I can't hear anything when i try and record my guitar with Sonar. The only time i can hear anything is either when i press the "echo", button (which there is alot of delay with) or when i record something and play it back, and even then it sounds all fuzzy and distorted. I have tried messing about with the preference settings but i dont really have a clue what im doing. I've read things like monitoring through the interface (but i have no idea what this means). 

I can record perfectly fine when i'm using a midi keyboard, just not external instruments for some reason. 

Apologies for my lack of knolwdge of all the technical terms etc, so if anyone has any ideas it would be much appreciated if you could explain it in black and white. 

I've got everything plugged into my, M-Audio usb "thingy" (again apologies about the lack of terminology) 

Hopefully i've made a little bit of sense!

So, first, welcome!!

Second, it helps to tell us your Audio Interface and some other specs.

Next, most of us use the ASIO Driver mode. This isn't necessary in all cases, but you might consider trying it.

If you are experiencing latency, click the FX Bypass Button to bypass all FX to see what your latency is with no FX. This matters for the signal path through Sonar (with input echo on). It disables FX, but it helps you see if a particular effect is adding the noticeable latency.

Another tip, many interfaces enable you to route directly out from the interface. This is done from the interface software itself.

Thanks for the reply. 

Again, excuse the ignorance, but what is my audio interface? (i'm a complete novice with this stuff). What other specs would be helpful to know? 

Whats Asio driver mode, and how do i get it? 

I don't think i actually have any FX on...?

What do you mean by route directly out from the interface? 

Thanks

Your audio interface is your sound card. you should be using one like a Motu, Maudio or Focusrite. For guitar recording, you should be using a Hi-Z input in the sound card/interface and one with a pre-amp. Onboard sound card is not good enough to use as it lacks the drivers, converters and pre-amps needed.

ASIO and WDM are driver modes for your audio interface

Routing is your signal chain and gain stage. Its where your signal starts and ends

I would read up on recording techniques and brush up on some terminology as now you will be an audio engineer when using sonar, so you need to know a bit.

There is videos and the help file to get you started. Its a must for newbies. Everyone who runs sonar has had to do allot of work studying and learning.

CJ

You probably should consider going through some of the on-line tutorials to see if you can get a better background.  Check out http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/SONARU.aspx/Get-Started , particularly the audio setup tutorial for some of your answere.

Glen