Hi,
 
I have Sonar x2a Studio and Samson Graphite 49 controller.
 
I've setup the Midi preferences as follows:

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And have setup the Midi Control Surface as follows:

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These settings seem to work well however the controller has 9 faders (Assignable sliders) and transport buttons, (rew, for, stop, play and rec). 
 
The slider S1 appears to be the master while it really should be S9, furthermore the slider is not moving in the console view but the volume is changing. 
 
The transport buttons don't seem to be assigned either, that is if I press on the Samson controller the record button nothing happens as well as the rewind, forward, stop or play buttons...
 
If I can for starters get these keys assigned with sonar software then I'll be half way home!!!
 
Anyone have some suggestions or pointers on how to get these keys assigned properly?
 

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I use Roland A-800Pro (with the "A-Pro" option from the Controller/Surface drop-down list) so I don't know anything about your keyboard and could be completely wrong here, but are you not supposed to choose "ACT MIDI Controller" from the drop-down if you want to use Sonar's ACT feature?

Thanks for the response.
 
I've also sent email to Samson support and waiting for their response, surely they'd have tested Sonar products with their controller.
 
I'm using the "Mackies C4" Controller from the dropdown list as this seems to work with the keyboard keys better than the bog-standard "Mackies", (ACT has the same effect as does the Mackies C4) and have loaded the keyboard preset to use "Cakewalk"...  I'm surprised though I can't find any more information on this using google and scanning over the controllers documentation. 
 
I'll experiment a bit more with the bog-standard "Mackies", hopefully Samson support will have a good solid response and get me going quickly..
 

 
I found this review on the Samson Graphite 49 (soundonsound dot com) and does mention the following:

Most MIDI controllers provide remote control of basic DAW functions, and the Graphite is no exception. Having selected the appropriate factory preset for your DAW, the available functions are Transport controls (the five buttons to the panel's lower right), level control of audio tracks 1-8 (sliders 1-8), track mutes (buttons F1-F8) and track solos (buttons F9-F16). This all worked exactly as advertised, using preset number six (Cakewalk) and the bog-standard Mackie Control surface template in Sonar. Preset templates for other DAWs include Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, Ableton, Reason, Traktion and Digital Performer

I tried the ACT controller and couldn't get it to work..
 
I then tried the Mackies Controller and specified Output port as follows and now everything works fine including faders sliding in the Sonar software, rec play etc,... all looks good now!!!
 

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Congrats Jimmy!

Glad you have sorted out the problem, JimmyBoy. There is very little info available anywhere on the net! I eventually got to where you are now. Then I upgraded to x3... Now, with the same settings, Sonar sees the Samson, but only the controls work. So I can stop, start and pan away, but no midi notes! I'm pretty clueless with midi, so any possible answers out there? I have restored the factory settings on the Samson as well, just for in case.

Hi Corne,
 
I'm fairly new to using Sonar, in fact new to using any DAW,.. I use to use Cubase XE with some crack and was pretty good too - but that was ages ago and my mate had shown me a trick or two, but he got married and has turned into a clone, now that's another story...  So anyway at times I might come across aggressive cause I get so frustrated with how difficult it is to get something simple going, this might be a little blind leading the blind here, but here goes anyway...
 
When you load up your project, or start new and laid out a MIDI track with some notes and can't hear anything and you see the volume lights indicating there is sound, then you got to a stage I got to.  If this is the case, you need to click on "Help" and then click "MIDI" and then click on "no sound during playback", follow the steps in the web link and bob's your uncle!
 
Now you need to vent your frustration by either going for a jog or riding your bike.. I find jogging better, cause even if I get tired I still need to walk the rest of the way back home :)
 
Hope that helps, I personally think it to be a lot more simpler and not need to think about the extra steps to get midi playback..
Jim
 

Thanks, Jim.
 
Personally I go for kettlebells! That used to be my career... really fun. Thanks for your answer. My problem is not with the midi inside Sonar, but the connection between my controller and Sonar, as I receive controller data, but no note data.
 
Good luck with your jogging and music.

Thanks, Jim.
 
Personally I go for kettlebells! That used to be my career... really fun. Thanks for your answer. My problem is not with the midi inside Sonar, but the connection between my controller and Sonar, as I receive controller data, but no note data.
 
Good luck with your jogging and music.

Well, I may offer some help here. Graphite 49 is an awesome piece of kit for the price, with aftertouch, at more than $100 lower than the next lowest aftertouch, but it's woefully underdocumented. I was looking for you geniuses to improve my setup, but let's start by getting you up to where I am.
 
You should choose Mackie Control, correct, port 5 in, port 2 out is correct. If it suddenly acts wonky, then just delete the setup and do it again. This will give you control, but no ACT. In MIDI devices (Preferences|Midi Devices) you select just Port 2 and graphite 49 out, and port 5 and Graphite 49 in, and the Mackie setup takes port 5, so you use the graphite 49 as the keyboard into your tracks.
 
For ACT, I edited user 17 and set it up as an ACT midi Controller, and then I get fader and knob action in all my plug ins. Just wish I knew how to upload the graphite setup to you, and how to export the ACT preset (from sonar) and upload that to you too.
 
Good Luck, respond if any of this is unclear; or foolish!
 
Darryl