StepD

But the issue remains.   I record audio, which it allows me to do.  But when I hit Stop, then the track becomes all solid color, and I have to wait until it unfreezes and I can see what I recorded on the track before I can do anything, like edit or undo.  And it takes me forever to record like this. 

So I was thinking that maybe a Mac would prevent this from happening.  

That's just the way Sonar works. The clip always turns a solid color after recording while calculating the waveform. If you've gone through four different PCs and several interfaces trying to fix it, that won't change the way it works. How long are the wave files you're recording? Are you using the same hard drive on those different PCs? Also, check your Picture cache folder and empty it if it's maxed out.

It seems to me the writing of the waveform takes so long that it disturbs the OP.  I've never experienced such. It takes usually about one second for the waveform to build, a little more for a longer recording, which I don't find too long a wait. And I'm using a 7 year old dual core.

The clip always turns a solid color after recording while calculating the waveform.

Yes, but there's an option to have the wave overview (peak file) created while recording.
Even if you have this option disabled, it should be calculated and drawn fairly quickly.

The OP may need to simply need to increase the size of the picture cache.

I have had that slow draw thing happen to me in the pst when I recorded audio to a slow external harddrive

I have had that slow draw thing happen to me in the pst when I recorded audio to a slow external harddrive

 
Sounds overly simplistic... but avoid recording to slow external HDs.  

StepD

But the issue remains.   I record audio, which it allows me to do.  But when I hit Stop, then the track becomes all solid color, and I have to wait until it unfreezes and I can see what I recorded on the track before I can do anything, like edit or undo.  And it takes me forever to record like this. 

So I was thinking that maybe a Mac would prevent this from happening.  

That's just the way Sonar works. The clip always turns a solid color after recording while calculating the waveform. If you've gone through four different PCs and several interfaces trying to fix it, that won't change the way it works. How long are the wave files you're recording? Are you using the same hard drive on those different PCs? Also, check your Picture cache folder and empty it if it's maxed out.

I just never had the problem with it doing that until I connect to the internet.   So I figured it had something to do with that.
 
No, with each new computer I have used new hard drives.   
 
I will check the picture cache folder and empty it. 
 
 
Thaks for the help!
Greg

Hey Greg,


I'm not sure exactly what machines/interfaces you've been running... but I can tell you (for certain) that the issue is not specifically PC.  
Many of us have been recording for years (with many different PC builds/interfaces/software) and have never had that problem.


If you've been using off-the-shelf laptops, that's likely a fundamental part of the issue.
ie:  Using a Firewire audio interface... with a "rogue" controller (not a quality TI chipset controller), you could experience poor performance all the way up to complete instability.
All the while, the issue isn't the PC... or the audio interface itself (rather an incompatibility with the Firewire controller).

Hi Jim,
I've used different PC's and interfaces.   I do not like firewire, although I've used a couple of them.   My current PC is an HP desktop.   I'm using a Roland Quad-Capture USB interface currently. 
What would be a quality TI chipset?
 
Thanks!
Greg

Yes, but there's an option to have the wave overview (peak file) created while recording. 
Even if you have this option disabled, it should be calculated and drawn fairly quickly.

The OP may need to simply need to increase the size of the picture cache.

Yeah, I believe the compute while recording option is on by default in aud.ini. Good point about the picture cache. It still defaults to a relatively small size. Alternately, you can just clear out the folder once in a while to make sure it doesn't get too unruly in there. Could also be the hard drive, though. Like you guys mentioned, it could be a slow drive, or an older drive carried from PC to PC could be reaching the end of its life span. I've been known to use the same drive over a few PC builds.

greg54

I just never had the problem with it doing that until I connect to the internet.   So I figured it had something to do with that.
 
No, with each new computer I have used new hard drives.   
 
I will check the picture cache folder and empty it. 
 
 
Thaks for the help!
Greg

Cool, ignore my last comment about carrying over an old hard drive then. :-) Not sure about the connecting to the internet thing, but I guess anything's possible.  Hopefully you'll get lucky with picture cache adjustments.

Are you connecting to the internet with a wireless connection?  These are known to cause drop-outs.
if yes:
Disable the wireless connection while recording. 
Better yet, keep the wireless connection disabled and connect to the internet with a hard wire connection.

mikedocy


Are you connecting to the internet with a wireless connection?  These are known to cause drop-outs.
if yes:
Disable the wireless connection while recording. 
Better yet, keep the wireless connection disabled and connect to the internet with a hard wire connection.

I have completely disconnected everything from the internet - even all traces of spyware protection.   
 
Greg