Sonar 2.0 XL problems (simple)

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VertuGoGo

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Hi, I'm new to this message board (referred by Jim from Drawing Down). Hope you guys can help me with my simple problem. Here's my setup and situation so you guys can better diagnose my problem:

We're going to record drum tracks using a friend's Roland V-drum kit. But before we do that, I'm trying to see if I can record something first with my guitar.

I have an Audiophile 2496 sound card that seems to be working fine. Windows says that it's working properly, and my headphones work fine with it. Also, as far as Sonar goes, I can work the tuner (woo hoo!) so at least I know the program recognizes signals coming from my guitar.

I play my guitar through a Peavey preamp that is MIDI programmable (don't know much about MIDI though). I have the appropriate cables that go from my preamp's direct out to the sound card's input jacks. Like I said, the tuner works so at the very least I know the sound card is working with the program.

When I launch Sonar, I click on "create a new project," and I click on the console view because the interface seems user friendly to me. I arm the first track and then click the record button (which I notice only goes on when a track is armed). I wait after the count-off and then start playing my guitar, thinking it's recording. But when I try to play back what I recorded (after hitting stop and rewind of course), nothing plays back. I don't even see the timer progressing like it should when it plays back something. I hit play and it just stops by itself after a second or two.

I'm assuming I'm probably a couple of icons and pull down menus away from fixing this simple problem, but I just don't know where to go. I just met a guy from guitar center who said he'll tutor me for $50 an hour, but before I enlist his services I'd like to get the answers here. And for free.

Thanks a lot and hope to hear from someone soon!

P.S. I'm pretty computer-savvy, but not a tech-head :)
 
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I'm not familiar with your sound card. How many input/output connections does it have?

Try opening Sonar in Track View and at the bottom of the screen you will see 4 tabs (All, Mix, FX, I/O). Click on the tab labeled I/O. Then look at the Track you are trying to record to, and note what setting is in the "In" box. If it says "none," there's your problem. You have not told Sonar where you intend to record from.

Click on the down arrow in the In Box and you will get some choices to set as your source. Something like Left 1/2, Right 1/2, Stereo 1/2. You need to set the source to match where you have your guitar plugged into your soundcard. Also, remember if you are connecting a mono source to a stereo "line in" connection, you need to determine whether the signal is being picked up on the left or the right channel - and of course set Sonar to match.

After you've done the above, arm the track and play a note on the guitar. If you are getting a signal, you should see the meter at the bottom of the track moving. Once you are sure you are getting a signal, you should be able to record without problems.
 
hi thanks for responding. yes you're right about the "input" problem. i was tinkering with the program last night and made some progress: i was able to get sound (i can hear my guitar) and i realized that i had "none" for an input.

i have another problem though...when i click on the down arrow to select an input, i see "none" and "M Audio Delta Audiophile (6 in, 4 out)." also the second one has an arrow next to it, suggesting that it has more options. but when i click on "M Audio Delta" nothing happens. it doesn't get selected and the next menu doesn't appear. it's not grayed out though, i just can't select it.

i think my problem stems from my sound card, even though it seems to be working properly.
 
You have to select one of the inputs (after the "M Audio Delta Audiphile"-arrow). Then you should be able to record.

It works this way: Look at the "M Audio Delta Audiphile (6 in, 4 out)"-entry in the Input-section as the card itself. The card offers 6 different inputs, and you have to select one of them to record. That physical input on your Delta you must (of course) be connected to the sound-source you wish to record.

Hope this helps...
 
In other words... something like this:
 

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thanks moskus, your jpg helps a lot. my menus look identical to your picture. i have "none" and at the bottom i have my sound card which has an arrow after it for the other menus.

BUT, when i try to select my sound card, nothing happens. it doesn't get selected and the secondary menu doesn't appear. so i'm stuck with "none" as my choice.

just for the hell of it, i removed and re-installed sonar, and did the same thing with my sound card. same problem :(

HEEELLLLPPP!!!
 
Strange. Do you possibly have the driver disabled (although I imagine the card wouldn't show up at all in that case)?

Go to Options -> Audio and select the Drivers tab. Make sure the Audiophile is enabled on this tab.

I believe the Audiophile is an "aftermarket" card, but you didn't mention anything about another sound card. Does your computer have another sound card? If so, the problem could be the result of having WDM drivers for one and not the other. From the Options/Audio Advanced tab, try selecting Always Use MME interface, and see if that does anything.

Otherwise, you might want to drop a line to Cakewalk support.
 
i followed your directions dachay. when i got there i noticed that my integrated sound card was also enabled, so i un-highlighted it and EUREKA i'm recording! and for a while there i couldn't hear what i just recorded, but after fiddling with my sound card's patchbay/router i was able to hear it. i guess this answers my "simple problem." thanks to every one who helped. i really appreciate it.

here are my new problems:

1. clicking - at first there was constant clicking, but i got rid of it when i lowered my input volume down to -3, but now i hear what sounds like mouse clicks at various points of my recording. could it be internet related (i have DSL that's on all the time)?

2. inaudible metronome - i can barely hear it, but once i start playing my guitar just makes it impossible to hear
 
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The first question would be, "where are the headphones plugged into?" Obviously if they are not plugged into something that's in the Audiophile's playback chain, you will have a problem.

Second question is, "what do you have the the "Out" setting set to in Sonar?" Here again, if the out setting is not something that the headphones are common to, you won't hear anything. For ex., if your "out" is set to 3/4, but the headphones are common to 1/2, nothing is gonna come out.

Answer the above questions, and maybe we can help get you a little further along.
 
dachay,

i was in the middle of editing my last response cos i found out how to fix my headphone problem when i noticed you already posted a response. sorry for the delay. my new problems involve an inaudible metronome and clicking (see above please).

i'm considering getting either the quickstart book on sonar or sonar2 power. are those worth it? cos my other option is the guy at guitar center for $50 an hour, but i'll see if i can talk him down to $40.
 
The Sonar 2 Power is (shurely) great! I haven't bought it yet, but I have Sonar (1) Power, and shurely will buy it.
 
So far...

i basically have my initial inquiry of "how do you do a simple recording on sonar" answered. here's what i can do now:

record a track
eliminate clicking by lowering my input volume
listen to what i just recorded
arm and record using another track
listen to both tracks as they play back simultaneously


i noticed that my recording volumes are low. that could be just my taste though. and there are many options on my sound card that i still need to comprehend.

i also cannot hear the metronome. i can only hear it when i click the pc speaker icon, but it's barely audible. i would prefer hearing the hi-hat cymbal through my headphones (i read somewhere that it can be done that way).

i already bought the "sonar 2 power" book from the barnes and noble website. i hope it's not too technical. but i'm probably going to enlist the $50/hour tutor's services. i would prefer meeting up with someone in this message board though. anyone from the los angeles area?

thanks sincerely for all the help i got here.
 
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i also cannot hear the metronome. i can only hear it when i click the pc speaker icon, but it's barely audible. i would prefer hearing the hi-hat cymbal through my headphones (i read somewhere that it can be done that way).
Click to expand...
The problem is that the Audiophile hasn't an onboard synth. Connect it to an external MIDI-device (if you have one), or import a drumloop to play along to....
 
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