First, I think audio tracks also need the "Allow Recording without an Armed Track" option that MIDI tracks have (see post #8 of
this thread for my view).
Because audio tracks don't have the option (and also the "Always Echo Current Track" option MIDI tracks have), you need one press of a key (R key) and two clicks (Arm button and Input Echo button) to start recording audio, if I'm not mistaken, while you only need a single press of a key (R key) in MIDI recording.
Fortunately, there's a way to enable both arming and input monitoring by a single click, according to the reference guide P.299, "SONAR makes it possible to automatically enable input monitoring when arming a track for recording. To do so, hold down the SHIFT key while you click on a track’s Arm button."
But no, it doesn't work, because even if you do it in the Track view, the Input Echo button in the Console view is still disabled. Although this report was submitted to development, I received a message saying, "The function does work when clicking the record arm button in the Track View. Functionality with the Console View will be logged with development." I'm not quite sure what this means (I cannot reply because the ticket was sent to development) because the reference guide doesn't specifically say the feature is for the Console view only, and I think most users use the Track view when recording.
[Steps to Reproduce the Issue]
1. Create a new project.
2. In the Track view, insert an audio track.
3. Hold down SHIFT and click the track's Arm button.
[Expected Result]
You hear whatever signal coming into the track, because the Input Echo button is automatically turned on.
[Actual Result]
You can't hear anything because the track's Input Echo button in the CONSOLE view is still "Off."
Issue #: CWBRN-24939
Reported on March 21, 2014
Confirmed and submitted to development on March 21, 2014 (with message "The function does work when clicking the record arm button in the Track View. Functionality with the Console View will be logged with development.")