Sonar 8.5 and multiple simultaneous inputs

You should be able to get 6 inputs with the Tascam US-600 regardless of whether its on the laptop or the desktop. 6 inputs means 6 mono inputs. That means you can use each input for one mono instrument, like a microphone or a guitar, or you can pair up the inputs and use 1/2, 3/4, 5/6 as 3 separate stereo inputs. Most instruments are mono, so 6 mono inputs is not bad for recording a small group. 

If the desktop isn't seeing all the inputs, go to Options-Audio-Drivers and make sure they are all selected. 

daveny5


You should be able to get 6 inputs with the Tascam US-600 regardless of whether its on the laptop or the desktop. 6 inputs means 6 mono inputs. That means you can use each input for one mono instrument, like a microphone or a guitar, or you can pair up the inputs and use 1/2, 3/4, 5/6 as 3 separate stereo inputs. Most instruments are mono, so 6 mono inputs is not bad for recording a small group. 

If the desktop isn't seeing all the inputs, go to Options-Audio-Drivers and make sure they are all selected. 

If the desktop isn't seeing all the inputs, go to Options-Audio-Drivers and make sure they are all selected.

OK, I have gone to "Options-Audio-Drivers" and all it says under inputs for my device is "Line In (Tascam US-600)" and the box is checked.  It does not list 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, etc...  There are no options in Sonar to have the system select or de-select specific inputs for the drivers.

I am not sure why my laptop would pick them all up as separate inputs, while my desktop sees it as 1 input, with the only options for left, right, and stereo.

Any other suggestions I could try?  The Tascam software isnt much help, as it only displays info about the device, and lets you change the input, but those are setup correctly right now.

Thanks.

OK,
I think I have made some progress here.

Instead of using my on-board sound (Asus board with SoundMax) I found my Creative Sound Blaster XtremeMusic X-Fi PCI sound card, and installed it.  I loaded the current drivers, and control panel.  I switched the default sound card from the on-board to the Sound Blaster, and switched my speaker connections as well.

I then went into Sonar 8.5 "Options - Audio - Advanced" and started messing with settings.

The only option Driver Mode option that gives me (Tascam 1/2, 3/4, 5/6) input is the WDM/KS.  Everything else gives me just "Tascam Left, Right, Stereo."  So I am sticking with these settings for now, because I can currently use the XLR inputs 1-4 just fine.  Everything seems to be working, however, I have noticed a slight difference.

The max audio quality recording settings I can do is 24bit with 96kHz, which I think is good enough, right? (I was doing 24bit with 196kHz with the MME audio driver, but that would not break down my inputs.)

habanero


OK,
I think I have made some progress here.

Instead of using my on-board sound (Asus board with SoundMax) I found my Creative Sound Blaster XtremeMusic X-Fi PCI sound card, and installed it.  I loaded the current drivers, and control panel.  I switched the default sound card from the on-board to the Sound Blaster, and switched my speaker connections as well.

I then went into Sonar 8.5 "Options - Audio - Advanced" and started messing with settings.

The only option Driver Mode option that gives me (Tascam 1/2, 3/4, 5/6) input is the WDM/KS.  Everything else gives me just "Tascam Left, Right, Stereo."  So I am sticking with these settings for now, because I can currently use the XLR inputs 1-4 just fine.  Everything seems to be working, however, I have noticed a slight difference.

The max audio quality recording settings I can do is 24bit with 96kHz, which I think is good enough, right? (I was doing 24bit with 196kHz with the MME audio driver, but that would not break down my inputs.)

After installing the sound card and new drivers did you run the Wave Profiler in the Sonar audio options? As far as 196 kHz being good enough, 44.1 or 48 kHz are also good enough and might be more practical. I don't know about your device but some require that the device be disconnected and plugged back in after changes are made to it.

I think your best bet is to use the ASIO driver mode but to do that you must disable all other audio devices in Sonar's Audio Options.

Yes, I ran the Wave Profiler after making changes.  I rebooted my system, and disconnected / reconnected the device. 

The ASIO drivers prevent me from using all of my inputs.  I know many people use those as the default, however, they are not working with my device.  I have tried to disable everything else, but the problem is that the ASIO picks up my Tascam as "Input: Tascam Left", "Input: Tascam Right", and "Input: Tascam Stereo" and I can only use inputs 1 & 2.  My XLR inputs 3 and 4 give me no signal this way.

habanero

"As far as the drivers are concerned, we are talking about sound card drivers, correct?  I have on-board sound, as well as my sound card.  As far as I understand, those are the only 2 options I have to manage sound for my computer"

    Yes, the Soundblaster card you put in, assuming you want to use the soundblaster with Sonar, which I do NOT recommend. You have THREE options for sound. The integrated sound, the soundblaster card, and the Tascam. If it were me, I would use either the integrated sound or soundblaster for the default windows playback device, NOT the Tascam.

Windows will only show the first stereo pair as inputs or outputs. SONAR should show all the Inputs/Outputs. For best results in Sonar, disable the integrated sound and soundblaster audio devices. Enable ONLY the Tascam devices (and you don't need to enable inputs/outputs you aren't going to use, like S/PDIF). This is done in Options>Audio>Drivers Tab. Your Sonar Playback and Recording Timing Masters should be the first analog stereo pair for Input (Recording) and Output (Playback), unless you have a reason to use different inputs or outputs.

It would help if you think of Windows and Sonar as completely separate when it comes to the audio devices. How you set up the devices in Sonar has nothing to do with how Windows is using the audio devices unless they are using the SAME device, which may lead to conflicts. So to make things simpler, don't use the Tascam device for Windows sounds and use ONLY the Tascam device in Sonar.

If you would post screencaps of ALL the tabs in your Audio Options window it would help a lot to see what is going on in your Sonar audio.

Kalle Rantaaho


Just hasty speculation:

The Op said he used 192 Khz. Is it possible that the Tascam can't use/show all channels when that sample rate is being used? Many (most?) cards operate with cut-down routing or lose full-duplex ability with 96 or 192 Khz.

Very good observation Kalle - yes, that's ENTIRELY possible!
 
there's no reason he should need to run that high anyway - he should be using 44.1 or 48kHz.  if he changes to one of those he might have all of the inputs showing in ASIO.
 
but also, if WDM works at the latency he needs, then there's no reason he has to use ASIO.
 
but make sure only the tascam is showing in the PLAYBACK and RECORDING MASTERS and not anything else.

Alright,

I think I have my system setup pretty well now.  I can use all of my inputs, and play everything back through my speakers or headphones.

Thanks for everyone's assistance in this process.

Here is a link to my first actual recording after getting all of my settings down.  Obviously, I am not a vocalist, and I was more focused on putting the recording together.  Both the vocals and guitar were the 1st take, but I think I now know the process, and can fine tune things from here.

http://www.filesonic.com/...r_Time_Cover_Final.mp3

Thanks again for the info and support!