User's Guide

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Change I/O devices without restarting SONAR

You can add or remove USB/FireWire audio and MIDI devices while SONAR is running, and the

audio and MIDI engines will dynamically respond to any changes.

When a device is added or removed, SONAR prompts you to confirm or cancel the change. If you

click Yes, playback stops and the audio and MIDI engines reload.

For more information, see the online Help topic “Changing I/O devices”.

VST plug-in compatibility options

The Cakewalk Plug-in Manager has two new per plug-in properties to address some common VST

operational and performance issues:

• Always suspend on play. When Always suspend on play is selected, the plug-in will reset

when playback starts. Select this option for any VST instruments that have problems with stuck

notes when stopping the transport. The Always suspend on play property is also useful for

effects that generate a tail, such as delays and reverbs. The effect is that you will hear the tails

when the transport stops, but not when the transport rolls again. Always Suspend on play is

disabled by default.

• Serialize Host Access. When Serialize Host Access is selected, communications with the

plug-in are serialized as far as possible. The default behavior is OFF, which allows asynchronous

calls to the plug-in.

When Serialize Host Access is disabled, SONAR’s audio engine runs more efficiently and

allows the UI thread to interact independently with the plug-in GUI without impacting the audio

engine.

The only reason to enable Serialize Host Access would be for a plug-in that has thread safety

problems leading to crashes or glitches when changing plug-in presets.

BitBridge enhancements

Cakewalk’s BitBridge technology allows you to use 32-bit VST effects and instruments when using

the x64 version of SONAR.

Earlier versions of SONAR x64 could load only up to 4GB worth of 32 bit plug-ins. SONAR can now

use all addressable RAM in your computer.

BitBridge now also supports VST's that generate MIDI.