• SONAR
  • Guide : SONAR + usb mic Samson C01u or C03u mic
2009/01/29 12:58:55
Fog
quick guide to setting up a c01u / c03u in sonar..
(should work for any USB mic)

1. plug in the co1u / c03u (you should have a green light on the mic indicating power is going to it also)

you'll notice you get a display up


in my case for the C03U , when finished it'll say found new hardware,ready to use

2. start up sonar (which ever version your using) you might notice it profiles the mic.

If it doesn't go into audio advanced and switch to audio and change the mode from asio to MME. (The pictures below show where to go for that)

the mic does profile as 16 bit though. Although you can switch back later if you want.


3. after profiling the MME mode, in audio > advanced > drivers you'll see a list of inputs / outputs, in my case a delta 1010LT + an SW1000 (my 2 sound cards). Although for output the samson won't be listed as it's only an input device.



4. tick the Samson as an input, so it can be shown within sonar.. depending on your version of sonar some of these tasks may require a restart, while changing mode etc.

5. in the main sequencer window you'll see parts for audio / midi , go to one of the audio channels (in my case 1 - audio 1) .. you should be able to change the input to the samson, and you'll notice I've selected the Left input for the c03U



6. almost there now... you'll need to arm the track to record & monitor the level.. if you tick the arm icon (R) and speak / sing into the mic, the level just left of the input / output will go up down, accordingly. Hopefully a decent enough volume level, but not so much it distorts etc.

so if you hit record you should end up with something like this ..



not getting enough volume ?

If for some reason your not getting enough gain / volume, you need to increase the volume of the mic, in XP you can do that by going to accessories > entertainment > volume level.

You'll see a options then properties thing, which might be set for your onboard card, you need to change "Mixer device" into the samson mic, obviously playback will be greyed out as it doesn't have that.. OK that box.. it'll go back to the main window where "capture" is shown.. and you can adjust the volume to suit, mine is set low as it's a sensitive mic.

hope that helps, I would have done it specifically for LE but don't know where I put the disc (as well I use 7 and 8) , the audio side of all sonar versions is pretty much the same in respect to setting them up.

update :

After working with carbonara on sorting out why it wouldn't work on their setup. It prompted me to update this.

1)I recorded at 24 bit also and it worked fine. For some reason I was under the assumption it would work at 16 bit only.

2) anything such as webcam plugged into the usb port as well MAY mess up the timing of the samson recording / playback wise.

3) If you record a track and your happy with it, turning off the "input" on track 1 and unarming it before you move onto say track 2 is a good idea. Of course you can re-arm / record later if you want.
2009/01/29 13:45:09
VinylJunkie
Nice work Fog.

I think the moderators should make this a stickie!!
2009/01/29 14:32:55
Willy Jones [Cakewalk]
I concur - this is excellent.

It is now stickied.

2009/01/29 14:57:20
techead
And it is also now on the SONAR User Wiki in the Hardware Section. Here is a direct link: Samson USB Mic
2009/01/29 20:08:31
Fog
thanks guys for the nice comments..

I thought it might be handy to put in the tips section to be honest (the place few venture)
Willy you have my permission if you wanted to re-use it anyway. ( Alas I won't be doing any such tips for my other sound card )

It's a pity finding this info isn't so clear on the Samson site. I did have to search myself when sorting it out. As it's OEM thing I guess it's down to Samson really.
2009/01/31 23:04:52
bartleby
great job Fog.
thanks for your work!
cheers!
2009/03/06 16:49:56
carbonara
Thanks for this guide. The instructions included with the mic are utterly woeful and, in the case of the quick start guide, actually completely wrong. Two weeks after buying my CO1U i've still not managed to record anything with it using Sonar 6LE.

Thanks to this guide I now actually have the mic set up and selectable from within Sonar but unfortunately the sound is terrible, completely distorted. I've tried turning the volume of the mic down using the Windows control panel but the sound is still awful. The mic works fine with the Windows recorder so it's not the mic.

I'm using Sonar 6LE, a CO1U and have an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 soundcard. Can someone help me set this configuration up in Sonar please?
2009/03/06 18:39:51
Fog
carbonara.. well they work for me and since a fair few asked that's the only reason I posted them.. I'll reply to your other post.. on one hand your saying thanks then your saying their wrong , confusing to say the least anyway I'll post on your other thread.
2009/03/07 07:38:42
carbonara
Yeah, sorry Fog. Your instructions were spot on and are what actually got the mic set up properly so sorry if I sounded like I meant they were wrong. Was in a bad mood trying to get a working setup with the mic. I'll reply properly in the other post.
2009/05/12 00:17:30
thewordsmith
I tried the Echo solution that the staff at Cakewalk and the form user suggested. I was able to get the automatic playback to work. But the latency is a serious head ach.
I think that the best solutions are USB Mics that have a build in headset port. Smason has two Mics like that: http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-SAM-GM1U-LIST and http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-SAM-SAQ2U. I even ordered the Dynamic Mic but it will not be shippable until july/august. I can't wait. I will get the other one soon. In the mean time will just listen to the echo.
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