easy how to fix dropout problem sonar

[wfaraoni]

I found this in a thread here and I tried it and It really works!! Also use it to set latency down as low as you dare!!!!



Chezz deWitt
Newbie

Registered: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 4
I now found the info in Sonar 2´s ReadMe file:


"New AUD.INI Variables for Engine Tweaking

SONAR 2 includes several new AUD.INI variables for tweaking the audio engine. The default values yield the same engine behavior as SONAR 1.3.1. The variables are all in the [Wave] section, and are as follows:

StopIfStarved=<0 or 1> (default=1)

Determines whether the audio engine should completely shut-down and put up a "dropout" indicator if the audio output queue becomes empty. Note that a dropout will still occur if the input queue becomes empty, or if other exceptional MIDI or disk I/O starvation scenarios occur. Setting this value to 0 yields engine behavior where the audio never will never stop during input monitor, but may click or pop instead."

Not really clear on what it means but I think maybe that if you hear clicks and pops with the setting to 0 those are not recorded but only playbacked (?).

There are some other tweaks that I haven´t tried yet. (Don´t need it really ´cause I now have 5ms rock solid latency with my SBLive 5.1 and kx drivers using ASIO in Sonar, what a bliss

 

[moskus]

But it will cause a clip in your audio if you're recording, making it useless for Input Monitoring.

 

[wfaraoni]

moskus: Havent experienced that yet, but I can't tell you how many times I hit record and ran for a couple of minutes before realizing It dropped out after 12 seconds. I can go back and "punch in" a clipped area if I get one much easier than repeating the whole session

No doubt you will get some kind of noise at some degree of overload, but I think whatever parameter it is, is probably set too high to signal a dropout .

I also dont quite understand why anyone with a 20 millisecond latency should care if its 20 or 10. I could see someone with a 300 ms perceiving a delay but the quest and cost to get zero seems overated and unsubstantiated to me. Then again better is always better or is it?

Adding a disclaimer:
And Im also not expecting or even trying to produce a pro recording as many others may be. Im just trying to get what I do down to share with family and friends. Ive been able to get quality that I never dreamed of years ago with my little tape deck. One problem that Ive found is that when you can clearly hear yourself every little imperfection will stand out like flashing neon sign Glad I didnt get into an expensive pro tools setup!

Thanks for your input, Im sure you are far more knowledgeable on the subject than me judging from your exceptional knowledge and the great info and assistance Ive seen you provide to others. I just think that this is a great tip for those who would like more practical functionality and arent worried about achieving perfection. That does not let cakewalk off the hook either. They need to continue in the quest for a seamless software interface as a reasonable price!

Peace
Bill

 

[moskus]

It seems like we expect different things from our setups. I want smooth-running audio without any pops and clicks with low latency, and, of course, I'm paying for it...

I also dont quite understand why anyone with a 20 millisecond latency should care if its 20 or 10. I could see someone with a 300 ms perceiving a delay but the quest and cost to get zero seems overated and unsubstantiated to me. Then again better is always better or is it?

Now, you have never tried to play a softsynth with 30 ms latency, have you? How about 20 ms? 10 ms? 5 ms?

The difference is HUGE! It's even bigger when using Input Monitoring, as I am.

 

[wfaraoni]

Moskus: See I knew there was a good and justified answer .

Your right, at this time I am not advanced enough to need that much performance but I may in the future. Still a good fix for a lot of us. Thanks

Bill