Hey Everyone,
 
I've brought up similar subjects before (and read other's posts before) but figured I'd start a new one because it's on the mind again haha.
 
I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (Don't need alot of ins/outs since I do almost everything software). I have an i7-5820k cpu, 32gb ram. 64bit Windows 7. Sonar Platinum.
 
When I have a ton of sounds going, I start to get where notes just disappear. It happens in tracks of Omnisphere, Nexus2, Addictive Drums 2, Kontakt... so Basically everything. The track doesn't stop playing... Just random notes don't play.
 
For the most part, it doesn't seem to happen in an exported audio file, so that's the good news. But it's a real pain, especially if I'm not ready to bounce down a whole bunch of tracks. That's what I do for now to combat this issue, but I feel like there's gotta be something I can do other than that to get things working better.
 
Now I know that latency and buffer size is a huge piece of the puzzle and that's why I have this post in here and talking about the interface.
 
In Sonar's Driver Settings, I can't change anything without going to the ASIO Panel button. Buffers in Playback Queue and Buffer Size are grayed out. If I click ASIO Panel I can change the Sample Rate (I currently am at 44100) or I can change the Buffer Length by 1 at a time from 10 down to 1. If I hit OK on 10ms, the driver settings page says 442samples, Input 23.2msec, Output 33.2msec, Roundtrip 56.4msec. At 1 I get 45 samples, Input 5.2msec, Output 6.2msec, Roundtrip 11.4msec.
 
Any lower than an 8 and I start getting these missing note problems much quicker. 1 is just a big clicky distorted mess. 10 still has them sometimes depending on how big the song is. Now when I say big I'm talking max like 20-25 tracks. So not even THAT much relatively speaking. I feel like this computer should be able to handle much more.
 
Would a better audio interface help my problems? This is the newest driver Focusrite has for the 2i4. I know they also just released a newer model of the 2i4. Could that help too?
 
I feel like 32gb ram SHOULD be good enough for now, and I think the processor is good. I've got some midrange AMD Radeon Video card. Things are pretty well optimized around the OS for DAW work.
 
Any ideas?
 
Thanks!
 
 

polarbear
 
In Sonar's Driver Settings, I can't change anything without going to the ASIO Panel button. Buffers in Playback Queue and Buffer Size are grayed out. If I click ASIO Panel I can change the Sample Rate (I currently am at 44100) or I can change the Buffer Length by 1 at a time from 10 down to 1. If I hit OK on 10ms, the driver settings page says 442samples, Input 23.2msec, Output 33.2msec, Roundtrip 56.4msec. At 1 I get 45 samples, Input 5.2msec, Output 6.2msec, Roundtrip 11.4msec.
 
Any lower than an 8 and I start getting these missing note problems much quicker. 1 is just a big clicky distorted mess. 10 still has them sometimes depending on how big the song is. Now when I say big I'm talking max like 20-25 tracks. So not even THAT much relatively speaking. I feel like this computer should be able to handle much more.
 
Would a better audio interface help my problems? This is the newest driver Focusrite has for the 2i4. I know they also just released a newer model of the 2i4. Could that help too?
 
I feel like 32gb ram SHOULD be good enough for now, and I think the processor is good. I've got some midrange AMD Radeon Video card. Things are pretty well optimized around the OS for DAW work.
 

RAM and processor seem strong enough. the audio interface may indeed be the culprit. from your description I get that you can only work at large buffers / high latency, so an interface with better drivers should help you a lot (RME, MOTU) ...
 
definitely test before you buy because the "dropped notes" thing may have other reasons than just audio driver (never had a problem like that). can you borrow one from a mate? if not, try to borrow one from a shop to see if it really solves your issues (but I'd try with one of the top notch devices to be sure that this would eliminate your problems)

If it's "dropped" notes its in the midi buffers. Default is 250 maybe, at least double that. Lots of threads about it.
I don't think that is an interface issue.
It's in prefs somewhere, someone will chime in.
T

DeeringAmps
If it's "dropped" notes its in the midi buffers. Default is 250 maybe, at least double that. Lots of threads about it.
I don't think that is an interface issue.
It's in prefs somewhere, someone will chime in.
T

 
I've never looked at that particular setting before so mine must be default which is 250. I just saw threads where various people mention making it 500, 750 and 800... I think I'm gonna go right for 800 and see what happens.
 
Is there any downside to having it high really?

I don't think so. IIRC Sonar used to default to a higher buffer.
T

Yea I don't know if it used to be higher but I definitely never changed it. And after a harddrive failure earlier this year, I just reinstalled everything like 4 months ago and I didn't reload any saved settings, so definitely default is 250 on that with Platinum at least. I'll let you guys know if raising that makes a difference when I get back to work in a little bit.
 
EDIT: I just realized your "I don't think so" was in regards to whether or not there's any downside to setting it higher haha. So disregard this comment. :-)

I set mine to 1,200. I think the 250 setting is from Windows XP days.

BTW on a side note whether it's the issue or not, supposedly the new 2nd gen Scarlett 2i4 cuts the latency down to 3.something. Over half. Might be worth it to upgrade regardless of if it's my specific problem...