Reference Guide

851
External Insert plug-in (Producer and Studio only)
Mixing
Loading a project that uses the External Insert plug-in
When you load a project with the External Insert plug-in (or select a preset in the External Insert
interface), SONAR checks to see if the exact same ports are assigned as when the project was
saved. SONAR’s port assignments can change if you load the project on a different hardware
configuration or change driver models. If there is any discrepancy between the port assignments
that were saved and the ports that are used in the current configuration, the ports are set to “None”.
Doing so avoids accidentally loading projects and having audio routed in an unexpected way.
Bouncing or freezing audio that uses the External Insert plug-in
The External Insert is a simple way to use real outboard effects as if they are inside SONAR.
However there are several good reasons why you should consider bouncing or freezing the audio
that passes through the External Insert in order to capture the result of the external hardware
processing:
• If the outboard effect's settings are changed between sessions, your project will sound different.
• If you change SONAR’s buffer sizes often, you will need to re-measure the delay on all instances
of the External Insert each time.
• If you collaborate with other SONAR users, it will be impossible for other users to get the same
sound as you unless they have the exact same outboard gear with exactly the same settings.
• You may want to use that outboard gear for something else - either in an External Insert on
another track, or for any other use in your studio.
• There is no way to use the same piece of outboard gear on different projects with different
settings.
If you bounce or freeze audio in a project that uses the External Insert plug-in, the bounce operation
must be performed in real-time.
When bouncing audio data, SONAR will automatically detect the presence of any External Insert
plug-ins (see “External Insert plug-in (Producer and Studio only)” on page 846) in tracks or buses,
and disallow the bounce operation if the Fast Bounce mix option is enabled.
If you need to bounce or freeze audio in a project that contains any External Insert plug-ins, you
have two choices:
• Disable Fast Bounce in the mixdown settings.
• Bypass all active External Insert plug-in's before bouncing.
If you need to make a change later, you can always unfreeze the audio, change settings, then freeze
again.
See:
“Real-time bounce” on page 885
“Freeze tracks and synths” on page 829