Sonar 8PE and the FW-1884 - WORKS

UPDATE TO AVOID CONFUSION: (For those that don't like to read entire threads)

Bottom Line: IT WORKS!!! No new software is needed. Several have confirmed this - using Windows XP (SP2 or SP3) or Vista (32 bit) - but you MAY need to reinstall the FW-1884 software (dirver/plugin).

I am using XP SP2, TASCAM driver 1.60, and Sonar Plugin 1.22 Beta that I used with Sonar 7. Others are using other versions successfully. The key for those (like myself) that had problems with their FW-1884 after upgrading to Sonar 8 appears to be uninstalling and reinstalling the Sonar Plugin (possibly the TASCAM driver also).

Some are still experiencing a latency issue BUT it is not limited to the FW-1884. Cakewalk is working on it and there is no reason to believe that it won't be identified and fixed soon for control surfaces that are experiencing the issue.

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Oh no. I'm hoping it's just me and that reinstalling the FW-1884 drivers will make it all better.

I installed Sonar 8PE as soon as it arrived this afternoon. Installation went well. I open up a project from Sonar 7 and everything seemed to work as expected/hoped. I like the new pause feature and the change to not stop/start the audio engine fixed a small problem (as expected) with the Lynx AES16e.

I found I could drop latencies a little further than with 7PE and get excellent playback with lots of tracks and plugins. Good job Bakers!!!

I then tried using my FW-1884. I only use it as a control surface - no I/O. I have the latest drivers - which took forever to get (from Frontier/Tascam) to fix problems working with Sonar 7. I found a couple of fairly serious problems in just a few minutes. I suspect that these are once again probably Tascam driver issues. And wouldn't expect Tascam to be any more responsive this time around if they are. Frontier tried to be helpful on the last driver update but their efforts were hampered tremendously by Tascam.

Problems noted:

- The faders do not move to the current position when a session is opened or even when a track is selected. As soon as you move the virtual slider the FW-1884 slider jumps to the correct position. If you move the 1884 fader the virtual slider will move to the proper location. Nothing changed in my configuration that I can tell from Sonar 7. And read automation was on. I suspect the configuration is correct since the 1884 fader does jump to the proper location as soon as the virtual fader is moved.

- The jog wheel is pretty much unusable. It will move the Now Time marker but the sensitivity is erratic and there appears to be some cueing of commands. There is some latency in starting and then there continues to be some movement after stopping the jog wheel. The shift button did nothing to improve the problem.

I only spent a few minutes and then went to drink heavily to deal with the prospects of waiting for a Tascam driver update. Actually I decided to search the forum to see if anyone else had run into any problems with this or better yet fond that it worked great. Since it is very early and not a lot of people have Sonar 8 installed yet (and even fewer FW-1884 users with Sonar 8 installed). I will keep watching the forum - and playing with the FW-1884 to see if I can persuade it to cooperate.

Don

There is a glimmer of hope. Just on the off chance that the programmers went back to the "old" way (pre-S7) of interfacing with the FW-1884 I loaded up the old 1.50 version of the TASCAM driver. The faders sprang to life. I haven't had a chance to test many of the other features but the jog wheel is still unusable. It continues to have the latency issue that others are also reporting with other Control Surfaces. I haven't played with the INI file prameters to see if they make a difference or not. I'll try that as soon as I have some time.

It's a little frustrating having to change TASCAM drivers going between S7 and S8 but that won't be an issue once we are only using S8 - or have abandon the FW-1884. It looks like the writing is on the wall for the FW-1884 and Sonar if Cakewalk isn't even doing a cursory check of compatibility with new versions. (as indicated by Danny's comment above). Having Cakewalk/Roland enter the integrated HW/SW product area is probably a mixed blessing/curse. They are certainly going to concentrate on making their HW the best supported. I get the feeling the FW-1884's days are numbered. Hopefully they will offer more options. I don't want to be forced to use (or pay for) lesser quality converters and pre-amps that I don't want or need. I would probably spring for the V Studio Console as soon as it was available if it were available separately.

Don

Thanks e36! Are you using driver 1.50 or 1.60 for the FW-1884? No problems with the jog wheel?

I'll try it later tonight. I didn't try removing the Sonar plugin. Just the TASCAM driver.

It still worries me a little that Cakewalk says they didn't do any testing with the FW-1884. And when there are any problems Tascam is not the least bit responsive. Or least hasn't been in the past with respect to the FW-1884. I like the unit but it just doesn't seem to have a strong enough following to create strong interest from companies such as Cakewalk. I don't blame Cakewalk. They need to put their efforts where their customer base is.

Thanks again.

Don

I have the 1.60 driver installed since I am using Vista 32 bit...
I haven't had any issues with that driver per say...just the sonar plugin was the first time I have come across the interface not working but after un-installing and re-installing, everything is working like a champ now..

P.S. Also I upgraded the firmware on mine, so that might help too......

Sonar tascam plugin..

Just cusious, the 1.21 released or 1.22 beta verison?

His functionality in SONAR 8 should work much like it does in version 7.

This is all I'm hoping for. I've already opened my SONAR 8 and I'm not concerned about that aspect.

I for one <realised> that after the Beta driver was leaked but never <posted> online by Tascam that it was a dead deal. No surprise here. Well, the surprise was it took so long for someone to finally say it in print or out loud.

I'll try reloading my 1.22 Beta <driver> after I install SONAR 8 if I see any problems (I expect I will, like others here).

FW 1884 is working for me in sonar 8 with XP SP2

Faders, play etc... Haven't tried much else yet.

I had to go into the Control surface option and make sure FW 1884 control was set for in and out (damn USB keyboard was up to it's tricks at first)

I'm defragging at the moment.

I think I'm on 1.5 drivers WDM ...I'll have to check that and the Control surface version i'm using.

i'm tempted to try out the ASIO drivers being that Cakewalk appear to have improved their ASIO driver interaction...looking at the fine print.

I ditched my FW1884 for version 7 as itnever quite worked right. It had some seemingly minor but very annoying quirks that I couldn't tolerate. If you want a REALLY nice unit with basically the same functionality (more actually) as the FW1884, get the Tascam DM3200 with the optional firewire card. You can have a control surface, analog interface, mixer, midi inputs, digital interface, and much more. You can do 32 tracks in(16 Analog, but you can connect an external AD converter to the 3200 to get more analog ins) and out of sonar as well as control it. It's about 3,000 plus the cost of the firewire card. It works off Mackie Emuluation, so as long as Sonar supports Mackie controls, the 3200 should work. It doesn't have the quarks of the 1884 that drove me insane.

With that being said, I haven't test the 3200 with Sonar 8 as I'm poor now, but if Mackie Control Pro's work, so should the 3200/4800.

(The 3200 has had problems working in Vista, though due to Tascam's Asleep at the Wheel Technical staff. I use XP with no problems).

don47777,

after your reinstall of 1.22 beta driver did everything still work as beforre in 7PE?

What exact steps did you take to uninstall/reinstall the SONAR plugin 1.22?

Did you have to reinstall the Tascam driver? Are you using 1.50 or 1.60?

Yea, I am going to wait as well. For a lot of us, this was the perfect home recording solution and it's a DAMN SHAME that there is no support for this unit. Because I really don't see anything near as good on the market for me (all the inputs, surround sound capabilities, MIDI, guitar direct in, etc), for near the price I paid for the unit originally.

At this point, I don't give a flip where the "BLAME" lies as far as this not being supported; but if the upgrade to S8 doesn't support the unit - I'm done with Sonar going forward (at least until a new similar unit hits the market). PERIOD. I'll just make due with S7.

BAD BAKERS! BAD!

ORIGINAL: einstein36

I have the 1.60 driver installed since I am using Vista 32 bit...

einstein36 does SOFTLCD work omn Vista 32 bi2?

"yes it does...
me personally, I don't like it because it takes up screen real estate that sits at the bottom of one's monitor and thus can't see Sonar very well..."

You know you can "autohide" soft LCD, and it will hide itself off the screen until you drag your mouse to it.
Just sharing.

SoftLCD does come with the 1.60 driver, etc, but of course, it's suppose to load a shortcut on the desktop, but the actual .exe is not in the tascam folder underneath program files, but I think for some strange reason and thinking, tascam put the actual softlcd.exe program underneath windows or something like that..(I do apologize, but I am not at home right now..gotta do the stupid freaking 8-5 job thing to pay those bills hahahahaha
)

ORIGINAL: Hexdigit62

einstein36, thanks for the reply. Is SOFTCD included with the 1.60 vista driver or did you have to install from some older version? I’m doing a fresh install of Vista, SONAR 8, FW-1082(I know you are talking about the FW-1884) and was wondering where my source for SOFTLCD should come from because it doesn’t appear to be a part of the 1.60 driver I downloaded from TASCAM.

sorryit took me a little to write back..(damn day job *#&$*#$&)..anyways..no...the 1.60 driver is smaller, but it does contain the softlcd app within it...

ORIGINAL: Hexdigit62

Hi,
Thanks for the info and I know what you mean by the whole 8 to 5 thing….LOL. The V1.60 driver file seams kind of small to contain both SOFTLCD and the driver, 1.87MB. The V1.50 full installer file is 10MB. Are the FW-1884 files approximately the same size?

To all FW1884 Users.

The concensus is that S8PE is a go?
Remove the 1.6 driver and the 1.22 sonar plug-in and re-install, right?
Jog wheel latency is a Sonar control surface problem.

Any other advice?

What about settings in the Tascam control panel.
I'm setting the Audio Latency at 256 and seeing 5.8msec in the Sonar Audio setting.
If I try to run the 1884 any lower than that I run into problems, that seem about right?

TIA,
Tom

Win XP 32 SP2 2gB ram