Glenn Stanton

like a guitar foot pedal collection, DC powered equipment (or low powered AC) - you might look into getting a high quality power supply (or a few) to reduce the noise into your system. a single source of DC (many of the higher end units have multiple voltages and current ratings) should help. most "wall wart" type power supplies are crap - a simple bridge rectifier and an inductor for some spike management, and even laptop power supplies don't have much filtering. running all devices (as noted by amberwolf) off a single grounded power strip, keep your power and audio lines aligned (avoiding ground loops) and prefer the lowest noise outlet you can find (no other equipment as this can have other systems feeding noise).

and make sure to calibrate your listening system - your DAW output should be unity to the monitoring system, and each monitoring system (SoundID, ARC, speakers, headphones, BT speaker, etc) should all provide a consistent level, if not relative frequency response (in my case i want the same approx levels but ok with varying freq response to identify things in the mix). i use a -12LUFS noise signal to get me to 75db level (which for me is "loud") so when mixing, if something seems loud, i know i'm approaching the -12LUFS. and generally i'm mixing at ~65db by turning down the volume to a known value on each system (e.g. my direct UMC = -10.2db, SoundID = -6.2db, Sparx Mini = -7.6db, etc etc). now i can rapidly switch across monitoring systems and not be (too) skewed by level shift, but more from freq content (which is what i want to ensure translation is tested as best as possible on other systems) (and in context of the material... not everything needs to be "full spectrum")

try your chrome browser. the latest MS Edge seems to have implemented a bunch of "higher security" crap which seems to make sites not love it. Firefox? no idea but last time i used it about 15 years ago it was a security hole waiting to happen...

sadly with Waves, you cannot even move content via a directory junction. it seems the Wave plugins really are locked into the OS drive, so i just sucked it up and got a bigger OS drive. 🙂 meanwhile almost all of my other plugins can have their content placed on a separate drive (although a number of them also are pinned hopelessly to the "documents" folder for configuration which, if you're documents folder is on your OneDrive, and you try to move the OneDrive content location somewhere else, MS has somehow enabled apps to continue to try to use the C:\... drive location. so it then beomces an exercise to move just the configuration (licenses, presets, etc) back to a "OneDrive" folder in your user folder (for me this was about a dozen products including my Ample guitars, Toontrack, etc).

another option (one i use) is keeping everything in the Pro Channel (PC) view including the FX Chain which let's you install many FX and allows scrolling. if you're using so many FX on a single track, you might also think about using a "channel" FX which can bundle many FX into a single UI (e.g. the Waves SSL Track FX has EQ, compression, expansion, filtering, side-chaining, gain etc) and could make things easier for you.

several plugins (samplers, synths etc) have search and filtering as well as marking several types of favorite marking levels so organzing your often used samples and instruments is faster than mindless scrolling... in CbC and Sonar you can organize your own favorite FX and instruments - but it's not adhoc. i do use the filter on the FX browser and media browser to reduce the effort to find something...

typically i don't let the WUP do this, but for some reason as part of the latest W11 large update it included about 20 drivers including the HP firmware (i know this because i looked at the update log 🙂 ) and interestingly enough, the "included non-windows software etc" is unchecked. so maybe as part of the "great AI" improvements from the OS people (Apple, MS, etc), they're deciding the updates need to include everythings... for our benefit... you know, like that 4th booster shot etc...

one of the versions of CA-2 was problematic for a while - even though i had bought it about 10 years agop and used it numerous times in CbB, then early last year it was misbehaving. i found there was an update so i installed it and voila. it does seem like a constant battle to have updated OSes and plugins... i'm on a 2-week cycle now to check and troubleshoot if needed.

one of the lastest updates for me included the NVIDIA update (via Microsoft update) from June... suddenly i'm getting glitches - i ran LatencyMon which picked up the NVIDIA driver as causing issues. i downloaded and install the Dec 2024 drivers directly from NVIDIA - problem solved. back to rock stable Sonar.

UJAM must have about 100 plugins... i have only a few and they all work in CbB and Sonar and Next. so you might need to be more specific on the ones which are crashing. one step to take would be to re-run the redistributables because very often the Windows updates do the wrong things wrt other products.

it depends on the headroom and noise etc. if you're recording it so you're not getting clipping or unwanted saturation in the preamp etc, then if the right level is -8 or -6, or -12, then choose that. with digital as long as you're not clipping, and as long as your input levels are sounding good, then it should be good. then when mixing, you'll do your volume level and send levels to provide the FX, busses etc with levels that they can handle.

@Gilberto Strapazon in your image - it looks like you're using the WASAPI setting... 🙂 definitely do the following checks (in order): UMC ASIO - set to 192K Windows OS sound setting - verify 192K - turn off any other sound targets/sources (my sound reference sometimes does weird) Cakewalk - set preferences to ASIO driver and sample rate 192K add Audio Track - select UMC ASIO S (stereo) - arm it and test recording in my setup, the 202HD works as expected @ 192K - stereo (as well as any of the other speeds below it (i didn't test 384K))

the HUI components like keyboard and mouse will generally always have higher priority on interupts. hence the "spikes". otherwise, it would make working the apps pretty difficult under higher loads😉. what happens if you wiggle your mouse while the project is playing? 🙂

actually the UMC22 uses ASIO4ALL as its "ASIO driver". whereas the UMC202HD does have an ASIO driver (which is the same as used by the UMC1820). https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=0805-AAR but it is more expensive.

i like to leverage the pro channel FX Chain (along with other PC fx) and then save as a preset (i tend to group them by naming with company like CW, SSL, Waves and a given role: bass, drums, vox, guitars, piano, etc etc) so it's easy to grab a bunch and begin tweaking (assuming they're not already doing what i want). this way all effects are in a single location for me to adjust. i seldom ever use the FX bin.

the default (on the inspector): but i like the idea of an instrument track in console view having the ability to switch between them.

check the inspector MIDI "key" offset. you might need to adjust it to get the corresponding notes to play as some VST use 0, some use 1 or 2 etc. on the levels - the kit choices (e.g. samples, FX, etc) can impact the levels as does the MIDI velocity.

i find using HookPad for composition rapidly moving things, trying out various instrumentation, etc and then exporting as MIDI, score / lead sheet / tab etc let's me focus in the DAW environment to refine the instrumentation, patterns, etc as well as in the individual instruments (riffer, chord structures etc). it becomes interative as well as flexible. and as things get more cohesion, the more time i'll invest in "finalizing" the arrangement, instruments, and mix details. (ala agile process 😉 ) the arranger, the articulations, etc all play a role in create the final set of outputs as well as the export settings: v1 arrangement w & w/o vox; arragement 2 w & w/o drums + vox, etc for sound libraries, versus listener friendly, extended verses radio length...

firstly make sure the AD2 standalone and the DAW are using the exact same output paths... secondly, check your velocities on your MIDI notes. clicking on the instrument in AD2 standalone and in the DAW should be the same (assuming you click on the same location on the instrument), but if you're MIDI playback is quiet - you might need to adjust the velocities. check that you're not getting extra MIDI input which is triggering multiple hits (this can cause some phase issues). also, (at least for me) i use individual outputs from the AD2 into the DAW - each instrument get it's own track (except overhead cymbals which can only be placed on a stereo track). for my customized kits, i turn off all overhead for the cymbals and only leave them in the room stereo pair, all other instruments are turned off in the room. so far, this approach let's me tweak a kit as needed for the overheads (snare, hh, toms, flex) and the cymbals separately, plus some panning in AD2 etc to create the stereo balance on the cymbals. all other tracks (except OH) are mono. all levels on the AD2 mix are set to unity. all levels etc are controlled in the DAW.

my recommendation is spend some time with the user manual. one thing to note: there is a functionality known as "quick grouping" which let's you operate controls across multiple tracks, and you should read up on it. this will help you to quickly operate the pop out views of PC across the console. etc. i think IgoRr's issue with your posts is that it's an odd situation of which most people do not experience it, in this case, may be a simple case of RTM and learn the tool rather than speculate that there is some software issue which no one seems to experience (there are plenty of other ones people do experience but then they also know to report it to support and provide screenshots, dumps etc to help troubleshoot - the Bakers are very responsive and will try to solve it or perhaps prioritize it)

in the FX browser, right-click, to change it: you can select another category from the list, or using the + to add to multiple categories. and in the list at the bottom is to reset (if it's greyed out, it means it's hard set by the plugin manager and the metadata, and if it is active, it's because you added it to the category).

i use "Free File Sync" (and donate periodically) as it's very easy to set up multple jobs and run them daily, weekly etc. project files, presets, FX, CAD files (for my studio design work), and various other folders. i have my main disks for all local files, then back up to other disks which are sync to the cloud providers (thus avoiding file contention with the cloud services as well as second local backup). periodically swap out the cloud disks and resync to have offline backups (usually 1-2 years to replace my 4TB SSD for the cloud drive). and closely monitor my Samsung 2TB SSD (project and content etc) for wear levels and replace & clone when needed (usually every 3 years now).

sound isolation (e.g. transmission loss vs absorption) requires mass and air gaps. damping requires insulation in the air gap and pressed onto the mass to reduce resonances. multiple layers of the same material have the same resonances. layer different materials shift across several resonances. since your issue is external sounds, and low frequency sounds, you need more mass. you also need to consider that sound is 3D and can transmit into your space via the structure. so the windows may be the obvious source, but also consider that once you solve the windows, you may find some other sound paths which were masked by the windows... so i'd suggest a couple of tests: - cover the inside of the windows with 3/4" plywood and 5/8" type X drywall (a window plug if you will). put in some pink wall insulation to press (gently) against the glass and the plywood). - does that block most of the sound? or are you now hearing sound from your structure - ceiling, walls, floor even? if the window block does a decent job, i'd recommend (depending on if you want daylight sometimes or you have life safety building codes requiring a windows for fire department access, then replace the thin windows with proper exterior storm rated windows (like Pella or Andersen etc), then, if y ou want day light, make your window plug removeable (or i like to use them as shutters ad a proper window plug can be pretty heavy) with a simple latch to secure it (this way if you are required to have fire dept access, then can readily break the latch to get in). the new window plug could be multiple layers of MDF, plywood/osb, and the drywall. make a cloth covered insulation pad for the damping, and if you're sealing it full time, consider your options to vent it as well as perhaps use some stick on shading to hide the interior blocking. if you're then continuing to hear sounds after fixing the windows, you'll want to do some work to damp the resonances of the structure. simply adding absorbers (real traps or GIK (which are lighter)) will help only slightly with exterior sources. you might consider adding another layer of drywall on your interior surfaces and some MLV or green glue (a viscoelastic damper, not a glue) to help.

if you're using the export function, check your range: - entire project? - time selection?

that is the new Sonar 🙂