Graeme McTaggart
The work around/answer is that I have to start Sonar, plug in my headphones, wait for Sonar to detect them (takes 20-45 seconds), select them in Audio Driver Preferences, close Sonar, restart Sonar and THEN, I can use headphones.
So much for Sonar being a highly developed programme, it can't even switch to headphone output on the fly.
 

Hello this is NOT Sonar detecting them. This is a windows operation.
This is all to do with your audio interface and drivers taking a long time. All Sonar does is see it when it is ready.
 
When I plug in my headphones into my saffire I don't have a separate output appear in device manager it just works.
 
I had asked earlier if you could please state the make and model of your audio interface maybe we could look into this. A little bit about your headphone setup would be nice as well, I assume you are plugging it into your audio interface?

Once SONAR has used an interface setup it will look for it. Because of this the fastest method to bring things online is interface (and MIDI controller if applicable), then SONAR. Shut down in the reverse order.

What audio driver mode are you using with SONAR, and what interfaces? I am confused how plugging in headphones get "recognized."

SONAR can be set to share drivers with other programs in preferences, but often the sample rate and bit depth for the device need to match Windows Sound card settings.

mettelus
What audio driver mode are you using with SONAR, and what interfaces? I am confused how plugging in headphones get "recognized."

I've got a feeling the OP is plugging his headphones into his motherboard speaker output (this would explain the behaviour) and probably isn't using an audio interface for this purpose. We definitely need more info.

Hello, and thank you for your help so far.
I assume that OP means operator?
What I mean by "detected" is that when the headphones are physically connected, the speakers are automatically disconnected and sound output is redirected to the headphones.
 
Here is the information that will hopefully help in diagnosing the problem.
 
When started, Sonar in Custom Preferences-Audio-Driver Settings-Playback Timing Master shows two options: None and 1. Speakers (high definition audio).
After connecting my headphones to the headphone socket, Sonar takes up to 45 seconds to report that The above device has been disconnected... would you like to reroute?...
Choosing yes silences the speakers but there is no output from the headphones.
I then choose Custom Preferences-Audio-Driver Settings-Playback Timing Master and it shows three options: None and 1. Headphones (high definition audio) 2. Speakers (high definition audio).
I select option 1 at this point.
Playing a demo song results in no output from the headphones.
Closing and restarting Sonar with the headphones still plugged-in will result in sound from the headphones with the speakers silent.
Curiously, unplugging the headphones results in Sonar automatically redirecting output to the speakers which start working within a few seconds.
I doubt that this is a Windows problem because with FL, connecting headphones disconnects the speakers instantly  and my headphones have output almost instantly too. Disconnecting the headphones results in instantaneous output from the speakers once again, which is what I regard as normal behaviour.
 
The device manager reports two audio controllers: High definition audio device (manufacturer Microsoft) and also Nvidia Virtual audio device (wave extensible) (WDM).
There are no Asio drivers installed on my computer.
FL Studio only uses them if you are recording and I never record, so I don't install them.
I don't recall any prompts to install them whilst installing Sonar.
 
I am using Windows 7 Pro 64 bit with service pack 1.
Intel i5 4210 with 8gb Ram and 750gb 7200 rpm HDD.
This is as much as I could afford to run Sonar.
 
Uninstalling and reinstalling Rapture 1.2.2.10 has not helped.
When I click to load a preset or a bank, I am prompted to browse for content files.
I cannot find any files that Rapture will accept and load.
This is why I thought that there was something else I had to download to finish the installation process.
 
The VST paths listed in the Command Center are:
32 bit - program files x86/cakewalk/vstplugins
64 bit - program files/cakewalk/vstplugins
 
Please let me know if you need any more information, thanks.

WRT Rapture, are you clicking in the program window? Here is an image showing the program window boxed in red and the program browser immediately below the box which opens after clicking in the program window.

you really need an ASIO driver for your soundcard - if it's the onboard sound chip, you can use asio4all, otherwise go to the manufacturer's website and download the ASIO driver from there
OP usually means "original post" (first post in thread) or "original poster" (person who posted the first post in thread)
hth, good luck!

Thank you for the input. WDM mode (or sometimes MME) tends to be the best for using SONAR on a Realtek HD chip. The default drivers are 16-bit, and recording audio may be problematic at best. Below are a few posts I did recently with setting up that chip for playback in SONAR which may help:
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3284760
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3200454
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3187938
 
 

mettelus
Thank you for the input. WDM mode (or sometimes MME) tends to be the best for using SONAR on a Realtek HD chip. The default drivers are 16-bit, and recording audio may be problematic at best. Below are a few posts I did recently with setting up that chip for playback in SONAR which may help:
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3284760
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3200454
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3187938
 

agreed never to use for recording audio, but i use a realtek (xp, w7, w8 & now w10) with asio4all for playback on my various laptops regularly - for me, asio4all performs better than both mme (ffs!) and wdm (even tho it's a wdm wrapper!) - did you try asio4all? (yes, i know asio4all's a boogey man in these forums, tho i've never quite understood why)

Hello again.
Can I just clarify that I will not be recording anything, ever, using this notebook. I'm only interested in playback.
Thus, do I need the Asio4all driver, new drivers for the motherboard's onboard sound (I don't know the manufacturer) or perhaps both?
My notebook is only three days old, I assumed that it's got up-to-date drivers, but I'll investigate if it's necessary.
I can ask the manufacturere, but they take 3 or 4 days to reply to an Email.
 
Regarding Rapture, in the screenshot above, I'm clicking on the line above with the VST2 box and downfacing arrowhead right next to it.
That's when I get the prompt to browse for presets, banks, etc. Is that wrong?
At that stage, the program browser in your screenshot isn't present on my system.
Inside Sonar, before I open the synth interface, all I have is the track list and the screen to the right which shows the track contents. Sorry, I don't know the terminology yet, it's all a bit different from FL, which is what I'm used to. It's the playlist and sequencer in FL.

Graeme McTaggart
 
Regarding Rapture, in the screenshot above, I'm clicking on the line above with the VST2 box and downfacing arrowhead right next to it.
That's when I get the prompt to browse for presets, banks, etc. Is that wrong?
 

Did you try my suggestion and click in the program window? There is also a fairly detailed help document which can be called up by clicking in the Rapture UI and hitting the F1 key.