Computer compatibility with Sonar X1

I'm using a HP laptop with a Zoom R16 as the controller.  The computer is 9 months old. Does the sound card in the computer affect the quality of my recording or is it the controller that matters? I'm a novice to all this so any help would be appreciated.
 
Tony

erm... Tony... I'm just trying to get my head around the R16...

Zoom 16 as the controller???? Don't you mean audio interface?

When you are recording audio through the Zoom into computer, it's the Zoom that turns the music into 1s and 0s, so the quality of the Zooms anolog-to-digital converters (and the pre-amps) do the job. Don't use the laptop soundcard for anything with SONAR. It's crap.

When converting MIDI to audio inside a project or when bouncing a project to wav the soundcard plays no role whatsoever. Those tasks can be done even without a soundcard (theoretically).

Kalle Rantaaho


Zoom 16 as the controller???? Don't you mean audio interface?

The R16 is billed as a Recorder:Interface:Controller

Thanks guys. It's easy to tell I'm new to this.
 
Tony

We all started at the same level Tony, and you've come to the right place...

Are you using all eight inputs at the same time, to record drums, say, or a complete band?

Sorry to challenge your choice, by the way... it's just not what I would have done. It may be the perfect choice for you :^)

That's one of the reasons I though it would be a good fit. I'd be recording live drums using 5 or 6 tracks at once. I looked up the Roland QUAD-CAPTURE .  It limits the number of tracks i can record at once  I think.  Am i right?
 
tony

tonebastard


I'm using a HP laptop with a Zoom R16 as the controller.  The computer is 9 months old. Does the sound card in the computer affect the quality of my recording or is it the controller that matters? I'm a novice to all this so any help would be appreciated.
 
Tony

Welcome to the FORUM Tony!

g_randybrown

Did you not notice the word free bud? 

Erm, yes Randy, as I indicated in a later post...

Hi Tony,

I've downloaded one of the R16 manuals, but I don't think I got the right one, and the one I did get I found difficult to follow... it's getting close to my bed time lol. Plus, because this device comes bundled with Cubase LE, it doesn't really help much with other DAWs.

Without having one of these in front of me, I am going to struggle to help you I'm afraid. I was hoping that you would be able to use it as just an audio interface, and therefore the only levels you should be adjusting on the R16 are the input levels for each mic/instrument.

At this point, I could mention "Gain Staging," as it is a worthwhile process to learn, now that you are recording. It is most important that you do not overload your signal at any stage of the signal route. So the first place to get the levels right are with your audio interface. I think the deal is to get the levels as high as you dare, but keep them below 0db. And some will say that, with digital recording, it is no longer as important to be pushing your levels to the limit, and therefore peeking at around -6db is acceptable.

Oh, and I should have mentioned that you could do with deciding on a sample rate and bit depth. I think the general consensus is stick to 44.1khz at 24bit. CD quality is 44.1khz @ 16bit and at final export you will need to convert your work to that, but in the meantime, 24bit gives you more room to play with levels (I'm not going to go into detail with that right now as it's all going to get a bit too scientific, and my eyes are shutting).

Sorry for jumping around a bit there, and I am trying my best not to give you (edit here >) incorrect information along the way. I'm sure the more knowledgeable will jump in to save my bacon when needed.

But, to try and answer your original question, cos I'm losing the thread here, I would have thought you would have been able to set your mix levels within Sonar, and adjust your input trim levels on the R16... Is that making sense? 

Bristol_Jonesey

the faders in X1 are are used for mixing 

Hiya Jonesy :^) I'm hoping that's what I was trying to say above, but perhaps in not such a good way... 

Oh, also, Andy (synkrotron) is spot on about watching your input levels.

The deal is to get an input signal that is well clear of the noise floor but well below 0dB

He suggests that peaking at no higher than -6dB is acceptable, and I would agree, in fact I'd go further and suggest you never peak higher than -9dB

Make sure you're set up to record @ 24bit. This needs to bet in 2 places:

And yet another question....My track 1 strip says "Audio" just above the "1" on the bottom of the strip. My track 2 strip says "Midi" just above the "2" and when I just inserted a strip for track 3 by right clicking and hitting "insert audio track" above the "3" on the strip it just says "track 3". However, even though my guitar is plugged into input three in the Zoom R16, I still can't get any levels lights flashing.  How do I activate the other tracks? 

The two tracks, Audio (1) and MIDI (2) were inserted by Sonar when you created a new "normal" project. If you double click the "Track 3" text, you can edit that to say whatever you want, for instance, "Lead Guitar 1."

Then you need to select an input source for that new track. There are many ways you can do this, either in Track View, or the Track Inspector, or even in Console View. I would use Track Inspector. Near the bottom of the track strip you will notice two drop down boxes, one labeled I -None- and one labled O Master. O = Output, and will usually default to Master. I = Input, and usually defaults to None. Click on the down arrow to the right of the word None and select one of the R16's inputs.

Oh, to make sure you can see Track Inspector press the I letter on your keyboard and it toggles it on and off...

It should be as easy as that... let me know how you get on.

While you are sussing out setting for your track 3, I'll give you some tips regarding your display settings, seeing as you are using a laptop, like myself, and more than likely using a single display most of the time (I do hook up to two external monitors from time to time).

First of all, I should mention Screensets, but, as great as they are, I find that I don't need them for much of what I have been doing up to now.

I like to see my Track View mainly, followed hotly by Console View. It depends on what I am doing. But the way I have set up my display, I can quickly, at the click of a keyboard letter, switch between Track and Console views.

I also like to see the Inspector and Browser windows and the popular location for those are Inspector to the left and Browser to the right. But it is all down to personal preference at the end of the day.

So, When you start up a new project, you will probably see Inspector to the left, Browser to the right, with Track View in between I and B. The Control Bar is above I, B and T views, and will more than likely stay there (but you can, if you wish, turn it off and I'll say how in a minute).

Just below Track View you will probably see a bit of the Multidock View. In fact, on my display, the Inspector runs from the top of the screen to the bottom, and Multidock View is nestled against that at the bottom of the screen. But Browser View sits on top of the Multidock, as you will see.

A few keyboard shortcuts then:-

Press I to expand and collapse Inspector View (Track View grows to fill the space).
Press B to expand and collapse Browser View (again, Track View grows into that space).
Press D to expand and collapse Multidock View (Track View grows)/

But the nifty bit, for me, is press shift + D, while Multidock View is expanded, but below Track View, and it fully expands Multidock view to the underside of the Control Bar.

Now when you press D (not shift + D) it toggles between a fully expanded Track View and a fully expanded Multidoc.


Okay, I realise that what I have not told you yet is, I choose to dock my Console View (press Alt + 2) into the Multidock. So, if I am in Track View, and I want to be in Console View, I can either hit Alt + 2, or just D, and now my Console View nearly fills my screen. If I want to see more sliders in Console View, I just hit I to collapse Inspector (Multidock, for some reason, hides the Browser View anyway).


I hope that helps you to get around your limited display Tony, assuming you only use a single monitor.

Oh... a bit more about Multidock View. As the name suggests, you can dock many different view into  Multidock View, and it's a great way of accessing things like the Piano Roll, Step-Sequencer, or many other windows.