Reference Guide

810 Software instruments
Synth Rack icons
Synth Rack icons
Each Synth Rack strip displays a synth icon so that you can easily tell one synth from another when
the rack contains multiple synths.
Icons have the same image format and file location as track icons, and use the same commands to
show or hide the icons. Synth Rack Icons are enabled in SONAR by default, and the default icon for
each synth is track_icon_dxi_large.bmp. The Synth Rack only displays large format icons,
fixed at 48x48 pixels.
Use the following procedures to manage your synth icons:
Playing a soft synth
There are several ways to play a soft synth:
• You can record MIDI data and use the soft synth as a playback device.
• You can play the soft synth in real time from a MIDI controller or keyboard. To avoid excessive
latency, your sound card must be using a WDM or ASIO driver. Also, you must set mixing latency
to the lowest achievable level (probably less than 10 msec.), which you do by adjusting the Buffer
Size slider in Edit > Preferences > Audio - Driver Settings.
To do this Do this
To hide Synth Rack icons Right-click an icon in the Synth Rack and choose Show Synth Icons
from the pop-up menu.
Or
Use the Views > Icons > Synth Rack > Show Large Icons
command.
To show Synth Rack icons Use the Views > Icons > Synth Rack > Show Large Icons
command.
To load a particular synth icon Right-click the icon in the Synth Rack that you want to change, and
select Load Synth Icon from the pop-up menu.
To reset a particular synth icon to its
original icon
Right-click the icon in the Synth Rack that you want to reset, and
select Reset Synth Icon from the pop-up menu.
To open a synth’s property page Double-click the synth’s icon in the Synth Rack.
Table 157.
Note: WDM or ASIO drivers do not improve performance when you play back recorded MIDI
data—the improvement comes only when you play a soft synth in real time from an external MIDI
controller or keyboard.