Understanding Sonar’s input and output routing.

Sonar is very unique in how it handles inputs and outputs, mostly due to the fact that it names all drivers by stereo pairs. That is to say, channels 1 and 2 from your audio hardware are grouped together as 1 pair, as are channels 3 and 4, 5 and 6, etc. Channels are grouped according to the odd number in the pair, and you have the option of selecting the left side of the pair, the right side, or both together as a stereo source.

Here’s an example to illustrate the point:

Let’s say you are using an interface with 8 input channels. You have a mic plugged in to channel 1, another in channel 6, and a keyboard plugged into channels 7 and 8. You will need three audio tracks in Sonar to record these. To record from channel 1, your first track’s input needs to be set to “(interface name) input 1 Left” (actual name may vary). The refers to the left side of the first stereo pair. To record from channel 6, your input needs to be “(interface name) input 5 Right.” Channel 6 is the right half of the stereo pair built off input 5. And to record from channels 7 and 8, set the input of your 3rd track to (interface name) input 7 Stereo.”

If this does not seem to work, here are a few things to verify:
* Under Options > Audio > Advanced, make sure your driver mode is set to “ASIO.”
* Under Options > Audio > Drivers, only the driver pairs that are checked or highlighted will actually show up as options on a track.
* You can only use 1 ASIO driver at a time in Sonar.

If you still experience problems getting signal into Sonar, please call tech Support.

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