Fog

FastBikerBoy
Declaring something that many of us use without an issue as 'crap' is probably not the best way to get a result. My tuppence worth........ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ratner

hehe 

(the speech bit.. which cost him his company)

Yeah I remember that. The power of the spoken word hey?

WDI


You shouldn't have to know anything about computers to get sonar running 100% crash free. 

I disagree.  As you music producer it is your responsibility to know what:  Drivers, hard disk, processor, ram, monitors, audio card, software, system requirements, and hardware setups are appropriate.


It is the part of the learning curve of music production.  Certainly ten years into music production, one should know how to make a proper bug report, so the software and hardware companies, and use communities can help determine where the true problem is.


All books, schools, courses, classes on music production intro with, "what you are going to need to run this stuff.  And how to set this up."  That is the basic foundation from which we all start.


As a music producer it is not your responsibility to know how to: Code computer software.  Hack computer software.  Write scripts.  Engineer the next midi-controller.  Build your own computer ( Although some do. )  Put your audio card together with a screwdriver and soldering iron.

For solutions like, "Garage Band, MTV Music Creator, Cakewalk's Music Creator, and other beginner software," it is the responsibility of the company selling the software to make sure, "plug and play functionality is there."

For the pro gear:  A certain amount of knowledge should be assumed.  At ten years into production, a lot of knowledge should have been acquired.

Asio is the standard.

WDI
Sonar should provide basic driver set up during install recommending optimal driver setting options. You shouldn't have to know anything about computers to get sonar running 100% crash free.  

but WDI as you know yourself, a little knowledge helps (or can be a dangerous thing hehe) . 


"blame" as such is tricky, it's a bit like me going to your place.. doing some electrical work and it being faulty 6 months later.. due to a plumbers pipe leaking...


people will spend a fortune on a pc / DAW / Controller and next to nothing on a sound card and expect it to work amazingly.. all because they didn't ask pre-buying / budgeting for it.

The thread title has been changed by now, and I think that's awesome!  Thank you, "way to go."  Any other problems, just ask..  The long term users know more than I for sure, but I'm a fast learner, and things are running really well.


Peace

This became an interesting thread.
I know LOTS of professionals and technical trades who don't know diddly about technology. 
Maybe most in fact. Yes they are users, but not fixers.
Engineers, Architects, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, teachers, draftsmen,  
The list goes on and on. 
I'd suggest only half or fewer musicians can trouble shoot their gear much beyond changing strings, plugging in and volume adjustments.
The difference may be that most professionals have enough money to include an IT guy on staff.
The audio/video guys are unique in that so many are computer savvy and maybe unique as professionals in that, they alone, (and musicians) can't afford an IT guy.
I wonder if George Martin could troubleshoot DAW crashes?
Remember that it takes at least 10 years to be a pro and that computer programs for professionals have only been useful for the last 20 years. Maybe only 10 for many pros?
When cars were 20, you had to change your own flat tires and adjust spark and fuel on the fly. 
You had to be a pretty good mechanic to keep it running.
Now we expect any licensed 16 yr old driver to jump into any car and drive it.
Computers may be like that one day - soon hopefully. 
Maybe then programs be able to follow suit.
In my opinion, it's the biggest reason that Apple has become so popular.
The PC's are such a complex collection of parts mostly from random manufacturers from third world countries, running programs created by largely self taught software developers that it's a wonder to me that it friggin works at all.

If you want to do technical stuff you gotta know the basic principals of how stuff works. The day someone creates a DAW that works seamlessly on every single computer in every possible configuration and allows completely computer illiterate people to master the program at a glance is the day that someone will become extremely rich. If you can't be bothered to take the time to learn how to make it all work pay someone who did to do your recording for you. Life ain't easy. DAWs are harder.

mlipscombmtl


I'm using the WDM/KS drivers with Roland's Quad-capture. The ASIO drivers on this thing are useless. Should I be using something else? I was told by the guy who sold it to me that these are the drivers I should be using. I also tested all the others and had the best luck with these. 

I've a Cake UA-101 (originally an Edirol interface, bought out by Cake/Roland).
 
Though the conventional wisdom says to use ASIO, for what it's worth I've found the WASAPI drivers give better results than the ASIO - could be worth trying with the Quad if WASAPI drivers come with it.
 
In my case at least, WASAPI made a (very long standing in Sonar but apparently very difficult for Cake to duplicate) loop recording bug go away and gives lower "round trip" latency. The drivers also seem rock solid (haven't had an X1 crash in many months).
 
I have no other sound cards enabled on the DAW (the m/board sound is disabled in BIOS) which also helps, plus it's an audio-focused installation with as few background tasks/services as possible.

I am FAR more interested in making music but I know that production is a LOT of learning and hard work. The reality is DAWs make it WAY easier and accessible than it used to be. Would I rather have a full time engineer with a full production studio living in my basement to record my every whim? Hell ya. But I don't. So I learn as much as I can and accept the inherent flaws and frustration that come with the process. You wanna be a doctor? Ya learn to do doctoring type stuff. You wanna be an music engineer? Ya learn engineer type stuff.

Before my join date,I had only EVER used a computer for a couple of weeks,an old P3 a mate gave me to see what "it" was all about.

The next week I bought X1 Studio,and a Dell XPS 15 i7 Sandy Bridge laptop,a Tascam US600,some KRK gen2 5" Rokit monitors,and had literally NO SOUND,for 23 days.

It,eventually turned out to be a dud Tascam interface,and the only other interface the store had to swap,was a cakewalk UA25-EX,a USB 1.1 unit that has worked flawlessly,although the RTLatency with my listed desktop[much more powerful than the laptop] is 12.6 milliseconds.

A hell of a lot of problems are usually going to be user error,wether you're prepared to accept this or not.

Even though my desktop is way better,I'm actually using my Dell laptop mostly,as now after 13 months with X1,i'm way more adept,at setup,of the Operating System[W7 x64]and the Daw[X1d Producer Expanded]and I have everything duplicated,on both machines,and all is now totally smooth,the only thing that is not,is "backing up" on the laptop,and this is a W7/Dell thing,that is dependent on the media,wether it be an external USB HDD,or a USB stick[which is the only thing working correctly ATM],so problems are always going to appear,the best thing I can say is DO NOT PANIC-which you did with your original post.......it takes sometimes,a long time to get all 3 things to interact correctly-computer/OS/DAW,and this is the same for all the differring products.

I bought my desktop instead of getting a much better interface[same price]and I love the fact,that I now have a duplicate machine,that will work no matter what goes wrong,rather than spend all my money on one setup,which originally was going to be an Apple Macbook Pro,but had I gone that route,I would have had no money for anything but the computer,so I weighed up the options,and learned that since Sandy Bridge,Windows machines were way more cost effective,it just takes time,patience,and less panic,and all will work out...eventually,it is NOT a Sonar X1d fault however.

Bob

All the people on this thread defending sonar are probably employed by the company and can kiss my arse.... I've used a heap of different programs for music production - logic, nuendo, FL,reason, cubase, Adobe audition... and never have I had so many issues and headaches setting something up as I have had with sonar... and then no reply from tech Support... whatever you do... never by sonar...and don't believe anyone on the net who defends the product... They probably work for the company