Why Can't I Record Virtual Instruments

It is a frequent question about SONAR's design that can only be answered by the developers. There are ways to record soft synth audio output http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3000845 but they all have their limitations.

It is one of the reasons I buy audio interfaces with more I/O than I really need so there are spares for loopback.

Good thought, but here's the problem.  When mixing, I need a high ASIO buffer (like 1028) so I don't have pops or drop-outs; but when using MIDI, I need a low buffer to avoid latency.  If latency were not a problem, I could just export the whole song and I would be done with the mix.
 
Since EZ Drummer 2 has screwed up the freeze function, I don't have a very good option.
 
Maybe I could try your idea by muting all the other tracks or something to see if a medium high ASIO buffer would work.
 
I am trying to get an album off to the mastering engineer and Toontrack has really screwed me up.   Thanks for the reply and idea.

if a synth won't freeze correctly. just select the track that has the audio and the track that has the midi and then select the time on the timeline. Go the the clips menu and choose bounce to tracks. This works if the synth has multiple output audio tracks as well. I do this regularly with JamStix.

If you select only that audio and midi track, and export them, they are the only things that will get exported.
 
The native feature for direct recording of the output of a soft synth is not yet part of Sonar, but bouncing the midi to an audio track, or exporting as noted above should give you the desired audio output file.
 
Bob Bone
 

Very, very many years ago somebody gave some kind of an explanation. I don't remember if it came from CW or a forumite, and I don't know if it's true. Back then it sounded logical to me.
 
Settings that  enable you to record VSTs in real time cause easily very bad, ear/loudspeaker damaging feed back loops.
 

Similar to @fb.seeker ...
 
I was wondering whether your could do someting with the donationware at VB Audio:
(Virtual mixer/cable(s)/loopback, dual-bus output).
http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr
 
Either just Voicemeeter and/or in combination with Virtual Cable and ASIO Bridge.
 
I'm finding this software great and still exploring the possibilities. My initial goal was to record track and direct mic commentary simultaneously for video tutorials (which works well).

I'm not understanding what the issue is.  I understand that one doesn't record a soft synth in real time, but there's no need to.  You just bounce, keeping the audio in the project without exporting.  Why worry about not being able to record the slow way --??
 
EDIT:  I understand there's a techno hangup with SD2 that seems to be preventing any freezing or bouncing, - my question is to the general question of why soft synths aren't recorded in real time.
 
RB

rbowser my question is to the general question of why soft synths aren't recorded in real time.

in the ongoing quest to model analog kit, some synths & fx plugins introduce subtle randomness (or "humanisation") so you never get quite the same playback each time - how's that?

lawp

rbowser my question is to the general question of why soft synths aren't recorded in real time.

in the ongoing quest to model analog kit, some synths & fx plugins introduce subtle randomness (or "humanisation") so you never get quite the same playback each time - how's that?

In that case, there would be no advantage to recording rather than bouncing.  Either way, the randomness will be equally unpredictable.

Glyn Barnes...Maybe I am missing something but if I was woried about it I would bounce several times and pick the best result or even comp the results to get the best bits of each "take".

IMHO, the worry over synths having slightly varied playback each time is a waste of time.  The differences are so subtle that you would need to spend a good deal of time listening over and over to different bounces trying to detect randomness, and it would be rare to detect anything that has any significance.  "oh!  That note seems .5 DBs louder this time"--It just doesn't matter.

To the original question - There's just no need to freak out that soft synths aren't recorded in real time like hardware synths.  Bounce takes seconds, you do it, and get on with your mix.  

But the opening part of Konrad's original post reported the bummer of EZ Drummer 2 somehow preventing him from freezing tracks - not sure if bounce isn't working either, Konrad?

You get it by now though, right? - that you don't export when bouncing, and you don't have to do tracks individually, you do them all at once - And latency has no effect on where the tracks will be placed on the timeline.  They aren't late.

Grab all your MIDI and associated tracks, choose the bounce Tracks option, and off you go, you'll have solid audio tracks to mix with in a very short time.

Randy
 
 

AFAIK, the main reason users site for needing the ability to record soft synth output is so they can record the effect of twiddling knobs on the synth GUI that aren't automatable or that have to be coordinated in real-time with unsynced modulation of some other patch parameter that is different every time.
 

Something soloed somewhere?
 
Are they in a track folder?

another thing you may want to record vsti for is to get that patch change weirdness when you are switching sounds and it morphs making this really strange sound like in synth 1.
 
What about if we could rewire each track to another daw would that work?

To answer, yes the drum tracks in question are in a folder. It is not a solo or mute problem. I have tried soloing audio and MIDI tracks and also tried soloing nothing but just selecting the appropriate tracks, ensuring I selected from start to end. I do not get the "no audio in region" error that I would if there were nothing to bounce. I am about to be in the air but will report back tomorrow if the deletion of EZ Drummer 2 resolves this. Thanks.

Ain't nobody got time for this.