Synth routing suddenly broken in X1 AND X3??

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shmuelyosef
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2013/11/24 02:59:13 (permalink)

Synth routing suddenly broken in X1 AND X3??

An odd thing. I have been merrily getting up to speed in X3 and using the system regularly with no glitches. Today I can't get any soft synths to play back with X3 or X1, on pre-existing or new projects/ setups. Here is what I know:
 
- I can open a standalone soft synth (no Sonar involved) and it plays from my keyboard controller through my Saffire system just like before...e.g. Addictive Keys. All works as expected, so it's nothing to do with my drivers or ASIO router. 
- Regardless of whether i set up synths manually (audio and MIDI tracks and route to synth) or automatically (e.g. set up synth folder with tracks, or just MIDI and first Audio output), I get the same behaviour...the MIDI track shows signal, but it doesn't seem to route to the synth at all or return any audio....if I watch the synth (e.g. the MIDI activity light, or on board mixers) nothing seems to happen. 
- I can record MIDI events and play them back through the Saffire (using hardware SoundCanvas)
- If I insert an Audio track, and pull down on the input, my Saffire is labeled as 10-in, 10-out, but the second level pulldown doesnt' expand...i.e. it looks like I have no input audio tracks. 
 
I tried rebooting, etc...I'm completely dead in the water. 
 
any thoughts??

- Sonar Platinum 64-bit; Reaper; Ableton Live 9; Samplitude
- PugetSystems Serenity Mini: WIN 10-PRO 64-bit; Intel Quad i7-4670 turbo to 3.8GHz; 16GB RAM; ASUS Gryphon Z89 - Antec P180 case. 
- Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
- DSI OB-6 (love child of a Prophet and an Oberheim)
- NORD Electro 3HP
- Roland XP-10
- Customized Fender-Rhodes Dyno Stage 73
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    bitflipper
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    Re: Synth routing suddenly broken in X1 AND X3?? 2013/11/24 12:08:38 (permalink)
    When that's happened to me it's always been a mismatch between the MIDI track's channel number and the synth's MIDI channel assignment. 


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    shmuelyosef
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    Re: Synth routing suddenly broken in X1 AND X3?? 2013/11/24 12:42:16 (permalink)
    On the MIDI input side, I see the VU meter reflect what I'm playing on my MIDI controller. On the MIDI-Track --> SoftSynth  connection, nothing seems to happen. If I open a clean project, insert a softsynth (I've tried everything from SI to full track folder) where there is only one synth and one MIDI track, I don't get a connection. 
     
    As I said, I think that it is related to the fact that I no longer have any access to my ASIO input channels from the Saffire. 
     
    I'm beginning to think that maybe it isn't a Sonar problem...

    - Sonar Platinum 64-bit; Reaper; Ableton Live 9; Samplitude
    - PugetSystems Serenity Mini: WIN 10-PRO 64-bit; Intel Quad i7-4670 turbo to 3.8GHz; 16GB RAM; ASUS Gryphon Z89 - Antec P180 case. 
    - Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
    - DSI OB-6 (love child of a Prophet and an Oberheim)
    - NORD Electro 3HP
    - Roland XP-10
    - Customized Fender-Rhodes Dyno Stage 73
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    scook
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    Re: Synth routing suddenly broken in X1 AND X3?? 2013/11/24 12:47:03 (permalink)
    May want to check Preferences > Audio > Driver Settings "Playback Timing Master" in SONAR
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    shmuelyosef
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    Re: Synth routing suddenly broken in X1 AND X3?? 2013/11/24 19:22:55 (permalink)
    Thanx for the tips...I've never really understood "Playback Timing Master", but changing the settings didn't help. 
     
    I suspected the drivers, so here is what I did:
     
    I checked the Focusrite site for new drivers, and there was an update...I updated from MixControl 3.2 to MixControl 3.3, and surprisingly, there was a firmware update that was required as well. I believe this was the first firmware update since I purchased the unit 5-6 years ago. I rebooted everything and restarted Sonar X3. 
     
    ...this didn't help or change anything...bumming me out. 
     
    Next I decided to switch over to WDM drivers to see if was related to ASIO. I have had trouble in the past with latency on WDM, as well as lots of <Audio Engine Stopped Suddenly> messages at the most convenient times (tongue firmly still in my cheek). I did get an error message that channels 1 and 2 from my Focusrite were <Unavailable> and Sonar informed me that if I set them active they would be silent...
     
    ...everything started working as expected at this point. Latency was a little higher, but all the routing stuff behaved as I have come to expect. I can connect a MIDI track and Audio track arbitrarily to any open synth and it behaves perfectly. Channels 1 and 2 from the Focusrite were similarly fine.
     
    Just because I don't have a good emotional connection to WDM drivers (since ASIO became available, and it reminds me of my M-Audio days), I switched back to ASIO drivers. Once again, I got the <channel 1 and 2 silent...> message. However, this time everything continued working just fine, including channels 1 & 2. 
     
    So I'm 'back to normal' but have an uneasy feeling about all this, since I don't really think that I fixed anything. Is there something that Sonar does when you switch on ASIO drivers that amounts to resetting? 
     
    I failed to mention anywhere above, but throughout all this, Audacity continued to work just fine...it is the only other DAW-like software that I use ASIO for. I just use the internal sound (which is reasonably good Realtek 7.1) for all else including Sibelius (although if I upgrade, Sibelius 7 only supports ASIO at this point). 

    - Sonar Platinum 64-bit; Reaper; Ableton Live 9; Samplitude
    - PugetSystems Serenity Mini: WIN 10-PRO 64-bit; Intel Quad i7-4670 turbo to 3.8GHz; 16GB RAM; ASUS Gryphon Z89 - Antec P180 case. 
    - Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
    - DSI OB-6 (love child of a Prophet and an Oberheim)
    - NORD Electro 3HP
    - Roland XP-10
    - Customized Fender-Rhodes Dyno Stage 73
    #5
    bitflipper
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    Re: Synth routing suddenly broken in X1 AND X3?? 2013/11/24 19:40:01 (permalink)
    Sorry, I didn't pick up that you were talking about playing a synth in real time, as opposed to recording MIDI and then playing it back. You need to turn on Input Echo in order to hear the synth as you're playing.


    All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. 

    My Stuff
    #6
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