scook

ACT is not used to send MIDI note data to a synth. ACT is used to control knobs and sliders on a plug-in UI. It may be possible use ACT to "play" the pads on a plug-in UI but I have not read about anyone using it that way. Synths like SI-Drums expect to receive MIDI data directly from the controller. This is done by defining the controller as a MIDI input device and setting the controller as the input on the synth's instrument or MIDI track. FWIW, I can find no reference to the drum pads on the R8 playing instruments in a DAW. It appears the device can act as a DAW audio interface and transport control only. That said, I have never used one and may have missed something in the documentation and my web search.

AFAIK, CUDA is not a solution for audio latency issues. The major sources of audio latency are The time needed by audio drivers to shuttle data between the audio interface and the DAW (audio buffer setting) The time needed for some plug-ins to see into the future in order to react incoming data (plug-in delay compensation) Although CUDA has been around for over 10 years, It would not surprise me if this were the case. . Not sure how much a DAW would benefit from it.

Here is a thread on how to report crashes and hangs In the interim, while it should not be necessary, you may be able to avoid hang on export by freezing or bounce and archiving tracks prior to export.

yes Exclude the ones in the shared folder path use the ones in "E:\Vstplugins64"

This has been suggested before on the old forum, this forum and other sources. AFAIK, this have never been recommended by Cakewalk or BandLab. I cannot recall if you have X3 Producer or a lesser version. The VX-64 Vocal Strip was bundled with X3 Producer. If you have Producer, restore the excluded plug-ins and use the X3 Producer version in your projects. The default location for this plug-in is C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Vstplugins\Vocal Strip. Since you mention a "custom VST folder" I guess it may be there.

Plug-in manufacturers must add the appropriate information to their plug-ins for VST migration to work. Here is a blog entry for this http://www.noelborthwick.com/2014/01/22/developer-notes-sonar-x3-vst3-internals/ Given the prior installation, there could be some confusion when loading projects containing plug-ins bundled CbB and SONAR. You will need to address these issues on a per-project basis likely replacing the plug-ins with the appropriate version. In a normal installation there are no duplicated plug-ins but some dlls may be duplicated for different uses. Removing dlls from shared folders is not a good idea. Removing plug-ins from the regular VST folders is OK if you never plan on using them but I would not do this either. By default, some bundled plug-ins are in the exclude list. They should be left alone. This is not related to VST migration.

Don't have Kontakt but if I had a problem with unexpected MIDI routing, I would do the following... Verify synth plug-in properties and uncheck "Enable MIDI Output" where it is not needed. This option is located on the VST2/3 drop down in the standard header above plug-in UIs. Note: the image below shows "Enable MIDI Output" checked. Uncheck this value to prevent the plug-in from sending MIDI data. Not all plug-ins have this capability but I am pretty sure Kontakt does. Review instrument/MIDI track input assignments, avoid "All Inputs" settings.

I doubt much has changed since http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3675436

Is it possible the project was built with the VST2 format plug-ins and those plug-ins are no longer in the scan path? AFAIK, iZotope does not support VST2 to VST3 migration and NI Guitar Rig 5 does not come in VST3 format.

yes

If you don't mind iLok SoundToys FilterFreak 2 is a dual filter similar to Volcano. While just a single filter, X3 Producer and Platinum included BiFilter2.

Here is the relevant section of the help https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Playback.19.html

Is the folder compressed?

Unfortunately, the ProChannel Presets path is not in preferences. The only way to access the setting is by directly editing ProChannelStripPresetFolder in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cakewalk Music Software\Cakewalk\Core\UserPaths. I have never known this to go missing but I suppose a registry cleaning tool might mess with it.

Aud.ini in %appdata%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core

A clean install is not necessary but a simple uninstall/reinstall is enough. An update may work too but I would not count on it.

When performing full installs, as it the case here, installed oldest first. This insures files shared between versions will be the most recent.

I have no experience with Steam. Hopefully another Steam user will drop by with suggestions on how to deal with purchases made on Steam. User accounts created on Cakewalk.com in late 2014 through 2017 are still online. If one has an account there and forgot their password support@cakewalk.com can reset it. AFAIK no new accounts have been created on that site since Oct. 2017.

There are two ways the sample rate is set in Cakewalk. For projects that have no audio clips the sample rate is read from preferences For projects with audio clips, the sample rate is read from an audio clip header. The project sample rate is sent to the audio interface. Most devices respond to this request. If the Zoom does not respond to sample rate change request from the DAW you may have to use manually configure Zoom. If the Realtek is set to 96k it may be when running both, it may have had a side effect of changing the Zoom to 96k.

When ASIO4All is selected in preferences?

All tracks record the data present at the input. Enable Input Echo - the button to the right of the record button.

What ASIO4All does is wrap one or more WDM drivers for one or more devices and present them to the DAW as an ASIO driver. As far as the DAW is concerned, there is one ASIO driver called ASIO4All. The smaller the ASIO buffer size, the lower the latency. Using 96kHz sample rate probably needs a 256 sample buffer size or smaller to effectively monitoring through the DAW.

ASIO4All

This is normal. ASIO must use the same driver for input and output. IIRC, ASIO4All aggregates WDM drivers so there should be a configuration tool supplied by the manufacturer to setup which devices are used by the software.

Is the R8 driver installed?