Need help with outboard effects & reamping - SOLVED

I am trying to apply hardware effects to a existing track in a Sonar project. I have done this successfully on a different system using a Line6 UX8 interface. It all seemed logical and straighforward. I just routed the relevant track to an unused output of the interface. Then out to the outboard gear and back through one of the interface inputs. Then a new track armed to record from the same input. It worked! I have also done the same thing using another interface that only had one one set of outputs, so that involved disconnecting the speakers. But anyway it worked the same way in principle.

But now I have a new interface, an Audient iD22, and I am struggling trying to achieve the same outcome. I have tried lots of different configurations, some of them involving Sonar's external fx insert facilty. I don't really have a clear understanding of the Id22's software mixer and how it works (even though I've read the manual several times), so I am just trying things almost at random. Nothing seems to work the way I expect it to. It's probably simple really but it seems unintuitive to me because it's not what I'm used to. I succeeded to some extent at one point, but I was not able hear the processed signal until I recorded it and played it back (I can't remember how I did that). I'm lost and confused and don't know what to try next.

I need to output an existing track in a project through a piece of hardware and record the processed signal onto another track. And I need to be able to monitor the processed signal before pressing record, so that I can tweak the hardware settings. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

Thanks for responding. OK I stuck with Sonar's External Insert facility. I checked the iD22 manual again and found an example configuration for using hardware effects. It recommends setting the first and second outputs to "DAW THRU". I don't really get it, but it seems to work. I find this setting a bit scary as it bypasses the volume control and will blast out through the speakers at full volume if I forget to turn the level down in Sonar before hitting playback. I will need to remember to set it back to normal when finished before opening another project. Otherwise I could risk blowing the speakers.

Kev999
Thanks for responding. OK I stuck with Sonar's External Insert facility. I checked the iD22 manual again and found an example configuration for using hardware effects. It recommends setting the first and second outputs to "DAW THRU". I don't really get it, but it seems to work. I find this setting a bit scary as it bypasses the volume control and will blast out through the speakers at full volume if I forget to turn the level down in Sonar before hitting playback. I will need to remember to set it back to normal when finished before opening another project. Otherwise I could risk blowing the speakers.
 
I've also discovered that bypassing the External Insert in the FX Bin causes the signal to go directly to the speakers at full volume. I will need to be ultra careful.

that should definitely not be the case. there must be a different solution to that which does not require risk blown speakers or ears. I'd dig into the routing options of the audio interface internal mixer because this should be really simple to achieve actually.

I'm still having issues. It seems to work generally but not always as expected. There's one particular thing that bugs me when using External Insert. I'm routing the signal from ana audio track through an External Insert, out to a secondary output of the interface and returning via one of the inputs. This works OK. However the dry signal seems to be present too and I can't get rid of it. If I turn the return level right down, I should hear nothing on playback. But I'm still hearing the dry signal. Why? There are no meters moving in Sonar apart from the one corresponding to the interface's secondary output in Console View's Mains. There must be a way around this but I can't seem to find it.

I've found a workable solution. Using External Insert, if I send to the right side and return to the left, the dry and processed signals will be coming out of different speakers. Switching the right speaker off efectively mutes the dry signal, I can now listen to the processed signal alone on the left speaker.

This is only a workaround though. And it is only applicable to mono signals. Also no good using headphones. Ultimately I need a better solution, but this will do for now.

bokchoyboy
...did you ever get the routing thing ironed out besides the workaround?...

 
Yes, I got it working, but I can't remember the details of the settings off the top of my head. I'll get back to you later.

There are at least two ways of achieving the same result. One is to use the External Insert in the fx bin of a track or bus. The problems that I was having were due to quirky behaviour of Sonar and Audient's mixer software which is not very intuitive (not to me anyway). Sonar seems to require the solo button to be on. And it doesn't seem to work if there are any Aux track anywhere in the routing after the insert. With Aux tracks involved, put the insert on a bus instead.
 
The Insert's output needs to be set to Alt Out. The Alt faders need to be turned down on the mixer, but up in Sonar.
The same result can be achieved without the External Insert. Just send or output to Alt Out. Obviously the outboard gear needs to be outed into the interface inputs and a track needs to be armed for recording in Sonar.
 
Anyway it works, although I'm away from my DAW so I can't be specific about every detail. I've marked this thread as "solved".

bokchoyboy
...still on the fence about the iD22... its either that or the babyface pro...

 
When I was shopping around for an interface I ruled out the Babyface immediately. I hate those UIs where a single control has many uses depending what was pressed last. Some users are ok with it but I'm not. The iD22 has 4 rotary controls, 8 switches and 5 buttons, each for different functions. I prefer that.
 
I posted some of my subjective impressions about the iD22 a while back:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Audient-iD22-first-impressions-m3420348.aspx

bokchoyboy
...concerns about the iD22 are the drivers...

 
I'm not aware of any issues with the drivers.
 
EDIT:
I'd forgotten, but the iD22 was initially Mac-only and apparently there were some reports of problems when the first Windows drivers were released. Not unexpected really. Anyway, that's all in the past.