Removing Virtual Mains in Sonar

[batch151]

Has anyone tried to reduce the number of virtual mains in the Options|Audio setting in Sonar? Once you reduce the number, any previous projects that you saved with the higher setting will no longer open, regardless of whether you're actually using all of those virtual mains. I'd really like to reduce the default number, but I can't find a way to remove the reference to all of those mains in my older files (hiding them doesn't help). I'm using Sonar 2.1. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Anderton]

Well, just for kicks, I opened a file, reduced the number of mains from 8 to 4, and saved it under a different name. Of course, I was warned that changes wouldn't take effect until I re-started the program. Fine. So I quite, restarted, and called up several older files that had previously used 8 buses. They opened just fine. Are you sure you don't have some data in those extra buses somewhere, or tracks that reference the extra buses as outputs?

[batch151]

Thanks Craig. I was assuming that changing the default did not change the currently open file (you can change the default without anything open). Well, it does work, but it's still a bit laborious. I would have to first set the Sonar default to 6 virtual mains. Then I need to open an older file, change to the new number of virtual mains, and then save. Then I'd need to close the file, change the number of virtual mains back to 6, and restart Sonar (I think). Then I can move on to the next file and repeat for each of the 50 or so projects I have saved. It works at least. Thanks for the help.

[Anderton]

I only had to change the number of virtual mains ONCE, save, and exit. Next time I opened up Sonar, any file I called up had the new number of virtual mains.

[batch151]

That definitely does not work for me. Changing the default to 2 (for instance) will not allow me to open any file that was originally saved with the default set at 6. Every old file I open gives me the following error message: "Virtual main buses used by project(5) exceed current setting (3). Please increase the configured number in Options|Audio|General, and restart prior to loading this file." I've sent the same question to Cakewalk, but I haven't received a response yet. I'm using Sonar 2.1 running on Windows XP Professional. BTW, thanks for the column in SOS. I've been reading the internet version of SOS for a few years now and its great to finally have articles on Sonar (which is apparently not as well known in the UK).