Where in the world does the midi out connect to??? Can you do more with Midi??

  I purchased a profire audio interface I usually record with my keyboard in an audio format however when I uploaded into sonar I noticed that with midi you can do way more!! So I connected my keyboard to the profire I can see where it recorded what I played  however when I went to playback it I couldnt hear it my profire 610 has an midi out and I could get another midi cable but what would I connect it to my monitors do not have a midi in nor out its only RCA and 1 inch TRS..Also can I not quantize a drum audio file? When I tried it was no change, so does that mean only midi can be quanitized, Can I record my vocals in midi or should I just stick with audio, I know it sounds like alot of Can I's??? But these questions will in fill in loop holes for me
 
Thanx!!

"...Can I record my vocals in midi..."

--As Fog tried to capsulize, MIDI and Audio are two completely different things.  No you can't record your vocals in MIDI--vocals are captured with a microphone.  MIDI is captured via a controller like a keyboard.  You can record your keyboard's MIDI output and do a million things with it in Sonar.  It's "just" data about notes which can be played back from a Sonar track either back through your keyboard, or through any soft synth available to you.

And now it's time to click "Help" in Sonar and start doing the tutorials that explain all this thoroughly.

Have fun, Victoria!

Randy B.

Well MIDI is just Data, so you won't record audio with just MIDI. You need a soft synth in sonar or an outboard synth to process the MIDI data
This may help you Victoria:

Victoria C


Thanx so much guys!! However midi is giving me a headache it wont playback nor will it record in am I doing something wrong??? My keyboard doesn't have any drivers its general midi and I checked the general midi under track and properties

A midi track has an input and an output. If you're using a keyboard connected to your Profire 610, and it is installed correctly, then the Profire 610 will be listed as both an audio device and a midi device. In the INPUT of a MIDI track, select the Profire 610 midi device. Unless you want to record a specific midi channel (there are 16) leave it as OMNI. That means it will record on any midi channel it receives. Arm the midi track and hit the record button in Sonar and, if your keyboard is correctly sending midi information, the midi track will record the midi data your keyboard is sending.

Now, you can either PLAY the midi track/s back through your keyboard by choosing the Profire 610 as the OUTPUT device in a midi track (connect the Profire 610 MIDI OUT to your Keyboard's MIDI IN), or you can use a soft synth to play back the data. Soft (software) synths require both midi data as input and an AUDIO track as output, or you can't hear the sounds.

If you use your keyboard as a midi track's output watch out for midi data loops. That is where the midi data keeps circulating through the midi ins and outs. If your Keyboard's Midi out also acts as a Midi THRU it can get ugly. If it does that I would suggest disabling that feature on your keyboard if possible.

One easy way to do this is to INSERT SOFT SYNTH and insert the Cakewalk TTS-1. It is a 16 channel GM (general midi) soft synth. It is perfect for playing back any midi file you download from the internet. When you insert the synth, a dialog box with different options will open. If you want the synth to play multiple channels at the same time, check off FIRST SYNTH AUDIO OUTPUT.

That will do two things. It will insert the synth into your synth rack and also create an audio track with the synth as its INPUT. Then you can insert your midi tracks and make the output of the midi track the TTS-1. In each midi track set the channel (1-16), bank and patch that you want to play. This will allow you to both play the soft synth with your keyboard live and playback the midi track through the soft synth.

There are several more options and this is a very, very basic sketch of how you can record/playback midi. Look in your help files under Soft Synths for more detailed information. It's a good place to start. Don't expect to learn it all in one day and don't let yourself get frustrated when you don't. Learning midi/audio recording is a process and if you can learn one new thing every day then it won't belong before you have it licked.

Here some basic concepts to get you started.

Audio is sound, transmitted over electrical devices.
MIDI is a computer language designed to allow synthesizers like your keyboard to communicate with each other and with computers.
The MIDI Out of your keyboare goes to the MIDI In of your profire. The profire connects to the computer (probably by USB).
The MIDI Out of the profire connects to the MIDI In of your keyboard. (This is assuming your keyboard has its own sounds. If it doesn't, you need to get a hardware synth or use Sonar's softsynths. If you use a hardware synth, the MIDI Out of the profire goes to the synth’s MIDI In.

To get Sonar to help here, you must set up each track to record and play back. Read the introductory stuff in the Sonar help file.
 
Good discussions of soft synths above.
 
You record MIDI by playing your keyboard while Sonar is recording a track. Sonar records the MIDI data you generate. When you play back what you recorded, Sonar sends the recorded data to whatever synth is connected, and which you’ve chosen in the Sonar track you’ve recorded to. This essentially re-plays the performance you recorded on whatever synth you send it to
 
To get sound from a MIDI synth, you have to:
 
1. Connect its “line out” to an amp + speakers or to powered speakers.
2. Send it MIDI data by playing back a track in Sonar, or by playing your keyboard while Sonar is set up to send the data this generates back to your controller or to another synth.
 
These are simple  basics that should get you started.
 
You also need to understand MIDI Channels, setting up the inputs and outputs of Sonar tracks, and the patience of Job.
 
The Help file in Sonar is an excellent source of info. Read it and learn what you read.

Good luck