Best driver config for MOTU PCIe-424 in Sonar

So, after reading how well the Quad Capture was running in Sonar, I was a bit miffed that with really big projects with dozens of plug-ins, I couldn't get below 128 samples and have stable audio.

I had settled on ASIO as my driver platform and been quite happy with it for the last couple of years.  Tonight, I decided to go through every possible combination of settings in the MOTU applet and Sonar to find the lowest latency with the best stability and here's what I found...

With my test project with lots of tracks and dozens of some of the heaviest FX I have, I tested ASIO, WDM/KS and WASAPI.

In ASIO mode, 128 samples was the low limit with my monster test project.  Even though I was not pushing past 40%-50% CPU, dropping to 64 samples would cause glitchy sound.  Next, I tried WASAPI, necessitating the "Use WaveRT for Windows Audio" checkbox in the  MOTU driver applet to be enabled.  Again, my low limit was 128 samples.

Here's where it gets a little interesting.  Switching to WDM/KS, again I could only get to 128 samples until I unchecked the "Use WaveRT for Windows Audio" checkbox in the MOTU applet.  Once that was off and the card was re-profiled, I found the low limit was down to 64 samples and I could literally throw huge numbers of tracks and plugins at Sonar without so much as a glitch.

For Sonar, the sweet spot for the MOTU applet seems to be 64 samples - then within Sonar, you can have the latency slider all the way to the left and get that 64 sample buffer.  If you drop the MOTU applet to 32 samples and re-profile in Sonar, you have to go higher than 64 samples, moving the slider to the right before it's stable, so 64 samples in the MOTU applet is the sweet spot.

In Summary:


For best performance in Sonar with MOTU PCIe-424 (or PCIX-424) based gear:

• In the MOTU applet: WaveRT unchecked, 64 samples
• In Sonar: WDM/KS

For the record, I am running a 2408 Mk3 and a 24I/O on a PC with a 6-core Phenom II with 8 GB of RAM.

What OS are you running?  

What is your Playback and Record IO size?

I tried WDM/KS but had several issues, had to go back to ASIO (Win 7 64bit).
ASIO works OK but I had to crank the Playback and Record IO to 1024

SCorey


Thanks for the tips. I've got a 424e/2408 setup, but it's in maintenance mode at the moment. What motherboard is yours on?

My motherboard is the Asus M5A97 EVO.  It's an AM3+ board, as I was one of the people hoping the bulldozer would be a good chip, but I have yet to find a project that my 6 core T1100 can't eat for breakfast.

jeffb63


Interesting. I've not actually tried anything other than ASIO with my PCI424, 2408MkIII and 1296. Might try a bit of testing! Thanks.

Yeah, it just goes to show that it is actually worth going through the process.  I'm happier than ever with my MOTU gear now.

RodC


I forgot to ask, how many tracks are you recording at a time?  At 6 or 7 I'm fine, but 18 or so recording I start to have issues.

Often 10 to 12 tracks at a time when recording the band with a fully mic'd drum kit.  When I get a chance, I will try 18 simultaneous tracks or more and see how I go.  With my 2408 Mk3 plugged into my ADA8000 and my 24I/O fed from my Mackie 24.8 console, I can technically simultaneously record 40 tracks at a time, but rarely have a need to.  But it does mean that I can push Sonar very hard for testing purposes if I need to.