Anderton

lludwick
However, I expect the new drivers for 4x4 could be at fault if they don't release after Sonar closes. 

As long as I close SONAR first, I can open windows media player, youtube, etc. and get playback.

Well , well. I have to say it's the first time I have seen something similar happen. 
I did an extremely search on the net , and found those ASIO drivers that works for all soundcards. 
 
http://odeus-audio.com.au/Odeus/AsioLink
 
It's the only Asio driver working SO good . 
And YES , now the soundcard rock the house ! (so far) 
The drivers really transform the soundcard from a waste of money to really pro and usable machine. 
It's extremely annoying to see a great company produce such lame drivers. 
Their drivers might had some use in Windows 7 , but into a new  technology win 8.1 pro , 
those drivers was just junk. 
 
And no I am not taking any money to advertise those new asio drivers. I never used other drivers than the manufacture before. Like with M-audio all went great ! But this time Tascam can't upkeep. 
Also the email I send to the support , just came back today with mail delivery failure!!!. 
here is their email link : 
Array@aws.teac.com
do you know if they are having another ? I would like to inform them of the situation , just to help other users maybe with a proper future driver fix , according to all the information I gathered. 
 
Hope this story help other people as well. I still want to see if Tascam comes with new updates that fix that issue in win 8.1 pro. 
 
 
 

I ABOSLUTELY do not ever set the Windows Default Audio Device to be my audio interface.  It is always set to either the HDMI output to one of my HDTV display monitors (built-in speakers, and HDMI sends video and sound to the TV), OR I sometimes route Windows sound through the PC speaker jack in the back of the computer, then using a $5 splitter from Radio Shack that splits the left and right outputs to quarter-inch instrument cables (left and right), which I then insert as inputs to my audio interface.  (I do it the second way sometimes to use my nicer reference monitor speakers instead of the HDTV speakers).
 
But what is so nice about running as above, is that I NEVER EVER have any conflicts, because only Sonar, or other stand-alone music programs (Rapture, Dim Pro, Kontakt), use the ASIO drivers of the audio interface.
 
Super simple to implement, and never problematic - hope any of the above helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 

What we see here is the problem with Tascam to uphold with the right drivers.
Their drivers are pretty awful. No good drivers no good product. 
 
Since this driver is solving the problem http://odeus-audio.com.au/Odeus/AsioLink
then Tascam should consider twice which programmers are making their drivers. 
I don't think I will every buy another Tascam product, until they change their programmers
and support behavior. 

I am trying to setup the 4x4 ... for the PC windows 7 no problem for windows apps ... However for Sonar Platinum no sound. I can get it to record midi from my keyboard, but no sound coming through the ports.
 
Can someone who has 4x4 working successfully on Windows 7  give me a listening of the setup parms they have for the audio ... btw, when I try to us ASIO, the 4x4 don't show up as available ports only when I use WDM???
 
Help!!!!

lludwick
I am trying to setup the 4x4 ... for the PC windows 7 no problem for windows apps ... However for Sonar Platinum no sound. I can get it to record midi from my keyboard, but no sound coming through the ports.
 
Can someone who has 4x4 working successfully on Windows 7  give me a listening of the setup parms they have for the audio ... btw, when I try to us ASIO, the 4x4 don't show up as available ports only when I use WDM???
 
Help!!!!

Larry I would try those drivers as mentioned. 
 
http://odeus-audio.com.au/Odeus/AsioLink
 
They are free to test and if your solution is there just need to pay 18 euros . IT's a bit tricky to configure but 
believe me those drivers make your soundcard really professional. The routing gives you fantastic possibilities. 

Etostone
Well , well. I have to say it's the first time I have seen something similar happen. 
I did an extremely search on the net , and found those ASIO drivers that works for all soundcards. 
 
http://odeus-audio.com.au/Odeus/AsioLink
 
It's the only Asio driver working SO good . 
And YES , now the soundcard rock the house ! (so far) 

 
This 'driver' looks to be something like ASIO4all in that it translates a Windows WDM driver into what looks like an ASIO driver to you program.  It's not an ASIO driver for your soundcard.  Which would be surprising since I believe ASIO drivers are very interface-hardware specific.
 
You'd be much better off with the real ASIO driver for your card, if there is one.
 

I just don't see how the drivers are "awful." I get low latency with Windows 7 and 64-bit SONAR and reliable operation. I just don't think it's a "serious problem" if I have to quit SONAR before watching something on YouTube, or quit YouTube if I'm about to start running SONAR. To me a serious problem would be low performance or instability when using SONAR. I will say the entire system got dramatically better after removing the bogus HD Audio drivers, as detailed in my Tip of the Week thread.
 
I'm sure TASCAM's drivers are optimized for use with ASIO and pro audio applications, and that's how I use the US-4x4. I won't mention the names of the interfaces I've used through the years that it replaced because I'm a gentleman , but suffice it to say that what I do in my own studio has nothing to do with Gibson if I don't want it to. Of the dozen or so interfaces I have access to, the 4x4 works exceptionally well. For the record, I will say that I've also found the MBox Pro 3rd generation to be excellent, although it's FireWire so I'm trying to phase that out. I also got good results specs-wise from the Mackie Blackjack.
 
lludwick, I'm traveling right now but will be setting up the US-2x2 (which is what I take for my laptop) and it works identically. Once I do I'll list the various parameters and such. But bear in mind that my Windows 7 machine is basically a studio appliance for running SONAR. I turn it on, open SONAR, and don't trade off with other programs. When I'm done for the night, then I'll switch off SONAR and do the YouTube thang or the MP4 video player thing or whatever. 
 
I will say that one area where the Mac has it over Windows is Core Audio. Every version of Windows seems to handle audio differently and it's a travesty that with laptops and onboard audio, you almost always HAVE to use 32-bit MME to get reliable results. Contrast with the Mac, where out of the box you can aggregate Core Audio devices. You can do that with WDM, but in my experience the performance isn't as good as ASIO.

Anderton
 
 
lludwick, I'm traveling right now but will be setting up the US-2x2 (which is what I take for my laptop) and it works identically. Once I do I'll list the various parameters and such. But bear in mind that my Windows 7 machine is basically a studio appliance for running SONAR. I turn it on, open SONAR, and don't trade off with other programs. When I'm done for the night, then I'll switch off SONAR and do the YouTube thang or the MP4 video player thing or whatever. 
 
I will say that one area where the Mac has it over Windows is Core Audio. Every version of Windows seems to handle audio differently and it's a travesty that with laptops and onboard audio, you almost always HAVE to use 32-bit MME to get reliable results. Contrast with the Mac, where out of the box you can aggregate Core Audio devices. You can do that with WDM, but in my experience the performance isn't as good as ASIO.

Thanks Anderton ... I always see you being most helpful.
 
I have been messing around with all the settings ... and I thought I had it working. I can hear the inputs from my attached audio devices (mics and keyboards), I can record midi tracks  ... I think everything is wonderful, but I go to record pure audio or the audio generated by playing a midi track to control my keyboard. Nothing records.  Weird because on the audio track I see the meters jumping, I arm the track and hit "R" and it all goes, but the recorded wav is a flat line ... pure silence.
 
The other gotcha is that if I try to set up ASIO drivers ... I am not offered any selections for the Tascam 4x4. A long night of frustration.  I might have to just jump back to my reliable US-1641 however, the mike inputs on the 4X4 sound so clean. I would like to use this box.

Hmmmmmm not really flat line I see. When I look at the image of the wav, it looks completely flat, but when I play back the recorded track, I hear the sound ... wha??? ...  Then I increase my Width of the audio track so it fills the screen and I can actually see a small wave form appear. Something is out of whack between what I hear which is loud enough (are my outputs turned up too much) or is there some problem with the decibel range I am setting for the track.  The weird thing is if I use a VST such as Blade and bounce it down to an audio track.... then I have a nicely formed wav graphic although it could possibly be much louder than I have ever heard the VST play.  Almost seems as if I have to reduce my playback volume tremendously and then increase the input levels a good deal.  However the key thing is I can now seem to do all my recording functions. I just have to set the input levels on the 4x4 properly.  I seem to have switched on the phantom power and I note that with this box, the phantom power affects all inputs and not just mic inputs. Could be related to the problem.
 
Tomorrow will be a long day of tweaking me thinks.
 
BTW, I have no problem leaving Sonar and using any of the Windows applications through the interface.

Listen to Robert Bone...I also agree in that mindset or spirit..." Do not allow windows to use your high end audio device for default in win 7 or 8".."" or any OS if possible""...., and turn off redundant devices in bois or device manager,... if owning a older PC....To aid in Conflicting shared IRQ's or misuse of Audio/video via windows or third party apps...HDMI is a problem with some of this chaos making,...= in clicks and pops I found, and some other mouse or rodent causing on display/through video cards that have it in use...I use Ati...not sure about Nvidia cards.
 
Also turn off cpu parking ...and or overclocking/auto boosting features on the system, and in apps that do it for you.
 
Lots of old forum entries for setups of audio around the net for audio....I think someone should post a sticky on proper setups for basic use of Sonar with x machines...on the hardware forum...
but so many different setups, make that hard to perfect I guess?.
 
Once you make your system lean and clean...If ever possible with devices attached...As updates will sometimes change settings made...through overwriting the settings made.....It is a constant baby sitting Job to go over all settings periodically to make sure they still are as you set them...So a log or booking note  system for the system, should be kept & updated when things change....And they do here for some odd reason!.
 
Then the new drivers and such solution ,, in updating and seeking if problems persist....Is in seeking answers for...testing 1234....
 
 
And what is the best setup?....Still trying to find that myself....So no answers here from me, for that Just yet....if ever comes to be....I will post it...for sure!...I'm thinking some holy water might help here and there though with casting out the Jin or Gremlins from over, or in these products...some how always tainted by something, to cost us more to fix.....and I think why is already said would be if done....Perhaps?.....lol!
 
Regards!
 
Sir Les