SFP and Sonar

An area for people to discuss Scope related problems, issues, etc.

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rsagevik
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Post by rsagevik »

I`m currently thinking of leaving Logic..
and are now trying out sonar. (bad experience
so far)
Everything works.. sort of, but
when I`m playing a loop made with DXi`s in sonar the resource meter just keep filling up
until it reaches 99% and all you got is
noise..
If I stop and start sonar it starts from 0
again. What could be wrong?
regards
ras
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Zer
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Post by Zer »

Problem are the dxi´s. I´m afraid pulsar /scope is not really a directsound card. You can even check this with dxdiag the diagnostic program for directX.

A real pain for pulsars directsounddriver seems to be any directX version above 8.1, too. Perhaps you´d like to run a directsound compatible card as well and choose it for playing back dxis and connect that one via digital conntection to your pulsar /scope?
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ronnie
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Post by ronnie »

Sonar 4 Producer does not like ASIO2 Flt but Cubase SX3 has no problem. Any ideas?
Sonar likes ASIO up to 24 bit only....
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garyb
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Post by garyb »

use asio2 24bit with sonar.
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ronnie
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Post by ronnie »

Got it sorted. Just modified all my Cubase projects for ASIO flt. Had to replicate with ASIO 24 for Sonar... All is well...
kwild
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Post by kwild »

Why ASIO 2 24 bit with sonar?
I use sonar from a lot of time and i've ever used simple ASIO 2 16 bit drivers...
What's difference?
See ya.
marcuspocus
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Post by marcuspocus »

The main difference between 16 and 24 bits is dynamics, euh, available headroom before the sounds clips.

In 16 bits you have 65536 values available to represent a sample

In 24bits you have 16777216 values available to represent a sample.

In 32bits you have 4294967296 values available to represent a sample.


So, more bits, means more precision for a single sample value.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: marcuspocus on 2004-12-29 09:54 ]</font>
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ronnie
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Post by ronnie »

Sonar only allows ASIO 2 drivers up to 24 bits. However... the internal audio processing of Sonar 4 is 32 bit.
liberty
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Post by liberty »

tell me please, what is the difference between 24bit and 24bit float?
kwild
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Post by kwild »

On 2004-12-29 22:42, ronnie wrote:
Sonar only allows ASIO 2 drivers up to 24 bits. However... the internal audio processing of Sonar 4 is 32 bit.
Hey Ronnie are u really sure?So,can u explain why i can use ASIO 2 16 Bit with sonar?I've maded some records with that drivers...!

For Marcus,i know the difference between 24 and 32 bits,but it's valid even using 16 bit samples into sonar?
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ronnie
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Post by ronnie »

AFAIK Sonar uses ASIO up to 24 bits - not exclusively 24 bits. You cannot use 32 bit ASIO with Sonar but 16 or 24 are fine.

Regarding Sonar 4 Producer: it handles bit rate conversions with POW-r Consortiums word length reduction algorithm. Any audio input or output in Sonar 4 Producer uses this (if selected in the Advanced Audio Options - it's the default) for the conversions for import, export and bounces.

However.... If you run everything at 16 bit all the way from recording to mastering then POW-r won't come into play as no dithering is required (unless you use some other hardware or plug-in to do it along the way intentionally like as an effect).

So if it sounds good to you - keep making those records but you might find that using ASIO2 24 bit drivers in Sonar Producer 4 will give you "more digital headroom" right through to your final 16bit CD. Many top studios use the POW-r Consortium converters to preserve their 192, 96 and 88Khz recordings through the chain to 16 bit CD.

You may not need to know all the details or math complexities of dithering and digital headroom, but using ASIO2 24 bit through the POW-r chain is a well-proven method worthy of consideration for your productions. Most likely your productions will sound better from a personal and commercial perspective. True, that depends on your ears, but you might be surprised when others notice even if you don't.

Ciao.
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