Sonar 8.5.3 x64 won't work with Presonus Audiobox 44VSL ASIO driver

I'm using Sonar 8 but figured there would be more traffic on this forum.  I need advice about getting Sonar 8.5.3 x64 (running on Windows 7 Pro x64) to work with Presonus Audiobox 44VSL ASIO driver.  When I play or record, I get the message:
 
“Sonar 8.5 Producer unable to open audio playback device.  Device may not support the current project’s audio format or may be in use.”
 
I have tried everything recommended by Presonus tech support, including:
 
            Reinstalled latest driver with latest driver.
           
            Disabled Intel HyperThreading in BIOS.
 
            Disabled onboard sound in BIOS.
 
            Disabled FireWire in Device Mgr.
 
            Disconnected peripherals other than mouse, keyboard, and Audiobox.
 
            Turned off all the advanced power options in Windows 7.
 
            Set Windows audio AudioBox Playback device 1-2 and 3-4 to 24bit and AudioBox Record device 1-2 and 3-4 to 24bit.
 
            Windows Sound is configured to put the AudioBox into Exclusive Mode.
 
            Plugged 44VSL directly into computer, not thru a hub.
 
            Set Sonar Global/Audio to 24bit playback and 24bit record.
 
            Unchecked the shared mode option in Sonar Options/Audio.  
 
            Turned off read and write caching in Sonar.
 
 
All other Windows audio applications work fine - players etc.

The Presonus Audiobox 44VSL and ASIO driver works fine with Studio One, but not Sonar 8.5.3, so that seems to point the finger at Sonar rather than general audio problems.
 
Sonar 8.5.3 seems to work ok using the WDM driver.  Will using the WDM driver cause problems for me later as I try more ambitious projects?  The latency doesn't feel much different.
 
Would this problem go away if I purchased a MOTU 4pre instead of the 44VSL?

Would this problem go away if I upgraded to Sonar X2?  Sonar X2 seems to have its own set of issues, though.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 
_______________________________________________________
 
Intel Quad Core i7 950 3.07 GHz
24 GB GSkill triple channel 1333 Mhz RAM
ASUS P6X58D-E Motherboard
ATI Radeon HD 5700 fanless video
Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
Sonar 8.5.3 x64 Producer
Presonus Audiobox 44VSL
Mackie HR-624 Mk2 monitors
1 - 200G OCZ Vertex2 SSD for OS and programs
1 – 2T Seagate SATA2 for Audio
1 – 2T Seagate SATA2 for VST
1 – 2T Seagate SATA2 for Data

I've got a friend using 8.5.3 and a vsl22.

What sort of port are you plugged into with the interface?  I have a Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, and it did not like being plugged into a USB 3.0 port - try using a USB 2.0 port and see if that makes any difference.

Also, maybe I missed it, but I did not see what your sample rates are set to.

The sample rate for the interface must match the setting for sample rate in Sonar.  If the interface is set to 44.1, then you must also set Sonar to 44.1 or you will have trouble.

Your system seems pretty beefy - try the following settings:

Interface: Sample Rate 44.1, ASIO Buffer Size 64
Sonar: Sample Rate 44.1, record bit-depth 24

That's what I use on my system, and everything is fine - if you try the above and it works, you can try changing the sample rate to 96, but I think that the Presonus interface will require a minimum ASIO Buffer of 128 at that sample rate.

Anyways, give it a whirl and post back with results.

Bob Bone

Just curious. The Presonus 44VSL cost $300. A MOTU 4pre costs $450. My return period is still good. Does anybody know if there is a big difference in sound quality between the MOTU and the Presonus? And whether the MOTU ASIO stands a better chance of working with Sonar?

 
No clue about the MOTU unit myself, but the Focusrite Scarlett series plays nice with SONAR X1/2 using ASIO, so I'd imagine it would work OK with 8.5 too.

haydn12


I'm using a MOTU 4-Pre in Sonar 8.5.3 in Windows 7 x64 using the 64-bit version of Sonar.  ASIO is working fine with low latency.

Jim

Thanks Jim.  Would you say the preamps in the MOTU 4pre are on the trasparent side or on the slightly colored side?  I haven't heard a MOTU's sound.  And what do you think of it on the whole?  Your system is the exact setup I have.


Gary

Great sound from your Scarlett. Grey Morning Myst sounds good. How did you get that sound level of clear in-your-face acoustic mix without distorting or muddying? Nice job.

 
Thanks!  Although I have to admit that tune was done using my old Roland VM3100 mixer/RPC1 interface, way before I had the Scarlett.
 
And as far as the acoustic sound goes, I think it sounds very clear as well.  But I can't attribute that to any audio interface - it's actually an acoustic guitar patch from Dim Pro.  
 

chitwilber


I hope you get this solved. Please see my thread at
http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2764001

I should have named it
Sonar 8.5.3/ 1818VSL compatibilty problem
but I didn't know how it was going to turn out.

First off, I feel your pain and understand how extraordinarly miffed you are right now... because I'm swimming in that same mudhole.  Two weeks is a lot of time to spend fooling around with a huge distraction from my work.  


I had pops and static on installs of the 1.2 and 1.21 driver installation packages for Windows sound applications, Real Player, Media Player, Youtube, etc.  Sonar 8.5.3 had no sound in or out at all with the Audiobox 44VSL ASIO.  I tried EVERYTHING.  Finally Presonus tech support told me it may take several installations before the driver works without static.  They were right.  After half a dozen tries (after following all of the suggestions from Presonus and the forums), all windows sound applications work well now completely static free.  But  Sonar still does not play or record audio using ASIO.  Everything else (fingers crossed) is crystal clear.


Presonus also told me my only option in Sonar was to use the WDM driver -- and that seems to work fine.  The helpful guys here on the Cakewalk forums seem to generally agree that ASIO is not necessarily better than WDM in all cases.  I assume you're beating your head against this wall over the ASIO driver -- I can't remember for sure if you are? So WDM seems to do the job for me.  I'm still putting it through its paces before my vendor return period runs out, but it seems ok.


As for the Audiobox driver number confusion, it looks to me like they have a driver installation package with one numbering scheme: v1.2, 1.2.1 beta, etc.  And the actual drivers once unpacked have a different numbering scheme( v1.57 looks like it's the unpacked driver from the 1.2.1 beta installation package).  (Good thinking, Presonus programmers.)  Re-read the comments on your thread again and they might make more sense with this in mind.


I was a software programmer for awhile.  Letting bad drivers go out that affect thousands of customers, is not too swift.  Causes a lot of needless pain and suffering.  And a lot of heated conversation.  Fortunately there are good people in these forums who take the time to help where they can.


Good luck.
Gary

Same issue here, AudioBox 22VSL.
 
Old ASIO drivers (supplied on CD) work (8.5, X1 and X2), but the new downloaded drivers do not. 
 
The PreSonus help gives no explanation, just says in case of problems use WDM. It works, but I can't say I'm delighted. 
 
As the OP noted, other products, Audacity for example, work fine.
 
So is Sonar doing something wrong?

I just remembered another person recently posting about a disconnect between Presonus drivers and 8.5.3 - although they were having trouble with an Audiobox 1818VSL.

I do not know if any of this applies, but here is the forum link to that thread: 

http://forum.cakewalk.com...;m=2764001&mpage=2

Bob Bone