Working in Sonar X1 and also playing music from other programs, like iTunes

So you are saying you are selecting the driver for the specific program (iTunes), but not for your system sounds? If that's the case, maybe setting your default sound driver in System settings would fix it? If you're using Windows, just set your Fast Track ASIO as your default sound driver from the control panel. I have a Fast Track Pro and I have it set as my default sound driver (when it's plugged in), and have had no problems going back and forth between Sonar and iTunes without changing any settings.

you should be able to use both soundcards at the same time. On this lappy, I was able to run the Saffire with ASIO on the DAW while at the same time playing my mp3's with the factory card..... literally at the same time.

you can use both.. go into windows control panel/sound.. switch ya default card to the realtek or whatever..

it's probably set to the fast trak.


I'd use VLC player etc.. personally I find itunes etc bloated
http://www.filehippo.com/download_vlc/

If your audio interface has a wdm driver and an ASIO driver, you may be able to do what you want.

In Windows, select your FastTrack as the default Playback device. In SONAR, set SONAR to "share drivers with other programs," in Preferences, and in SONAR use ASIO driver Mode, in Preferences.

Now, Windows should be using the FastTrack WDM driver to play the media players audio, and SONAR should be using the FastTrack ASIO driver to play whatever you're playing in SONAR.

Does that work?

thomasabarnes


If your audio interface has a wdm driver and an ASIO driver, you may be able to do what you want.

In Windows, select your FastTrack as the default Playback device. In SONAR, set SONAR to "share drivers with other programs," in Preferences, and in SONAR use ASIO driver Mode, in Preferences.

Now, Windows should be using the FastTrack WDM driver to play the media players audio, and SONAR should be using the FastTrack ASIO driver to play whatever you're playing in SONAR.

Does that work?

That's the set-up I tried to do originally: set the fast track is the default sound card for my system, and play everything through it. I would use the ASIO drivers in Sonar, and set the "share drivers with other programs" option, but then I would run into the problem I described in this other thread: http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2459922 If there is a way to have the set-up you described, without getting the errors I mentioned in that thread, I would love that too.

Fog


tbh vault, switching back / forth doesn't mean you'll get an exact match volume wise.. remember each app has a sep. volume control also.. 

you could feed the line into the fast trak..  

but I'm confused why your actually worried about volume.. you should only be worried about that when it comes down to mastering .. as what your reference it against is a fully mastered 2 channel song , so your not comparing like for like. 

I just use my laptops speakers for doing the editing of audio.. as it doesn't have to be perfect.. 

or why not drop the reference track into sonar ? 

You're right, checking volume isn't the primary reason I need to do this. It is mostly to compare different sounds. For example, I may have heard a synth from a song that I want mine to sound similar to, or want to make the kick as boomy as some of these other songs have. Or I may want to compare my vocal effects to the vocals of some other songs in the same genre to see if the EQ's are similar. Sometimes I just listen to different songs randomly while working on a project to get some ideas and get creative juices flowing. Or sometimes, heck, I like to take a break from working on a project and just listen to songs for leisure, or take a break and watch a quick YouTube video. The list goes on. The point is, I want to be able to play audio from other breaks and not just Sonar - for various reasons. Dropping the reference track into Sonar is certainly an option, but I constantly listen to a lot of different songs randomly that this would be unpractical. Sometimes I literally just browse my iTunes and say "hmm, I wonder how the snare in this sounds? let me take a listen..." and I may listen to a few seconds of that song, and never listen to it again while working on the particular project.

Make sure the sample rate and bit depth are the same in SONAR and for the Windows Sound setup.

Try that? Now, does it work?

I wish I had an answer for your problem, but I have to chime in to say +1 for referencing other recordings and for taking breaks!  If I have a few tracks that I know I will reference frequently for a mix, I drop them into their own tracks in the project I'm working on and use mute/solo to check in on them for a second when I need to.

I hope you get your problem solved.   It would drive me nuts too if I had the problem you're describing.

Good luck,
Seth

sethmopod


I wish I had an answer for your problem, but I have to chime in to say +1 for referencing other recordings and for taking breaks!  If I have a few tracks that I know I will reference frequently for a mix, I drop them into their own tracks in the project I'm working on and use mute/solo to check in on them for a second when I need to.

I hope you get your problem solved.   It would drive me nuts too if I had the problem you're describing.

Good luck,
Seth

Thanks for all your input. Yeah, hopefully I find a fix for this soon because its definitely becoming a nuisance...

thomasabarnes

In the Windows Sound Control Panel, select your playback device and then select Properties at the bottom. Then select the advanced tab, there is a section called "Default format," you select the sample rate and bit depth from a drop down list in that section. 

So I just checked and rechecked everything, and yes everything is the way it should be. Sample rate and bit depth in Sonar's preferences match that of the Windows sound control panel, Sonar is running on the ASIO drivers from my Fast Track, and the "share driver with other programs" is checked in Sonar's prefs.


I even tried unchecking the "allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" from the sound card's "properties" window underneath the samplerate/bitdepth dropdown menu... no difference.


Thanks for your help, but any other suggestions? Really hoping to get this problem solved...

thomasabarnes


Hmmmm.....

OK here's an option:

-Use your onboard audio for media player/Youtube audio by selecting the onboard audio as the default Windows playback device

-Use the FastTrack in ASIO mode for SONAR

-get a spliter that has one male connector and two female connectors, connect the male in into your speakers input and connect the output from your FastTrack headphone jack into one of the female connectors and the front output of the Onboard audio into the other female connector.

Will that work for you?

I suppose I could do that. But I would need to buy the splitter, and deal with more wires and cables. That would be my last resort, and I would much rather have the problem fixed in my laptop... I mean, should it be working? Is the problem I'm dealing with supposed to be normal? I feel like it shouldn't be, and that there should be some kind of fix. Should I contact Cakewalk customer service? Could it possibly be a problem with the M-Audio Fast Track?

Also, maybe you can contact Cakewalk/M-Audio and see if you are suppose to be able to do it internally without having to use a spliter.

Have you tried posting to the M-Audio forum?

Yeah, that means that the drivers don't allow you to use your soundcard for both SONAR and media player playback. That puts you back to the option of using my suggestion of using a Y spliter.

By the way, other options include using a mixer (running the FastTrack output into a mixer, running the onboard sound into the mixer and connecting your speakers to the mixer output) or connecting the onboard sound output to the FastTrack via S/PDIF or an analog input, and have your speakers connected to the FastTrack, but they all require more cables. Sorry.