Hi guys! I've been lurking for a while, and you all give excellent advice. I hope you can help me.
 
I'm trying to record from my keyboard, a Korg Kronos, into an audio track. I'm recording from the USB output from my Kronos directly into my PC. Within a few moments of my starting to record, the audio meter pegs, and upon playback I find I'm just recording unpleasant distorted audio. I have a screenshot here. Track 2 is my audio track, and I stopped it after a few seconds...
 
This is what is sounds like, but PLEASE turn down your monitors!
(
 
These are my audio settings:



 
This is the first time I've tried to record audio with my new rig. I really appreciate any assistance anyone can give. 
 
Thank you,
   Paul DiGiorgio
 
 

Sonar Version: X3e Build 352 Producer Edition x64 
Audio Interface: PC USB
Computer: i5-4570s, 8Gb RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro x64
Keyboard: Korg Kronos Workstation X

It looks like the URL to my MP3 sample is stripped, but that's probably for the best . Let's just say, it's as bad as it looks from that first screenshot. 

Try jacking the latency way up and seeing what happens. Then with the setting still high, try MME.

The Kronos audio over USB is pretty bad, most people are using ASIO4ALL with it. Which brings its own problems and I wouldn't normally recommend it, but it seems to be the way to go for now.
Alas, this is an area where the Mac has the clear edge as the CoreAudio implementation works fine without any settings. I use it with my iPad all the time.

In addition to what Anderton said, also try lower latencies. While it's true that usually setting the latency too low is more likely to cause problems, setting the latency too high can produce similar artifacts.

Regardless of the capabilities of the Kronos to pass audio through the USB connection, I think your computer not having a dedicated audio interface will plague you with audio dropouts, crackles, and lag between when you press a note and when you hear it play back through Sonar.
 
Audio interfaces have drivers that route the massive data generated from a streaming audio application, such as Sonar, to the specialized circuitry of the audio interface, where the interface handles any digital/analog conversion needed.
 
Without such an audio interface to do all of that data conversion, that task would fall to your computer's CPU, putting a SERIOUS burden on it, and almost always this causes huge problems with dropouts, crackles, pops, distortion, and lag.
 
I HIGHLY recommend you consider picking up a dedicated audio interface, and getting it installed and configured for Sonar on your computer.
 
A basic, but good sounding, audio interface will start at around $150, and will range from there on up to well over $1000, depending on features and inputs/outputs.
 
If you are primarily using soft synths, you won't need so many inputs or pre-amps, and you could get an interface that just had maybe 1-2 input jacks (usually these are combination mic pre-amp / instrument jacks), and these are the ones in the $150 price range.
 
If instead you need a bunch of inputs, for several guitars and some vocals, then you would want to pick up an interface that had maybe 8 sets of input jacks.  I have such an interface, and it ran me about $500.
 
But whatever level of features and inputs of the interface, the unsung hero with them is that the interface takes on the formidable task of the data conversions, and even the $150 interfaces will produce a nice clean sound, free of audio dropouts and all of that.
 
Most interfaces seem to work well with ASIO driver modes, and while that is not universally true, it is a generally safe bet that this would be the case with whatever you were to pick up.
 
ASIO4ALL is a band aid sort of freeware driver application that really uses WDM under the covers, but it masquerades as an ASIO driver to Windows.  While it works for some people, far more folks have headaches with it, so I cannot recommend its use.
 
IF indeed your Kronos supports audio through the USB connection, I think it would also benefit from also using the audio interface to process the data conversions, and that might make it a workable thing to do.
 
So, that's my 2 cents worth - I hope you get everything worked out - if you decide to pick up an audio interface and have any trouble, I would be happy to guide you through getting it configured for use with Sonar.
 
Bob Bone
 

The Kronos functions as an audio interface. The problem is Korg have not written an ASIO driver for it.

Thank goodness I pleaded my ignorance up front about the Kronos.  :)
 
Thanks for clarifying.
 
I think then that I will pass on trying to assist in this thread, if the direction is to use the Kronos as an interface then I can contribute nothing of any useful assistance.
 
Bob Bone
 

Thank you Anderton and Sanderxpander for your advice about the latency settings. I'm at work now, I'll give it a shot this evening. I have found that MME gave me all sorts of problems, as did ASIO4ALL. 
 
Robert, I actually do have a Scarlett 18i6, but I was getting a Lot of hiss on my audio recordings. I was doing the following:

     Kronos -> 1/4" cables to the Scarlett -> USB to the PC

So I figured I was getting the hiss from my 1/4" cables, since they are analog. This was on a previous PC, so when I picked up my new PC I decided to go purely digital, so that why I'm not using the Scarlett now. I'm happy to try it again though, maybe that's the best way. 
 
Thank you,
      Paul DiGiorgio

If the Scarlett has an optical in you could use the digital connection on the Kronos. You will need to stick to 48KHz which is the K's fixed samplerate though. And hook it up both ways to effectively send audio back and forth and sync the clock (one as master, one as slave). That said, I don't see why you should get hiss using an analog connection. Does the Scarlett accept balanced inputs? I think so, in that case you could try TRS cables, since the Kronos outputs are balanced.
 
I definitely recommend using the Scarlett.

EDIT
It just occurred to me that the Kronos, by default, routes the analog inputs on the back to its L/R main outs. If you happen to have the gains open very far (especially on mic setting) you can create hiss this way. Either close the gains or change the routing in the global menu, audio tab.

It seems to me that you have good enough gear to get this all playing nicely together quietly, so hang in there.
 
Until the Kronos comes out with some better drivers, perhaps using the Scarlett is worth trying - as long as getting the hiss out of it can be accomplished.
 
When I record audio from my keyboard's output jacks, I don't get any sort of hiss - it is not digital, but it is not noisy either.
 
Bob Bone