Hi Guys,
 
I'm new to this stuff so please forgive me if this has been answered before.
I'm running Music Creator 5.
Keyboard Roland Fantom X6
 
Also Roland Gr-55 but lets leave that for now.
 
My problem is this.
I bought a new PC which came with Windows 8.1 64bit.
 
I was using an M Audi midi interface which has always worked fine.
 
However once I switched to Win 8.1 All bets were off.
I cant even see the interface in the Midi window.
 
I bought a cheap generic one on amazon ( No brand name ) but was promised it would work.
To be fair I can see it in my Midi Devices which is better than M Audio but I'm getting no sound.
 
I have absolutely no idea about this stuff.
I just record.
 
I'm hoping someone will send me a ink and say. " There You Go" which has happened in the past.
But maybe I'm being too optimistic.
 
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope someone can help me.
 
PS, If there a midi interface that really works with 8.1 please let me know.
 

Welcome to the forum.
You don't need a MIDI interface; the Roland connects with USB so you can just plug it into the computer. Download the latest drivers for the Fantom and your operating system at Roland's web site.

Hi Greg,
 
The only USB option I get on the Fantom X6 is file storage.
For example Adding Midi Files.
There is no option to interface with MIDI.
 
I've never heard of recording without an interface.
If this is possible can you send me a link to show me how to do it.
 
I'm not very techie so be gentle.
 
I tried downloading the drivers for the fantom X but when I opened the download it said The File Does not exist.
 
I officially hate Windows 8.1, A Total Nightmare with any interface

Modern keyboards use a USB connection to communicate information (but not sound) back and forth with your computer.  There may be drivers needed for the keyboard to properly work with the USB connection, so check the manufacturer of the keyboard's site for the drivers for your version of Windows, and install them.
 
As far as the SOUND goes, your keyboard will have audio outputs that you can route to either an external mixer and then have the mixer connected to speakers, OR you can feed the audio outputs from the keyboard into Inputs on an audio interface, which is connected to the computer, and with the correct drivers loaded into Windows for that particular audio interface model, you can then route those inputs from the audio interface to audio tracks in Sonar, then with Input Echo turned on, you would be able to hear your keyboard's audio sound from within Sonar.
 
I think you would do yourself a BIG favor and cut out a lot of frustration, by looking for and watching introductory videos on getting external keyboards connected and routed to Sonar.  There are ZILLIONS of free videos on YouTube, CakeTV, etc, and there are also a bunch of commercially-produced videos.  Lastly, there are some REALLY good books out there that have really good walk-through info for just about everything a given Sonar release has for features.
 
Have you tried the tutorials that came with Sonar?
 
Bob Bone
 

carlcasso
Hi Greg,
 
The only USB option I get on the Fantom X6 is file storage.
For example Adding Midi Files.
There is no option to interface with MIDI.
 
I've never heard of recording without an interface.
If this is possible can you send me a link to show me how to do it.
 
I'm not very techie so be gentle.
 
I tried downloading the drivers for the fantom X but when I opened the download it said The File Does not exist.
 
I officially hate Windows 8.1, A Total Nightmare with any interface

Windows 8.1 works very well indeed with many different audio and MIDI interfaces. It's not Microsoft's fault that M-Audio can't be bothered to update their drivers for new Windows releases (or sometimes not bother to write drivers that work properly in the first place).
 
I gave up on M-Audio back when I used Win7 after their 2x2 MIDISport's terrible SYSEX handling thoroughly scrambled the patch memory in my Mopho. Attempting to use the thing with Win8 was a disaster, though some people claim to have got them working by using the M-Audio driver written for pre-service pack 1 Windows 7. Didn't work for me though.
 
The MIDI interface in my Cakewalk UA-101 interface is fine with Win 8.1. As are my RME UFX and MOTU microlite, and the built-in USB to MIDI interfaces in four different fairly inexpensive synths work fine as well.
 
I just tried downloading the Fantom X Windows drivers from Roland's website and I received a zip file containing 32 and 64 bit drivers plus documentation. It looks like something went wrong with your download somewhere.
 
The URL I used for the download is http://www.roland.com/support/by_product/fantom-x6/updates_drivers/6153
 
I'm not familiar with the X6 but according to the specs it should show up as USB memory for file transfer plus the USB should handle MIDI as well. The documentation included with the drivers says you may need to boot Windows before switching on the Fantom or Windows might not pick it up.
 
I'd suggest having another try at downloading the drivers and see if that helps. If it doesn't then maybe the collective mind can think of another solution.

I had a similar problem when I upgraded my xp machine to a new win8.1 machine. I'm using a vintage midiman midisport 2x2, downloaded the latest driver (which is win8 and not 8.1.) to connect my external keyboards to play the soft synths, record..etc . I got no midi signal into MC7 tracks. I discovered that with win8.1 when using usb 3.0, the port the host controller driver in win8.1 sends a query internally that confuses it. Fortunately I have usb2 ports on my machine. It seems to work better with the usb2 ports but still randomly gets confused and will not send note on/off into MC7. I end up reinstalling/repair the driver installation to get it working again. There's some sort of registry entry, but that can really be a fiasco if your not familiar with going in there. I'm not taking chances and hope that m-audio comes out with a win8.1 driver.
More here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-hardware/usb-midi-controllers-not-working-on-windows-81/8c168bf9-725b-494e-b407-72372cc2eb9e. That being said, I'm not confident to go out and buy a new midi interface to resolve the problem unless it is stated that it's fully compliant with win8.1.

USB3 ports are odd things. Their compatibility with USB2 holds for drives and most hardware, but audio and MIDI interfaces not so much. There are all kinds of complicated reasons for this.

All I can say is that every hardware thing I currently use that contains a MIDI interface works fine with Win8.1. Which is RME and MOTU (both also certified to work on USB3 ports) interfaces plus USB equipped synths and sequencers from Korg, Doepfer, Arturia, Novation, Roland and Waldorf.

Got sorted lad's. All of the Roland Um Interface's are compatible with Windows 8.1
A twelve your old kid told me this which really made me feel old. 
He gave me one to try and hey presto I was in business.