I am getting lots of drop outs when I record. Stats: Dell XPS L701X laptop Processor Intel Core i5 M480 @2.67GHZ 8GB RAM 64 Bit Windows 7 The only thing that makes sense is that the USB or the Soundboard are too slow. Soundboard is Realtek HD Audio Using a Focusrite Scarlett 212 ------------------ RESOLVED ------------------------ I am an idiot. Thanks everyone. I didn't have ASIO on so I was using the wrong driver. Once I made it use the ASIO driver, I actually could record. Thanks everyone. ANY NEWBIES LIKE ME. Driver is everything.

No, it's not the speed of your audio interface. Expect folks to opine that a RealTek interface isn't up to snuff, and much of that criticism is legit. But it won't necessarily cause dropouts. More likely, your record buffers are just set too low, such that the CPU doesn't have sufficient time to process incoming data. Raise the buffers and your dropouts will likely disappear.

There is also a possibility that something in your laptop is being overly greedy with CPU cycles and/or I/O bandwidth. On laptops, the prime suspect is the wireless network adaptor, so make sure it's disabled when you're recording. 

SuacyJackBass


I am getting lots of drop outs when I record. Stats: Dell XPS L701X laptop Processor Intel Core i5 M480 @2.67GHZ 8GB RAM 64 Bit Windows 7 The only thing that makes sense is that the USB or the Soundboard are too slow. Soundboard is Realtek HD Audio Using a Focusrite Scarlett 212

Are you actually trying to use both the Realtek and the Scarlett simultaneously in SONAR? I would set up the Realtek as your system audio card, and make sure that SONAR only sees/uses the Focusrite. What driver type are you trying to use (Asio?).
The other thing about laptops in particular, is they often have underpowered USB ports. The 212 is bus-powered, so if the USB port itself is underpowered, especially if you are trying to (eg, using phantom power) push it - it may well under perform. Maybe try another port, or a powered hub (or maybe there's a wall wart option for the Focusrite).
Everything Bit says is right on and good advice, but didn't want to overlook a couple of obvious concern points.
Carry on.

There are a few more things that could potentially cause drop outs:

-Make sure you are using the latest driver for the 2i2 as found here:
http://us.focusrite.com/d...s?product=Scarlett+2i2
-Make sure that the driver mode in Sonar is set to ASIO
-In Windows, power options should be set to high performance and processor scheduling should be set to background services.
-If you are still having dropout issues after checking the above, DPC latency may be at play here.  You will want to check this with DPC latency checker or Latency Mon

The Realtek does not "use" the Scarlet. It's an integrated soundcard just like the Scarlett is an external one, they operate independently and can conflict. As mentioned above, you should only use the Scarlet with up-to-date drivers and make sure Realtek is not selected anywhere in SONARs settings.

I am an idiot. Thanks everyone. I didn't have ASIO on so I was using the wrong driver. Once I made it use the ASIO driver, I actually could record. Thanks everyone. ANY NEWBIES LIKE ME. Driver is everything.

no problems man, we all ask question to get better at who we are as producers.