Hi,
 
I run an audiobox 1818VSl with outputs 1/2 being for the control room, and outputs 3/4 for the isolation room, and outputs 5/6 for the lounge, and outputs 7/8 being for artist's monitoring headphones..   I have been having issues with trying to get the vu meter in the transport section to be driven by the output I wish to monitor, and can't seem to figure out how to change it.
 
I can't seem to find any documentation on this either.   Any help would be appreciated.
 
Thanks.
 
The Badger

That "main" meter(and slider) is kind of an oddball, and is unique to the interface shared by Sonar Home Studio 7, Music Creator 5, and Guitar Tracks 4. It does not appear in any versions before or since those. It mirrors the control for the main output that you would see in the Console view. It is dictated by your Playback Timing Master selection in Options>Audio. This is the only place you can change it, which is inconvenient, and borders on ill-advised.
It probably won't hurt anything, but these settings affect how Sonar communicates with your interface, and it's generally best to leave them alone once everything is working right.
Understand that SHS7 was dumbed down to be easy for a new user. It really wasn't intended for situations as complex as yours.
For what you want to do, I would suggest inserting sends to buses from the master bus. Each of these buses can be set to a different output, which will make controlling them separately very easy.
If your audiobox has a GUI, you may also be able to control output routing and volume from there.

Thanks,
 
Good Info.
 
Cheers
 
Jeff

I think that depends on which output you have listed for Windows 7 which I just been through. If you have the speaker icon (for sound mixers of Windows) on your right hand taskbar then you change which output you are going to use there. Only two outputs can you use (left and right say) at one time. Then if you change it there, then you check the box on the output in Sonar, since I do not use ADAT as of yet, I only have to mark either Analog 1 & 2 output (in Windows it is the speaker graphics in playback), or Analog 3 & 4 in Windows and also Sonar which is the headphone graphics in the Playback section in the mixer section of Windows 7. Right click on the speaker icon on the taskbar or get up Control Panel - Sound, game controllers whatever in Control Panel and go through that to see what you have marked as for Recording and Playback (also Sounds there and Communications tabs) and if you change what input you want to record with or output you want to hear with, then both Windows 7 and Sonar has to agree, or you get no sound at all I think.
In XP it seems to be easier because you could read it better, but still you can read it in Windows 7, just those stupid graphics symbols also, as Windows 7 gives you all the inputs and outputs you can have and you can check all of them, but still in Sonar 7 as far as I know, you can only have two (left and right say) for any output as in stereo output which would be like Windows Media Player - playing a wave or *.mp3 file with that.
 
Otherwise I think perhaps (but since I have not used all outputs or inputs) that in Sonar 7 you would need the normal template and have the Master submix along with perhaps other buses below the tracks, but only Master bus is needed to route all tracks to the master on output which means that to me the inputs could be changed to whatever to record, all tracks inputs go to the Master bus for output which means in the end that the output is still only - say stereo (left and right) and the VU meters on top reflect the Master Bus output that goes to the output in have marked in Sonar 7 to use and also in Windows 7. In my case I am using the Analog 3 & 4 outputs and timing master in Sonar 7 but use the Analog 1 & 2 inputs to record through as the timing master. If I were using also the ADATs or SPDIF whatever then I would have to change the inputs in Window if not all checked and also in the Driver section of Audio menu item in Options to use whichever one at a time (sterero AdAT 1 & 2 or 3&4, or 5&6  or 7&8).
 
Since I am always using analog 3 & 4 output on my unit and in Sonar I never have to check Windows 7 because that is also marked there for playback, so checking Windows I am not sure if changing it just in Sonar. Perhaps just to make sure with the Windows OS stuff in Windows for the sound mixer. ??
 
Your outputs are what controls the VU meter in Sonar - in my case either it is directly the analog 3 & 4 output since I use those, or the Master Bus which also goes to the analog 3 & 4 outputs. I think if I were using two other outputs I have to mark those in Windows 7 and also Sonar with a check mark in Drivers of the Audio menu item of Options but only two at one time, so that is why a Master Bus is used to go to the outputs 2 which are being used.
 
 

In XP with the same setup I did not have to mark a default output, but Windows 7 seems to do it on its own.
So - every track to Master Bus to whatever output you have both checked in Sonar and Windows 7 (at least to me).
 
That to me is why XP was better for any of that. I may be wrong but I see no way to get around that default in Windows 7, and it will mark anything as the default if you do not check it.
??
 

spacealf, I totally agree that the XP setup was far superior to the Windows volume I/O setup in more recent versions.
I miss the control it provided.
However, what Jeff is asking about is a slider and meter peculiar to the Sonar Home Studio 7 GUI. It is integrated into the transport control. It is internal to SHS7, and is directly linked to whichever output SHS7 sees as it's master playback output.
My guess is it was included as a concession to the home environment, and offers quick access to the output volume in case you might need to turn down the volume when, say, your wife comes in to ask you to take out the trash.

I found out (since I had not used it) of what I was referring to was the outputs marked on the Options -> Audio menu item Drivers Tab page in Sonar. There all outputs can be checked and on each track you would assign which output you want the track to go to. That is all done in Sonar and Windows 7 has nothing to do with it, but yes, they changed that from XP with Vista and instead of using the sound unit as a means of controlling the output in Windows 7 it automatically does it trick and at least decides a default if you do not mark one. (which to me I did not have to do in XP at all). Yes, Microsoft changed all of that starting with Vista and now people are asking why? (since Windows 7 does not agree with that).
 
Luckily you can control the output in Sonar, because if were left up to Windows 7 unlike XP you could not include every output (at least to me unless I am missing something - and other people think the same thing because of Windows 7).
 
That to me made XP more flexible for sound than Windows Vista and beyond will ever be. I guess that means that an audio interface drivers are more important because those have to be changed to acommodate the new things Microsoft did starting with Vista concerning the sound department of the computer.
 
Of course I may just be going nuts at this moment also.

 
 
 

Update
 
Thanks for the info.   Rob pretty much nailed it with the ouput monitoring.    The VU meter only registers what Sonar 7 is seeing as the "Master".    I can change it but the program seems to default to the lowest numbered inpute to be the master.   For example, when I select 7/8 as the master, then try to add a bus to have an output on say 1/2, as soon as the channel is selected in the ouput drivers tab, it defaults to 1/2 as the master.
 
I have worked around this by rehooking up the outputs by priority as needed.  Bit of a hassle but is a little easier since I hooked everything up to a patchbay.    It's just a hassle when using phantom power, because everything has to be powered down to repatch safely.
 
I guess if I really want the functionality I am looking for I might have to upgrade to the X series.    Just not used to the GUI, and am not looking forward to learning it.     Tried the trial version of X2 Producer and the sends don't seem to have the same impact on the sound as in SHS7, and the layout is so completely alien to SHS7.  I could not get even close to the sound of the finished product I could get on SHS7.   Mind you it is also a completely different set of FX, and VST's as well.
 
Anyway thanks for the info.
 
Jeff