Reference Guide

1259
I hear an echo when I record
Troubleshooting
I hear an echo when I record
If you have input monitoring enabled, when you play an instrument that is plugged into your sound
card, you hear the direct signal that goes straight through your sound card, and then an instant later
you hear the sound that is processed by SONAR, including any plug-in effects you may be using.
You can eliminate the echo in either of two ways:
• Mute the direct signal so you only hear the sound that is processed by SONAR. If you choose this
method, you may hear too much of a lag between the time you play your instrument and the time
you hear it, depending on the latency of your system (using WDM audio drivers is a great way to
achieve lower latency).
To mute your sound card’s direct sound:
1. Open the Windows Volume Control window:
• Windows 7: Click the Windows Start button and go to Control Panel > Hardware and
Sound > Volume Control.
The Volume Control window appears.
2. In the Play Control window of the mixer, check the Mute check box in the Line-In column, or
in the column of whatever jack your instrument is plugged into, and close the mixer window.
• Disable input monitoring so you only hear the raw signal that’s coming through your sound card. If
you choose this method, you won’t hear any plug-in effects you may be using.
To disable input monitoring:
• On the track where you want to disable input monitoring, click the track’s Input Echo button
so that it is in the Off position:
More “Frequently asked questions” on page 1251.
Dropouts happen at high bit-depths or high sample
rates
If you are hearing consistent dropouts/clicks in your audio and if your project contains high bit depth
(32/64 bit) or high sample rate audio (88.2K or higher), it may be indicative of a too small I/O buffer
size. If so try a higher I/O buffer size like 256 or 512. If audio problems persist, reset to 128 and try a
different remedy.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Audio - Sync and Caching, and set Playback I/O Buffer Size (KB)
and Record I/O Buffer Size (KB) to 256, 512 or 1024.
More “Frequently asked questions” on page 1251.