Need help...time sensitive

My setup: Sonar 8.5 PE, Mackie Blackbird, Roland Phantom X-8, and a Gateway DX 4860-UB33P (running Windows 7) I had to get a computer since my old one died, and have a project to complete this weekend. I cannot get sound out of Sonar. Old files that I've recorded are showing up on the meter, but no sound. When I record, no wav file forms but something is showing on the meter (I suspect it's the metronome). I do not get any SIG/OL light on my Blackbird either, so I'm thinking that may have something to do with it. In any event, I've already tried re-installing drivers and switching to ASIO. I checked cables and they're all okay. I'm completely dumbfounded here, and I'm sure I'm missing something really simple... Help??

Thanks for the reply. I have run Wave Profiler - repeatedly. It claims to be set up fine, and recognizes that I'm using a Mackie Blackbird. Audio Out is hooked up to two Yamaha Studio monitors, which *do* produce sounds from my keyboard when played live. Just nothing recorded. It's hooked into the Gateway via a firewire card. Info in Audio Options: General: Playback Timing Master: Mackie/Onyx Firewire Interface Audio 1/2 Record Timing Master: Mackie/Onyx Firewire Interface Audio 3/4 Audio Bit Depth: 24 Sampling Rate: 44100 Advanced: Read/Write Caching is enabled Driver Mode: WDM/KS (though I have tried ASIO as well) Multiprocessing engine is checked MMCSS is checked Record Latency is the Mackie Drivers: There are other things available (like my sound card) but I have four boxes of the Blackbird checked for input and output. I'm sorry I'm a bit of a n00b...I hope that helps.

Do you get sound from other applications such as Windows Media Player?

When you open up the Sounds applet in Windows Control Panel, is your interface listed and selected in the "sound playback" dropdown list?

Is the Windows Audio service running?

AmazingPanda


I uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers many times. Same result. The blackbird is synched internally. I'm running 64 bit. Bitflipper: I get sound from other applications, the interface is listed, and Windows Audio Service appears to be running. I'm just so horribly confused. I opened up the Blackbird Control panel and there's no signal from the meter in that either. So I'm thinking it has more to do with the Blackbird than Sonar.

AmazingPanda,

First, have you downloaded the latest Mackie driver? www.mackie.com/products/onyxblackbird

Second, you might want to read this article in SoundOnSound.com, particularly the two paragraphs here ...

"Having ruled out clocking, I turned my attention to the diagnostic tabs of the Blackbird Control panel. The Windows version of this includes both a helpful ‘DPC latency checker’ and a scanning utility that confirms whether the Firewire controller in your PC is compatible with the Blackbird. Sure enough, my Dell laptop scored extremely badly on the DPC latency meter, and the Firewire scan revealed that it used a non‑compatible Ricoh chip set. The section of Blackbird Control dealing with DPC latency allows the unit to be switched from the default ‘Safe Mode 1’ into one of three other modes, and selecting Safe Mode 3 — the safest of all the safe modes — made things a lot better, though not entirely rock‑solid. 

Mackie told me that the DICE Firewire chip set they use tends to be pickier than most about Firewire controllers in PCs, but the driver software must have something to do with it, as I have had different results from other interfaces that use DICE chip sets: the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 works fine in the same Dell laptop, while the M‑Audio ProFire 2626 isn’t even recognised by it. Mackie are apparently building up a database of compatible systems, but given that they’ve gone to the trouble of developing utilities to scan the host computer, it would be nice if these were available as downloads so that buyers could check out their systems before parting with their cash. Likewise, it would make sense if the DPC latency checker was enabled automatically, and for the Blackbird to deliver some sort of warning when it does encounter a DPC‑related glitch. It would also be lovely if the system could recover more gracefully from such a glitch, even if it meant a drop-out or click in the middle of your recording."

It may well be that your Gateway Firewire chip isn't compatible with the Mackie Onyx. The fact that it apparently works with other applications, however, seems to suggest otherwise.

One other interesting possibility - Beagle wrote, "mackie's drivers have been notorious for being horrible.  I know some people have resolved the problem by purchasing 3rd party drivers by CEntrance.  google it - I think the drivers were about $35 last I knew."

In case you're not familiar with Beagle here in the forums, he knows his stuff, so this is probably very good advice.

Have you checked out the Mackie forums? They may be able to help, too. If you haven't already, you should also try giving Mackie Tech Support a call to see if they can help.

I know it's very frustrating, especially when you're on a deadline, but the people on this forum are very knowledgeable and helpful, so I hope you can hang in there until one of us gets you the critical information you need to solve the problem. Meanwhile, good luck.

AmazingPanda


I did as you suggested and checked the latency. It's actually working great...around 355 us and suggested operation is "normal". So I don't think it's a hardware conflict. I tried ASIO4ALL, no dice. I'm going to be on the phone with Mackie and Sonar first thing Monday morning, but they're closed over the weekend. Of course, this issue had to occur Friday night.

AmazingPanda,

Isn't it always the case that things go wrong at the most importune time?

Regarding the 355 us latency, that sounds impossibly small. What is your buffer set to and what sampling rate are you using?

Ran out and picked up a small Focusrite for $150. Worked perfectly. The problem, it seems, is with the Blackbird. Either the hardware itself went bad or there's a conflict with Windows or something.