I am trying to create an audio track of the metronome. I need this because we are beginning the recording process and I need be able to export rough tracks for our drummer to practice with. In older ver of Sonar, there was a "record what you hear" option. This allowed you to record all out put signals including the metronome ticks (this happened accidentally to us while using Sonar 8). It seems this option does not exist in X3 (or I can't find it). I can manage to record the metronome with my lap top driver, by recording the metronome output via channel 1 in my mixer, however, you can only get so much signal before you create a feedback loop. We are using an x1204usb interface to record proper, but there is a logic circuit within the mixer that wont allow you to record the output of the computer as an input (to avoid feedback loops I assume). I also discovered, without the usb interface, i can select separate drivers for input and output, this allows sending from one driver into the second driver (this only possible with multiple sound cards and is not an option with my lap top), the usb driver will not allow for this. So, my question becomes, how do I / is it possible to route the metronome signal through a bus and into an audio track? Midi is not an option, we have already established session drummer / step sequencer will not work for our application, our music is not 4/4 and 3rd party step sequencers (Fruity loops 8) will not allow for multiple tempos / time signatures the way X3 does, copy and pasting of loops is not sufficient.  Thanks in advance to anyone who can help or steer me to a link that describes this process. I'm new to the forum but not new to Sonar (been using cakewalk since sonar 4), so do not be afraid to talk tech to me.
 
System is : Dell laptop i3 4gb RAM, Sonar X3 producer, Behringer x1204usb interface as well as 16 channel Peavey mixing console

Not sure about X3, but in platinum I believe you can add a send in the metronome bus that can send the signal to a track of your choice! See if you can do it in X3.
 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
OK, Ive figured out how to insert a stereo bus into a project. Under the metronome settings, I can route it to BUS A. However, now it seems I can send the target channel to the bus, but there is no option to send BUS A as an input to the track to be recorded. Am I missing something? Thanks again.

I didn't remember if X3 could do that or not! If your equipment can handle it you may want to consider the upgrade. There are many benefits!

Thatloudguy
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
OK, Ive figured out how to insert a stereo bus into a project. Under the metronome settings, I can route it to BUS A. However, now it seems I can send the target channel to the bus, but there is no option to send BUS A as an input to the track to be recorded. Am I missing something? Thanks again.

X3 cannot do this. you need "aux tracks" which were introduced in Sonar Platinum
 
Workaround: You could set up a MIDI track with your metronom ticks and use that instead ... I also had this issue while on X3

Ill try that today, but I really dont know anything about midi in Sonar. Thanks.

Ill try that today, but I really dont know anything about midi in Sonar. Thanks.

I've figured it out. It involves outside signal routing and the use of a different sound driver other than the x1204usb driver.
 
1. Plan out metronome, including all tempo / key changes, save.
2. In metronome settings, Set Audio metronome to Main output. (ASIO4ALL in my case)
3. Insert new audio track, Arm this track, Set input to main output. (can be stereo or mono)
4. Physically connect the output of the sound card to the input of the sound card. (1/8" TRS - TRS in my case)
5. Check to ensure all forms of monitoring are off or muted. (To avoid feedback loops)
6. Press record and adjust the volume of the main out so that the track does not clip. Delete the test run you will create by doing this.
7. Return Now time to zero.
8. Press record again and let the track play through to the end. This will record the audio signal from the metronome to the armed audio track.
 
With the above steps, I was able to create the tick track as needed for our purpose. Thanks for the help! I'll return to the forum when I find my next roadblock.
 

two further tips:

• check if the recorded metronome now aligns perfectly with the song grid (it should if your sound card reported latency is correct and there are no hidden buffers) ... if not, simply shift the metronome track so that it properly aligns and make a note of how many samples you shifted it ... this will help you if you need to edit/snap to beats later on
• consider upgrading to Platinum as all of this is a lot simpler with aux tracks