My Media Player or any other average program cranking out audio never suffers from audio stops and drops. So why do I have this problem with Sonar (7 in my case)? The audio stopped indicator at the bottom of the windows pops up too may times. Can't I configure Sonar to send audio out in the same way the average programs do? I just mix down wave files with Sonar. 

Do you own a dedicated audio interface or are you using the internal sound card on your computer? Please list your system specs, external hardware and project details.

Playing audio through a media player is VERY different than rendering audio in a pro DAW like Sonar in terms of resource usage. It's like the difference between looking at a picture on your system and trying to render 3d graphics.

the "other players" simply have to play one mp3 or wave. 

Sonar on the other hand is a recording studio and has much more of a demand factor on the sound card. 

Lots of details involved as to why, but the fact is, it simply does. A dedicated audio interface with the proper drivers (ASIO) are required to make it work right. 

Beepster


Do you own a dedicated audio interface or are you using the internal sound card on your computer? Please list your system specs, external hardware and project details.

SoundBlaster Live  (considering an Audiophile 2496) 
 
The project is just the mix-down of wave-files in Sonar. I create one MASTER buss in Sonar, I send all my wave files to that MASTER buss. The MASTER buss sends its single stereo output to the SB Live

Playing audio through a media player is VERY different than rendering audio in a pro DAW like Sonar in terms of resource usage. It's like the difference between looking at a picture on your system and trying to render 3d graphics.

When it comes to audio-output the behavior is exactly the same in my case

Programs like Media Player are usually designed for very basic media playback, such as playing an audio CD or listening to MP3 files. these types of tasks are not very demanding because you can't notice the ~80 milliseconds delay.  SONAR works hard at keeping that delay  (or "latency") super short because it is quite noticeable when you have your own performance as fame of reference.


To elaborate: When you pluck a string on a guitar, for example, the signal is sent through your instrument or microphone cable as analog information that computers don't understand. when that signal reaches the sound card, it has it be converted to digital information, which can then be recorded to a track in SONAR. Once the signal has made its way to the software, it will be processed by whatever audio FX (reverb, chorus, flange) that you've added. From there it is sent out of the computer where it then has to be converted back to an analog signal so that you can hear it through your speaker or headphones. This entire process needs to be completed in what we perceive as instantaneous because it needs to stay in sync with your backing tracks. 


Even if you're not recording, SONAR is maintaining the performance required for it.


We can probably help improve it by tweaking some settings if you post what hardware you're using, as Beepster suggested.

@ Bill Jackson

Thanks for your help. I do have a global indication of the audio streams involved in music,  however in my case I don't record anything. I just got some lanes in Sonar playing back wave files, I sent those wave files to 1 stereo buss and the stereo buss sends the output to the soundcard. Hence my question



Appreciate you all helping to configure my system but the problem is obviously the MME drivers I decide to use. I am aware of the fact WDM is much better but it is a long story why I made that decision, I keep that for another thread I think. 

Bill and Guitarhacker got you covered pretty well there (hi, Bill).

You really should pick up even a basic interface for working with Sonar. Something with basic input/outputs to do what you are describing can be had for $100-$300. Names to look at that seem to work well with Sonar are Focusrite, M-Audio, Roland, MOTU, Pre Sonus. You can tweak your system for better performance but if you are serious about making music do yourself a favor and make the investment. It'll save you a LOT of headaches.

Beepster


Bill and Guitarhacker got you covered pretty well there (hi, Bill).

You really should pick up even a basic interface for working with Sonar. Something with basic input/outputs to do what you are describing can be had for $100-$300. Names to look at that seem to work well with Sonar are Focusrite, M-Audio, Roland, MOTU, Pre Sonus. You can tweak your system for better performance but if you are serious about making music do yourself a favor and make the investment. It'll save you a LOT of headaches.

absolutely right, I seriously consider an Audiophile 2496, but before I spent my spare money (labour market is not going well in my country  ) I am considering other options. 

A few things to try:

Crank your latency to it's highest setting.  This is done in Preferences>Driver Settings.  Move the "Buffer Size" slider all the way to the right.  This will increase the delay I mentioned.  But since you're not recording, it shouldn't be a big deal.

Another option is to download and install ASIO4ALL.  It's freely available online.  This will let you switch to ASIO driver mode, while still using your SoundBlaster.  A light warning: Using ASIO4ALL can sometimes be more confusing than it's worth.  But it often results in better performance.

The BEST option:  Invest in an interface that is specifically designed for use with a DAW.  We use a lot of Roland OCTA-CAPTURE's in the office. (http://www.rolandus.com/products/details/1127).

Be careful with those PCI cards. Make sure your motherboard has NATIVE PCI support... not Bridged PCI support. Take a look at some USB interfaces. I've got a Scarlett 18i6 and it works very well. They have a smaller version of that called the 2i2 that should do what you want. Looks like it's $150 on Musician's Friend but you might be able find one for less elsewhere...

http://www.musiciansfrien...i2-usb-audio-interface

Cheers.