Armed MIDI track won't show recording meter. Am I doing something wrong?

I'm not able to configure Track View so that an Rec-Armed MIDI track shows the meter.
I noticed this in SONAR X3, but the same problem seems to exist in SONAR Platinum.
 
I like to have Track Meters set so that they only display when armed for recording. Audio tracks work fine. MIDI tracks won't show the meter.
 
Am I missing something?

I just tried this and I see the MIDI meter showing activity as I hit keys on my MIDI keyboard.  This was also the case with X3

Hi John. The issue is if you go into TV Options > Meter Options, and uncheck Playback Meters, Record Meters will not show up on MIDI tracks when you arm them.
 
Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a Record Meter for MIDI since SONAR doesn't monitor the MIDI IN, only the MIDI Out. But it's a little problematic if you're trying to confirm MIDI activity before recording.
 

brundlefly
Hi John. The issue is if you go into TV Options > Meter Options, and uncheck Playback Meters, Record Meters will not show up on MIDI tracks when you arm them.
 
Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a Record Meter for MIDI since SONAR doesn't monitor the MIDI IN, only the MIDI Out. But it's a little problematic if you're trying to confirm MIDI activity before recording.
 

I'm not understanding this I always believed those options apply to audio not MIDI. The options have no real meaning if applied to MIDI. 
 
Also I'm not all that sure that inputing MIDI is not monitored.  How could it show activity on mine if it didn't? How could it become recorded and in a track if Sonar didn't see it?

I've just tested this on my system, doing exactly what you suggested and the record meter on bothe the Midi track and the associated Audio track both respond when armed for recording.
 
They also respond as expected : The Midi track shows a very sharp transient to indicate Note On an d then drops to 0, the Audio track follows the envelope of the audio
It might be necessary to right click in the space below the track header and select "Show Playback Meter"

After testing a bit more. These are my results. With playback meters on the Track meter for MIDI will show whether inputing or not. With them off and record armed the track header MIDI meter is no longer showing the inspector is and works. 
 
The MIDI meters show velocity and events. The red part is the event. They can be used to confirm that MIDI is coming or going out. 

Bristol_Jonesey
It might be necessary to right click in the space below the track header and select "Show Playback Meter"

That's precisely the issue. It shouldn't be necessary to "Show Playback Meter" in order to get a "Record" meter when the track is armed.
 

Yes, I realized that I still have 8.0 as well, and it's the same. I still think it's kind of an "oversight", but does appear to be "working as designed".
 
 

So glad to have found this thread. I have noticed since upgrading to Plat last month that the midi track meters are not visible even when midi track is armed to record unless echo is turned on. It makes it a little inconvenient to quickly see whether the track is receiving midi if you are setting up to record a midi track and an audio track from an external synth. Setting echo to 'on' will quickly confirm that midi is present by immediately pegging the midi because of the midi loop it creates. Obviously, carefully checking the routing will confirm also, but just seeing the activity on the meter is more direct and foolproof than manually verifying tnat input device and channel on the midi track match the external synth midi out setting. It may be default in Plat for playback meters to be hidden (or I accidentally changed the setting). Anyway, glad to have found the fix and stop thinking I was going crazy!
 
Along the same lines, I think it would be convenient to have an out option of 'None' on midi channels. There are times (like above) when I just want to see and record a midi data stream without sending it anywhere. Another instance would be trying to record a midistream when you don't have an importable file (e.g., a MusicNotes .mtf file , that will be the topic of another thread!)Setting echo to 'off' accomplishes this but the output parameter still shows what is basically a dummy output. Not a big deal but a bit confusing when you look back at your midi tracks and ask yourself 'why is this track outputting to a vst, drum channel, ext synth...etc.
 
Brian

filtersweep
Setting echo to 'on' will quickly confirm that midi is present by immediately pegging the midi because of the midi loop it creates.

Assuming we're talking about hardware synths, that shouldn't happen unless the OUT on the synth is acting as a THRU or you've actually connected a dedicated THRU back to the DAW. In the case of soft synths, it can happen if the synth has MIDI Out enabled, and the input of the track is set All Inputs. Just making sure that the Input to the track is from a specific port should avoid that.