, not even movement. What should I do? It just says audio stopped in the status bar even though I never stopped it. Help meeee this is the best software I've ever gotten and I want it to work :(

As mentioned before, for fluent DAW work you will need a proper audio interface because they come with good drivers. There are no integrated soundcards that are good with DAWs, it'snot a new computer you need, but a proper soundcard, external or internal. 

ASIO4ALL may help, or then not. It is not a real ASIO driver.

The routing to your computer speakers is not in SONARs hands, it's about Realtek/Windows. So you did check in the Windows mixer/Control panel that PC loudspeakers are selected (you just wrote "looks normal, not muted" but you did not tell details)?

I don't know if it's mentioned here, but when you're having performance problems it's good to close all apps that are running in the background (Internet, virus scan etc.).

If you give use an idea of what you're going to be using your rig for, we might be able to suggest a suitable interface.

Do you intend to record full bands or is it just you?

I wasn't aggravated, I'm actually always in a good mood( until I pay my Property taxes) What I'm recommending is your look around this forum and do a little reading. You will quickly understand how all this works. There are literally 1,000 of threads about people with on board sound card issues. I owe this forum 80% of my understanding of Sonar. The rest I got by using the help menu.

Any suggestions for good sound cards? Yes they are selected, the Asio thing in Cakewalk says it is connected as well. And I did close all applications, I ran it right after startup, disabling my internet as well as the Antivirus. Must be the sound card.

It is most certainly just me. I am a solo singer and rapper...any suggestions would be VERY welcome I thank you all for your help and time!

Sorry, one other thing - what sort of budget is available?

My list of what to look for in a audio interface.

Good Mike Pre amps ( unless you own a dedicated pre)
 As many inputs as you would use ( in your case 1 or 2 )
Seperate controls for both Monitors and Headphones-on the front.
A mix control to blend input and output to monitors and phones.  
SPDIF input if you do purchase a mike Pre amp or own a digital mixer.
MIDI in unless your controller is USB.
MIDI output if your using outboard old school synths and drum machines.
 AND most important- GOOD AUDIO DRIVERS for your operating system. 
Low round trip latency if your using real time EFX. Not a problem if your not a guitar player , really.