Choosing inputs

After you’ve connected your instrument or other sound source to your sound card, you need to tell your sound card’s software, Sonar, and possibly the Windows Mixer which input you’re recording through. If you’re recording through the S/PDIF input, the procedure is a little different (see To record through the S/PDIF input).

If your sound card only has one pair of inputs (one stereo Line input, usually, or Line and Mic inputs that can’t be used simultaneously), then your sound card probably responds to the Windows Mixer.

Use the following procedure to record a track using the Windows Mixer.

To record with Sonar and the Windows Mixer

1.	Open the Windows Mixer—double-click the Speaker icon that’s on your Windows taskbar to open the Play Control dialog box. If you don’t see the Speaker icon on your taskbar, you can open the Windows Mixer by using the following command:

Windows 7: Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Volume Control

2.	In the Play Control dialog box, use the Options > Properties command, and select Recording (under Adjust Volume For).

3.	Under Adjust Volume For, make sure Line-In and Microphone are checked, and click OK.

The Record Control dialog box appears.

4.

If you’re recording through the Line input, click the Select check box that’s at the bottom of the Line-In column, and make sure that the volume slider in that column is in the upper half of its range (if you’re recording through the Mic input, do the same actions in the Microphone column). Minimize the Windows Mixer window.

5.	In Sonar’s Track view, use the In field in a track you want to record in to select the input you’re using—select either the Left input of your sound card to record in mono or the Stereo input to record in stereo.

6.	Arm the track for recording (click its R button so that it’s red), and play your instrument. You should see the Record Meter at the bottom of the track’s property fields light up. If the meter doesn’t move, see the table immediately following this procedure.

7.	Adjust your instrument’s volume, and/or the volume slider in the Record Control dialog box so that the level in the Record meter almost reaches the red zone when you play your loudest notes.

8.	Record some sound by pressing r to start recording, and pressing the SPACEBAR when you’re finished. You can rewind by pressing w.

After you stop recording, you should see a picture of your audio data in the Clips pane of the track you’re recording in. Don’t forget to disarm the track and save your project if you want to keep what you recorded.

If you don’t see any movement in the track’s record meter when you play your instrument, try some of the following:

Possible problem	Solution
You have chosen a Right input of your sound card as an input, but your instrument is plugged into a Left input.	Click the armed track’s Input button and choose the opposite input from the currently selected one. If that doesn’t help, try selecting the Stereo input.
Your instrument is plugged into a different-numbered input from the one you selected as an input.	Try choosing different-numbered Inputs until the meter starts to move.
Your instrument is not turned up or its cable is bad.	Turn up the instrument and try different cables.
You’re using an adapter that doesn’t quite fit the sound card input.	Try moving the adapter in or out slightly, and make sure the cable is plugged all the way into it.

If your sound card has multiple inputs and has its own mixer software, you probably don’t need to select inputs in the Windows Mixer. To record through the analog inputs on your sound card, you probably only need to set your sound card’s clock to internal, and in Sonar’s Track view, choose the correct number of the inputs you’re connected to in the In field of the track you’re recording.

To record through the digital input (S/PDIF), see the following procedure.

To record through the S/PDIF input

1.	Connect the instrument or CD player you want to record from to your sound card’s S/PDIF input using a 75 ohm coaxial video cable or special S/PDIF cable. You may need to turn off the power on your computer, sound card, and sound source first. See your sound card’s documentation.

2.	Use your sound card’s mixer software to set its clock to external or S/PDIF.

3.	Leave Sonar’s clock setting at the default choice, which is Audio. You can choose clock settings in Edit > Preferences > Project - Clock or in the Control Bar’s Sync module.

4.	Arm a track, test the input level and adjust input volume, and record your track.

5.	When you’re finished recording, set your sound card’s clock back to internal, and listen to your recording.

There’s one more type of audio connection you may find on occasion called AES/EBU, which stands for Audio Engineering Society/European Broadcasting Union, and is the highest bandwidth digital audio connection. An AES/EBU connection can use cables longer than 33 feet, which is the limit for S/PDIF cables. If your sound source has an AES/EBU connection, you can use your sound card’s S/PDIF jacks to send data to and from the AES/EBU jacks by purchasing an inexpensive converter, such as the Hosa CDL-313 (www.hosatech.com).

 

For more information, see:

Audio hardware and drivers

Audio

MIDI