So I have a constant ticking sound on my midi signal (using vst instruments in Sonar Pro). It happens whether I'm direct with USB or through my Scarlett 2i4 with MIDI cables. I have swapped out multiple cables and played around with Buffer Size and nothing works yet.
I feel like this is something I had to do a couple decades ago (last time I was in the midi game) It's a constant clicking during recording and on playback, but when I bounce the midi track and convert it to audio file, the clicking isn't there... I feel like this will be obvious and am already kicking myself.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm running...
Windows 7 svc pk 1
AMD Phenom II 955 Processor 3.2 GHz - 4 GB RAM
64 bit O.S.
ASUS r9 390 video card
Sonar Pro vs 21.13.00
44.1 kHz SSample Rate
256 Buffer Size
Oxygen 8 (direct usb or through Scarlett 2i4 via midi cable)

please help... I have 19 projects working... so frustrated