Ok heres my scenario, I record a guitar vst instrument performance.
 
I want to be able to process it externally(fx loop?) with an eleven rack  and return the processed audio to my daw.
My audio interface has spdif as well as audio i.os and of course the firewire connection (focusrite DSP24 Pro), the eleven has spdif.
Can this be done completly in the digital domain, or do I have to go analog with separate audio I.O s?
 
 
I tried mucking with it last night and couldnt get a signal flow.Looking at the focusrite mix control  wasnt any help
 
EDIT UPDATE
with the help of some Focusrite knowledge base articles, some pages in the Avid Eleven Manual, some gris-gris/voodoo(well I am in south Louisiana) and very little from cakewalk articles I managed to get it to work.Using the external fx plug.
 
I mucked around with various I/O settings and wound up using the dsp24s line 3 inputs and outputs and daw 3/4 and patching analog out of the focusrite into the eleven.so no digital.
 
Then had a dickens of a time freezing the one track with the fx, sonar kept crashing till I got a successful freeze(and yes fast bounce was disabled)
 
Should be a lot easier than all this, but now i think I can get it, just grumpy cause I cant do it all digitally..
 
 

Are you using the External FX module? It gets tossed into the FX bin and you route your i/o to and from the external gear inside the module. At least that's how I think it works (haven't played with it yet).
 
So you would set up the module, in the module select the Focusrite SPDIF output to send the track signal to the hardware and then of course the SPDIF in to receive the affected signal back.
 
I am not whether SPDIF works for this but that's how it would if it does I'd imagine. Otherwise just use your audio i/o's.
 
When using the External FX Module thingie you have to manually set the latency in the module. Might want to give the Ref Manual a look under External FX (or maybe external inserts). There's a pretty good explanation in there. Doesn't look too complicated.
 
Cheers.

The External FX module makes it easy.  I'm sure many have used it, but from personal experience, it works well.  Just be sure to set up the module's latency.  Set your external hardware to be 100% wet and then do the latency "ping".
 
There seems to be one issue however: in my experience, the module can introduce weird latency issues when used in a project intended for live play/recording AND it contains several latency-compensated plugins AND uses MIDI to control external hardware.
 
For example, in my situation for any given project, I need to live-play/record MIDI, record audio from external synths, play/record internal VST synths, and play/record the Virus, which utilizes its own VST module with latency compensation.
 
Overall, I think sometimes a project can become too complex for the DAW to handle and/or be completely devoid of latency.  It is what it is.

Beepster
Are you using the External FX module? It gets tossed into the FX bin and you route your i/o to and from the external gear inside the module. At least that's how I think it works (haven't played with it yet).
 
So you would set up the module, in the module select the Focusrite SPDIF output to send the track signal to the hardware and then of course the SPDIF in to receive the affected signal back.
 
I am not whether SPDIF works for this but that's how it would if it does I'd imagine. Otherwise just use your audio i/o's.
 
When using the External FX Module thingie you have to manually set the latency in the module. Might want to give the Ref Manual a look under External FX (or maybe external inserts). There's a pretty good explanation in there. Doesn't look too complicated.
 
Cheers.

That what I was trying to do Beep.
I had a prerecorded guitar vst track in SPLAT on say track one.
My audio I/O is the Focusrite pro 24 dsp and a liquid saffire 56 chained together.Both have SPDIF I/Os.
the external processor is an Avid Eleven Guitar Rack with spdif. I can connect the spdifs and get sync lock.
I tried inserting in a bin, there is no choice for I/Os.
I am using ASIO right now and I think the only way to get the different i/o's I need to feed the fx is to switch to WDM , so I can use the elevens spdif input as a feed, sync the 11, digi out to the 24s digi in, then feed the 24s daw out to a separate gtr processed track...

Edit: Nevermind. I just thought about what I had proposed in this post and it was flawed logic. I'd have to see the units and how they interact with Sonar's i/o system.
 
Sorry... brainfart.
 
derp

I use EI with ADAT I/O; SPDIF should work just as well. You just need to make sure the SPDIF I/O is enabled in Preferences. If they're available as track I/O, they will be available to External Insert, so long as they're not already in use. I'm not sure I understand how the two interfaces are "chained" or whether they're just running in parallel using the same ASIO driver, but if SONAR can see the SPDIF I/O, EI can use them.
 
Regarding latency, you will want to set delay in the EI with the FX dry or bypassed, not wet. You want to compensate for latency of the I/O transmission delay, but not for any delay that might be added deliberately by the FX. And this will trigger Plugin Delay Comensation in your project, causing live inputs to be delayed. This is expected, and not due to load on the system. PDC delays all other track output (and the metronome) to match the delay of the external hardware loop so everything plays in sync. As with all PDC, you can override it on input-monitored tracks using the PDC [Override] button in the Mix Module if you want to rehearse or record with input monitoring through a track that doesn't have the EI on it.

Which of the two I/F's is actually connected to your PC Mike?

Wookiee
Which of the two I/F's is actually connected to your PC Mike?

Is that question for me Wookie?

Yes, I think he meant you, Joe. I was wondering the same thing. Is one interface slaved as a front end to the other or are they both connected directly to the PC and running parallel under the same ASIO driver?

Ham N Egz

Wookiee
Which of the two I/F's is actually connected to your PC Mike?

Is that question for me Wookie?

Yes sorry why I type Mike I have know idea must have had a brain wind pass.