Hey - Have recently set up Sonar X2 on my new machine. I'm new to Sonar X2 so maybe I've set something up wrong.

Everything is working fine however I am trying to record vocals and all I'm getting is insane noise.

Have set up my mic just how I used to before - so I know it 'should' work. Before I hit record, all looks fine. I get a nice green level when I sing. I hit record and I watch the audio being drawn in - just like audio should look. But when I hit stop, the final product changes to a square waveform and sounds like I'm being run-over by a tornado.

Anyone know why this is?

I have tried plugging into a different input on my soundcard - this time when i hit 'stop' after recording, it's just a flat line - even though as I recorded, a healthy looking waveform was being printed.

?

Do songs play back properly through your audio interface in Windows Media Player, outside of Sonar?  If not, then there is an issue with either the drivers or with perhaps something like plugging the interface into a USB 3 port instead of a USB 2 port.  (some audio interfaces freak out when they are plugged into USB 3 ports).

Also, in Sonar, what is the Driver Mode set to?  You can check this in Preferences>Audio>Playback and Recording.  (your interface most likely has ASIO drivers, and that is what you will likely find to be the best ones to use).

The Sample Rate for the interface MUST match the Sample Rate as set in Sonar, or weird and crazy things happen.  I recommend an initial setting for Sample Rate of 44.1, and an ASIO Buffer Size of 128, in the interface, and a corresponding Sample Rate in Sonar also set to 44.1 - so that they match.  You can set this in Sonar at Preferences>Audio>Driver Settings.

You should also have your audio interface set for Preferences>Audio>Devices, for both input and output devices.

You want to also check the recording Bit-Depth in Sonar - you can change this at Preferences>File>Audio Data.  I recommend an initial settings of 24-bit.

Make sure you click Apply after making any changes in Preferences.

So, once all of the above is checked, you can try a simple test of playing back an imported audio track (some MP3 or WMA song from your computer).  This would test the basic settings and connections for your audio interface and Sonar, in about as plain a test as possible.  So, insert an audio track, then highlight the track by clicking on the number of the track on the left side of the track.  Once it is selected, go to File>Import>Audio and select a song file from your computer.  Sonar will then import that song to the selected audio track.  Once the import process finishes, hit the space bar to begin playback of the song.  If it plays back OK, then all of your settings are OK for Sonar and the audio interface.  If not, then we have to go back and figure out what is wrong with the settings.

IF the above works, then you should be OK to try out your microphone recording test - hopefully with better results.

Please give the above a shot, and post back with the results, 

Bob Bone

Recorded Vocal = NOISE


A little overly critical aren't we?

BOOM.

Switched to ASIO drivers.
It worked.

Thank you!
That's even got rid of a slight latency I had on a few patches in Dimension Pro. Great stuff!

I really appreciate your time.

LOL John - why dya think I bought Melodyne?!