Hey Todd,
 
Fellow SONAR/Apollo/UAD user here, can't say I am experiencing your travails, but I think you are on to what is causing your issues. I typically build my own DAW's and as you probably are aware there are certain tweaks you need to check/do when setting up a DAW for realtime audio performance use. If you have not already you may want to watch this insightful video that may point you in the right direction to solving your dropout issues. You can have the most modern and fast 8 core i7 computer, but if is not set & optimized correctly for realtime audio performance it can perform worse than a 25 year old single core Pentium 3.
 
Good luck,
 
https://www.youtube.com/w...=416&v=GUsLLEkswzE

Billy, thank you for the video, what a great lesson.  I have UAD engaged and they've asked for quite a bit from my system so I have my fingers crossed.  When I run the latency tests the tool says "Your system should easily be able to handle realtime audio, blah blah...." so latency doesn't appear to be my issue, just the drop outs.
 
 

todd_bates
For the love of....
 
So my joy lasted exactly one reboot.  As soon as I rebooted my system the same old garbage started happening.  Back to being a sad pup.

That would seem to indicate there's some Windows preference or service being restored upon bootup. Open Task Manager and take a look at your startup programs. Since you built your own computer you won't have the bloatware included in something you bought for cheap at an office supply store, but still, I'm sure there are things like "iPod Helper" or whatever that you can nuke. 

Todd,
Maybe this might help. Go to Device Manager and check Show Hidden Devices under Views. Dropdown the System Devices folder and look for anything that says High Definition Audio controller. Right-click and choose disable. If you have a webcam disable that too. I disable any audio device drivers and let the Apollo handle all audio tasks.
 
I have been running an Apollo Firewire for a month now and it's been really solid. It'll have to be pried out of my cold, dead hands . I hope this helps.
 
Tommy

Thank you all for the great tips and advice.  Sadly nothing is panning out.  So here's the kicker...
 
I downloaded a 60 day trial version of Reaper.  I wanted to see if a different DAW would make a difference.  Reaper recognized my Apollo in seconds, configured using only defaults (256 latency) allowed me to import all my Sonar wave files and then let me add plugins (UAD, WAVES, and SONAR) to the mixes in real time while the songs were playing with no glitches, no dropouts, no crashes...perfect mixing experience.
 
I tried to stress test the system and worked on a song with 35 tracks and 9 sub mixes and each track had at least one plug in that I added in real time while the song was playing.  When I reached 75 plugins with no issues (adding them as well as making edits to the eq, reverb, delay, etc) I stopped...I was convinced.
 
Reaper is working for me with a reasonable look and feel, can do all the basic functions I could do in SONAR and I can focus on my mixes and plugins with no issues.
 
I hate to say it, team, but for me, personally, Reaper is kicking Sonar's hind quarters and the issue on my system with my setup is Sonar.  Reaper just proved that to me.  I am not pitching Reaper to anyone, just saying I haven't had this kind of stability in a long time.  I just wish it could have happened with Sonar and not a 60.00 software package.

Hi Todd, 
 
I really hope you haven't given up on Sonar, as I am sold on the Apollo gear and am hoping you managed to get it working ok.
 
I'm about to upgrade my Windows PC and am trying to decide which motherboard to get.
 
Al. 

Hi, Alan, sadly Sonar has given up on me.  Been with them a long time but support won't answer my requests for help.  UAD has sent me two emails already asking what Sonar had to say but it's been a cold shoulder from Cakewalk support.  Still kicking butt with Reaper, though.  If Sonar would help me resolve this I would be glad to switch back but I don't have the time nor the patience to wait months and months for them to even send a message back...even one saying "sorry, charlie".   Truthfully, I don't think UAD and Sonar work well together and I suspect that's why there's not a lot of communication coming from Sonar Support.

Hmm I'd hope that their must be other Sonar users that are happy with their Apollo setup, and are not getting these glitches. 
I am getting some of the symptoms you describe (Sonar crash when deleting UAD plugins, and Audio stops when adding a UAD Plugin or it hangs and does not recover) but my system is NOT compliant with UA minimum spec, and I'm not running the AE edition of Windows 10 (I'm on V1511) so I can expect the odd problem.
It's interesting to read what Craig said about the gaming MB, I'm just trying to make sure that when I upgrade I'm compliant with everything and meet system requirements.
 Having said that ... UA are also not yet up to spec wrt driver signatures 
 
perhaps Sonar are waiting for UA to update, but I agree it would be nice if they let you knew what (if anything) is going on wrt current status.

Those are good thoughts, Alan, and I agree, Mr Anderton always has great input.
I made it a point to purchase only items that met the UAD specs, so I am comfortable that I meet UAD system best practices.
 
 I would never have guessed that Sonar would be he stumbling block for my situation, but things work perfectly on another DAW so that is hard to think that my computer or UAD is the issue.  I used to use a Liquid Saffire firewire interface and a UAD quad card on a less beefy computer and had far fewer issues.  Who knows, maybe Thunderbolt is the problem.  Maybe Sonar doesn't like working with an Apollo Thunderbolt for Windows unit.  Sigh.  Just watching the posts hoping for a miracle.
:)
 
 

I was checking back to see if any other Sonar users had success with Sonar Platinum, using a UAD 2 Duo, Thunderbolt with Windows 10.  I am hoping that Sonar can get the issues resolved, but there is little question that Sonar is the issue.  I am using Reaper for the time being, doing nothing different, and I have not had an issue of any type in over 3 months.  I am still able to use all my Sonar and UAD plugins and adjust in real time.
 
As much as I like using a stable DAW, I miss Sonar and would love to return.  Any news?  Anyone?