How to remove delay from "echo" w/ Sonar 4

T

TravisK

New member
Hey guys, I had to reformat Windows, because Windows does what it does best...it broke.

Anyways, before the format, when I would echo the effects bin, it would sound like the effect was placed before the DAW.

Now after the install, I can't get the right settings to get it to do that. Now when I echo an input for an effect, it gives me a literal echo. There is about a 100 MS delay on the sound. What do I need to change exactly to get it back to the way it was?

Thanks
Travis
 
Your description is a bit cryptic, but I'm guessing you need to lower your latency setting. It was probably at a much lower setting prior to your reformat.
 
Sorry to be a bit on the vague side. I have tried lowering the latency for both the soundcard (which really shouldn't be the problem) and sonar.

Maybe this is a better question...

What are some good Sonar latency settings for a faster computer? (2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 and 1.5 GB of RAM)
 
TravisK said:
What are some good Sonar latency settings for a faster computer? (2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 and 1.5 GB of RAM)
Click to expand...
It is dependant on both your computer resources, your sound card, and the complexity of the project you are working on (# of tracks, plugins, etc.).

A "good" latency setting is something below 5 ms; however, this might not be achievable with some sound cards, or with very complex projects.

Essentially you want to set your latency as low as possible without getting stuttering or dropouts. However, with latency setting of 10 ms and higher, you will hear an echo when using Input Monitoring.
 
thanks man, we got it a lot closer (8ms is the lowest the Q10 will go)

we now just have a slight delay, but it sounds neato.

travis
 
Travis, the easiest way to listen is to go out direct ... that is, don't listen through Cakewalk ... listen direct to the hardware input monitoring of your sound card. Do you have that capability? It takes latency out of the picture ... because you're not trying to listen w/ the software injected delay.

Best,

Kev.
 
^Yes, our soundcard allows that just fine. But I'm wanting to actually hear the plugin compressors and reverbs as we are doing vocals.

Mainly the compressor, as it helps to even out vocals sot hat the singer can hear himself even when he gets quiet. And unlike running him through a rack compressor, we are getting the dry signal to the track.

Does that make sense?
 
Yes, I understand. You want an unaffected vocal to hit tape, but you want the singer to hear the compression so that he can hear quiet passages. If this is the case, then you need to put the latency of Sonar as low as your soundcard will go ... and remain stable.

You already seem to know how to do this, so further instruction is moot.

Might I suggest, though, that you insert a hardware compressor after the mic pre, and prior to entry into the computer? Just hit it lightly ... so that a small amount of compression is effected. You can then hit the recorded track later as hard as you need.

I record my vocals with light compression all the time going in, as I'm 100% positive that I'll be compressing much harder later. The benefit of this is a better controlled performance dynamic right out of the gate than a wildly fluctuating one ... giving you less to have to tame further later. Also, with the controlled dynamic, the track can be laid slightly hotter overall, because you're not fluxing wildly between the softest and the loudest parts.

You don't need to hammer the signal right up front, but a little compression can go a long way, and make it easier to mix later.

Best,

Kev.
 
TravisK said:
thanks man, we got it a lot closer (8ms is the lowest the Q10 will go)
Click to expand...

- Close Sonar
- Run the Aardvark Control Panel
- Click ADVANCED
- Click ASIO AND DIRECTX
- Make sure you have a check mark in the ASIO TURBO MODE option
- Change the ASIO BUFFER SIZE SLIDER to 196 samples
- Re-start Sonar and make sure under OPTIONS-AUDIO you are using ASIO as the driver type.

That configuration should give you a 4.5msec latency with the Q10.

Ciao,

Q.
 
thanks for all the help guys, qwerty--i'll be definitely checking that out, 4.5 sounds like a much better situation than 8.

K-Dub--we have tried that with a cheap compressor (Comp16) using inserts, but it didn't work well at all. everything was way over compressed. Maybe i'll try out a friends Alesis and see if it will help having more control over the settings instead of just presets. But I'm not sure how well the Q10 handles compressors in the loop.
 
Latecomer to this thread but lots of good info here for us Q10 users desperate to keep our systems operating. I've used a single Q10 for several years and just recorded with dual Q10's last weekend. Also my first time using Sonar 4 (upgraded from CW PA 9.0) and Win XP (upgraded from Win 98SE - yikes). Worked very well with no lockups. Recorded 12 tracks at once with total tracks now at 21.

I tried the input monitoring for the first time and had the same results so this thread will definitely help me. Can't wait to give it a try tonight.
 
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