Try going to your Edit-> Preferences-> Audio-> Playback and Recording and select the option 'Share drivers with other programs.'  You may also have to change your windows Control Panel-> Sound-> Playback-> Properties -> advanced 'Allow programs to take exclusive control of this device' setting.

Glen

Thank you! It was the "share" option that made it work! Now the latency is more in the acceptable range. I will have to work with it to see how it goes. The next thing I need is that I have to press the keys really hard to hear them play... Is their some setting to alter the "touch" needed? I have looked thru the keyboard manual, and tried the settings for touch (key velocity) and velocity curve. As long as I play on the bottom edge (nearest to my body) of each key, I get the response I need. BUT BUT. If I press the key at the top of the key (furthest from my body), then the keyboard/sonar insists on a 'hard' press. This is required for sharps/flats (the black keys) when they are struck by the middle three fingers... I Have searched the keyboard manual and cannot find something that talks about this... By the way, I am thrilled at your help!!! Very professional and knowledgeable! I can't thank you enough!

You may want to play with the buffer settings in ASIO4ALL (Edit-> Properties-> Audio-> Driver Settings-> 'ASIO Panel' button.  Try different settings to trade off latency vs. sound dependability.

I'm a poor guitar player, and even worse with a keyboard.  I think that you might want to open another post asking about how to get the key velocity set using the A-500s and Sonar.  I'm sure that there is someone else out there who can talk you through getting these set to work how you need them to and specifically with your equipment.  You should probably start that thread in the X1 section of the forum.  Lots more users show up there.

This could be velocity settings on the keyboard, within Sonar, or even possibly that the synthesizer you are using may not have enough samples in it to give you the keyboard sensitivity that you need.

Glen

There is probably a way to turn off the velocity. Look in your manual.
On my keyboard there's a button to press that turns it off, giving all the notes played a velocity of 80 regardless of how hard I press the keys.

is there anything else i need to do, or consider doing, with sonar le or any other associated software?  again, thanks for all your advice...  you have been MOST helpful!

I think you should consider taking the time to learn to record your playing and saving the performances.  Then when you decide that you want to play with the knobs you can play them back while you learn to tweak things.  I think you will also get a kick out of accompanying yourself and adding additional sounds and instruments. 

Your laptop does not have very good performance specifications for sound.  When the latency starts to really bother you you will probably want to invest in a good external USB 'soundcard.'  Look for posts from Beagle and follow the links in his signature for recommendations. 

The default Sound Center pianos are pretty entry level.  There are a lot of other, better, options, some not too expensive, that can be added in (either to Sound Center or as seperate Synths).  A real good piano might take more computer than you have so don't get carried away until you have a bit more experience.

Glen

There are ways to adjust the velocity, post-recording.
You can right-click any note while in Staff view or Piano Roll view (PRV) and change the velocity note by note.
Or open the Event List view. There you can see all the note's properties on one page and adjust any that are wildly different.
Or you can open the velocity controller pane while in the PRV and change the velocities there.

A new/related problem??? I purchased an M-Audio sustain/hold foot pedal. Without pressing the pedal, it works as expected. But when I do press the foot pedal, all the sound disappears (I hear nothing coming out of my computer/SONAR LE. Is there some switch/option that needs to be set in the Sonar to respond to a foot pedal? The Roland user manual implies that it is just suppose to work with no other settings...