1298
Improving audio performance
System configuration
Bit depths for playback
Most sound cards can play audio at 16-bit or 24-bit resolution, with a few sound cards supporting 18-
bit and 20-bit resolution. When your project contains files with different bit depths SONAR plays
them at the bit depth that your sound card is currently set to. Because SONAR can play projects that
contain files of different bit depths, you don’t have to convert 16-bit files to 24 bits to play them with
other 24-bit files, saving significant storage space. If you’re playing 64-bit, 32-bit, or 24-bit files at 16
bits, you can turn dithering on in
Edit > Preferences > Audio - Playback and Recording
to
compensate for the truncated data.
When you first install SONAR, the Wave Profiler profiles your sound card at all the bit depths that the
sound card supports, so when you change the playback bit depth, you don’t need to run the Wave
Profiler again (you do need to relaunch SONAR).
Here’s how to change the playback bit depth for a project:
To change playback bit depth
1.
Go to
Edit > Preferences > Audio - Playback and Recording
and choose the bit depth you
want to use in the
Audio Driver Bit Depth
field.
2.
Click
OK
.
To rewrite audio files at different bit depths
1.
Use the
Utilities > Change Audio Format
command to open the
Change Audio Format
dialog
box.
2.
Choose a new bit depth in the
New Bit Depth
field.
3.
If you’re changing to 16 bits, you can check or uncheck the
Apply Dither
check box. Dithering
means to add a certain audio signal to 16 bit audio to make it sound more like it did as a higher-
bit signal.
4.
Click
OK
.
SONAR rewrites the audio tracks in your project at the new bit depth.
Note:
• If you choose to play back at greater than 16 bits, you may need to pick a bit format for your
data in
Edit > Preferences > Audio - Audio Profiles
in the
Stream > 16 Bit Data As
field.
You may need to consult your sound card’s documentation to find the optimum setting.
• Some audio devices, especially USB devices that use WDM drivers, can not operate in 24-
bit mode unless a variable in SONAR’s
Aud.ini
file is set to 1. The variable is
Use24BitExtensible=<0 or 1>, which goes in the
[name of your audio device (‘n’
in, ‘n’ out)]
section of the
Aud.ini
file.
• SONAR 4 does not play back projects that contain files with different bit depths (SONAR 5
and later), so if you want to open a multiple bit depth project in SONAR 4, see the following
procedure or a conversion procedure.
Summary of Contents for sonar x3
Page 1: ...SONAR X3 Reference Guide...
Page 4: ...4 Getting started...
Page 112: ...112 Tutorial 1 Creating playing and saving projects Saving project files...
Page 124: ...124 Tutorial 3 Recording vocals and musical instruments...
Page 132: ...132 Tutorial 4 Playing and recording software instruments...
Page 142: ...142 Tutorial 5 Working with music notation...
Page 150: ...150 Tutorial 6 Editing your music...
Page 160: ...160 Tutorial 7 Mixing and adding effects...
Page 170: ...170 Tutorial 8 Working with video Exporting your video...
Page 570: ...570 Control Bar overview...
Page 696: ...696 AudioSnap Producer and Studio only Algorithms and rendering...
Page 720: ...720 Working with loops and Groove Clips Importing Project5 patterns...
Page 820: ...820 Drum maps and the Drum Grid pane The Drum Grid pane...
Page 848: ...848 Editing audio Audio effects audio plug ins...
Page 878: ...878 Software instruments Stand alone synths...
Page 1042: ...1042 ProChannel Producer and Studio only...
Page 1088: ...1088 Sharing your songs on SoundCloud Troubleshooting...
Page 1140: ...1140 Automation Recording automation data from an external controller...
Page 1178: ...1178 Multi touch...
Page 1228: ...1228 Notation and lyrics Working with lyrics...
Page 1282: ...1282 Synchronizing your gear MIDI Machine Control MMC...
Page 1358: ...1358 External devices Working with StudioWare...
Page 1362: ...1362 Using CAL Sample CAL files...
Page 1386: ...1386 Troubleshooting Known issues...
Page 1394: ...1394 Hardware setup Set up to record digital audio...
Page 1400: ...1400 MIDI files...
Page 1422: ...1422 Initialization files Initialization file format...
Page 1463: ...1463 Misc enhancements New features in SONAR X3...
Page 1470: ...1470 Comparison...
Page 1518: ...1518 Included plug ins Instruments...
Page 1532: ...1532 Cyclone Using Cyclone...
Page 1694: ...1694 Beginner s guide to Cakewalk software Audio hardware sound cards and drivers...
Page 1854: ...1854 Preferences dialog Customization Nudge Figure 518 The Nudge section...
Page 1856: ...1856 Preferences dialog Customization Snap to Grid Figure 519 The Snap to Grid section...
Page 1920: ...1920 Snap Scale Settings dialog...
Page 2042: ...2042 View reference Surround panner...