Yeah... if that program has a way to convert to .wav do that. Also if you do not have a dedicated audio interface and want to really take advantage of X2 you sould probably look at investing in one. Onboard soundcards tend to cause a lot of problems once you start trying to do anything intensive.

I have a ? for you guys then.  im incredibly nooby and was trying to record some audio right now and its telling me that my realtek hd audio isn't supported and its not letting me record.  is it something im doing wrong?

You are using that USB mic? Make sure the mic's drivers are installed correctly and up to date, go to Edit > Preferences > Audio > Devices and make sure it is selected. You will also want to read the manual for the mic to find out which is the preferred driver mode then select that mode in the Sonar preferences menu. You may also have to install a program called ASIO4All if you intend to use ASIO and things just aren't working.

Sound like a pain in the butt, eh? That's why I mentioned that you should get a dedicated audio interface. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. $150 will get you a two input interface that'll work fine with Sonar and eliminate a huge amount of headaches. 

Also work through the tutorials in the SOnar manual. For now do what I said above to try and get the USB mic working then on the track you want to record into click the Input dopdown menu and select the mic. I have no idea how a USB mic would appear in that menu though but you should be able to recognize the name... it should match what you selected in the Preferences menu I talked about earlier.

Well there ya have it. I did not know that. 

i plan on getting a pre amp for the mic.  its not a usb mic, I just picked up a usb cord with it.  ill switch it out and grab a 48 volt pre amp in a week or two. 

MrQuestion


It's fascinating to see Caesar go down the same hole I did and get the same answers I did.
 
Software is getting creakier and creakier.

They are not meant for DAW use. They should work just fine in an audio app like Sound Recorder thats built into Windows but for DAWs its not the device so much but the drivers that come with them.

They are little better than the built in sound chip on the motherboard.

A good mic and audio interface meant for a DAW is the only way to go.  

What are you looking to do with it? By that I mean how many and what kind of inputs/outputs do you need? If you only need a couple inputs and one set of stereo outputs the interface I linked to will work well. Those two inputs will handle XLR, guitar or bass instrument line in and direct line inputs. The monitor outs will go to powered monitors and it has a headphone output. Both the monitor and headphone outputs have their own volume knob which is SUPER handy. If you need old style MIDI connections though you'll need something different but most MIDI devices these days use USB. That one goes for about $150 I think so it's a good price. I own it's bigger brother the 18i6 and it works great.

what I have right now is the akai mpd32 midi controller, which plugs in using usb and I have no issues with that.  I have a midi usd keyboard im waiting on in the mail.  my mic is not usb,but I figured I could grab up a usb cord for it and have it working straight away.  judging by all of your helpful responses, I didn't do enough research :)  im fairly certain that I need 2 inputs incase I need something else. but one should do fine