Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100

[Frank DeFede]

Does anyone still use or have experience with the old Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100 that came out in 2009?  I had to dig it out of the my old equipment cabinet and use it to finish a mix because my Presonus Studio 24C stopped working just as I was getting ready to do the final mix of a song I had been working on for weeks. I tried everything to get the Presonus 24C to work with no resolve.

So with a few adjustments In Cakewalk by Bandlab the Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100 worked and I was happy to do the final mixing of a song that is now ready to be exported. I was even able to control the Cakewalk by Bandlab software with Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100 with the built in control buttons, and even was able to use the MIDI channels to control my Mackie Control surface as well.  The Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100 really sounded good to my ears and I thought perhaps I should just keep using this older 2009 piece of equipment even though it has a lower sample rate of 96KHZ while the Presonus Studio 24C is 24-bit/192KHZ.

Knowing I will get a better sample rate on the Presonus Studio 24C I decided to disconnect the V-studio 100 to try again to get the Presonus 24C working for the export with no avail.

I connected the Cakewalk Sonar V-studio 100 back up to do the exporting of the tracks, but now none of the control buttons on the unit are working. The control buttons go out when I connect the USB 2 two the computer. The audio is working fine when pluged into the USB 2, but I have lost the control surface of the Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100.  I believe I connected everything back up to same as I had the Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100 working before. When I unplug the  USB the lights come on, but when I plug the USB back in they go out. 

Can anyone give me some advice on this.  I am so made at myself right now for disconnecting Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100 while is was working. I should have left good enough alone and just kept using the Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100.

Perhaps it is some setting on the unit itself, but I have been through everything on it. It seems odd that when I connect the USB the control lights go out on the control surface, but the audio works, and when I disconnect the USB the Control button lights come back on.

Thank you for reading this long post. Any suggestions are most welcome!

 

 

[JonD]

 

If it were me. I'd reinstall the v-Studio software  (With the V-Studio 100 disconnected, install the latest Windows driver/software for it. Reboot your system.  Connect the V-Studio 100 and then power it on).

On a side note, I'm confused by this comment:  

"... perhaps I should just keep using this older 2009 piece of equipment even though it has a lower sample rate of 96KHZ while the Presonus Studio 24C is 24-bit/192KHZ."

Are you saying that you record at 192KHZ?  If not, the top sample rate of 192khz is entirely irrelevant.  If you are, then I have to ask.... WHY?

[Frank DeFede]

Thank you Jon,

I will give that a try. I guess I can get the software from the Sonar V-studio 100 product page? Should I uninstall the device first?

I assumed the Personus studio 24C that I used to record the tracks automatically recorded at 192KHZ, but the v-studio 100 only at 96KHZ.  I didn’t know I could even change the sample rate.

Thank you for your input.  I will try to go Head and reinstall the software as you suggested and let you knoe how it goes.

Frank

[Frank DeFede]

Hi Jon,

Here's a quick overview of what I have tried.  I uninstalled the V-studio 100. I went to the V-studio 100 webpage, and got the manual, but the driver is not available to download.  It said that it will install when you plug in the V-studio 100.  It came right on line and and the audio is working fine as before,  but I still can't get the transport section working.

Before I did the above I thought I'd try the same thing with my Presonus 24C and give it a try one more time using your suggestion to remove it and then reinstall it.  I also deleted the Universal control software, and downloaded it from Presonus, and installed without the the presonus 24C connected.  The computer recognized the Presonus 24C. I followed the manual on how to set it up. I click on the Universal Control Icon, and it came up, but looks a little different than what the manual was showing.  I set the buffers etc. which I now had access too. as I didn't before.  I thought it was going to work, but I am still getting the break ups and noise with all of the settings.  So the audio is grabbled, and the MIDI in and OUT are not controlling my Mackie control. However, it plays a was file of a song just fine.

So that is when I tried the Sonar V-studio 100 as explained above. I have new Presonus 24C being delivered from Amazon here tomorrow. I will try it as soon as I get my hands on it, and If it works then I guess that means that the one I am using does have a problem.

Since the audio on the V-studio sounds fine, If I could get the V-studio 100 where I can use the transport, and MIDI I would like to use it and send back the new Presonus 24C.  I think I have an idea of why of what is gong on with it.  I read a lot of the manual. It says . . . If you connect SONAR V-STUDIO 100 to a computer and turn the power on, the section within the bounding rectangle in this illustration functions as the control surface for SONAR VS.

https://static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/VS-100_r_e2.pdf

It's on page 19.

But, when I do this it works the exact opposite and the red light goes out and in the display above it says USB arm now online. But, the DAW light goes out. I tried a different USB cable too, but I still have the problem.

Thank you for listening to all of this.  Any help you can provide or suggests is much appreciated. I will let you know if the new Presonus I get tomorrow works. If it doesn't I am not sure what to do next. I guess I could try Presonus Studio 1 software, but I really don't want to deal with changing from Cakewalk that I have used almost from the beginning.

It's much appreciated!

Frank

 

[JonD]

Hi Frank,

The only other thing I can think of to try is to connect to a different USB port.  The V-studio 100  is a USB2 device.  If your PC is less than say, a decade old, it's probably got only (or mostly) USB3 ports.  USB3 are supposed to be backwards-compatible, but not all USB3 controllers are made equal.  Consequently, some handle USB2 just fine, while others are glitchy or flat out don't work (with USB2). 

if you've been trying to connect to the same USB port all along and there's a software corruption, it won't clear until you clean up the corrupted code -- which I don't recommend if you're not comfortable with going into the registry, etc.

A workaround is to just try a different USB port.  Best to connect to a USB2 port if you have any.  On older PCs ,USB2 ports were designated in black while USB3 in blue.  This is not so much the case anymore.  If you can't locate any USB2 ports, then just try  different USB3 ports.

Good luck.

[Frank DeFede]

Hi Jon,

Thank for all of your information!

I was able to get the Audio interface to work, but I am still struggling with the Control surface. Oddly, It started to work, but I am not sure why, but the transport light came on and I had control. 

I should have left well enough alone, but I hooked a MIDI PORT to run to my Mackie Control and thought I could also get it to run, control with both hands and more features. But, I couldn't get the Mackie Controller to work.  When I disconnected the MIDI PORTI no longer had control with v-Studio 100. Every time I plug the USB the red DAW light goes out, and when It is plugged in and I hit the DAW button it says now USB on line., but at least I have audio. I don't think there is anything wrong with the V-studio 100.  It was never really used much.  It's like new.  

There is on option to select V-studio 100 in the control surface preference, even though it is checked in the select MDII Device  The only ones that come up are the following . . . .  Act Midi Controller, Cakewalk Generic Surface, Mackie Control C4, Mackie Control, Mackie Control xt, I believe i tried them all.  Apparently I had it right once because the control surface started working. 

I tried different USB cables, different ports.  I had it in a USB 2 when it worked with both audio and MIDI, it is now in a USB 3 as I read online it will work in either. I am chasing my trail. 

The Presonus Studio 24C delivery didn't make it today, and is delayed until Saturday from Amazon so I wasn't able to test it.  If I can get the V-studio 100 to work for both audio and control surface  I would much rather use it if possible. I really don't like the small size of the Studio 24C and tiny knobs.

If you can think of anything else please let me know.  I am feeling rather stupid as I have been on this for hours and hours. I usually can get things figured out especially with the help from fellow folks like you!

I will let you know how the the test goes with the Studio 24C tomorrow after I get it.  However, If I can get the v-studio 100 working again with both audio and MIDI, I won't open the box and just return it.  Leave well enough alone.

 Thank you my friend,

Frank DeFede

[Frank DeFede]

Hi Jon,

The new Presonus was delivered.  I hooked it up and I had the same problem. I tried a lot of things, and finally I updated the firmware although it said it was up to date. It said update anyway and I did. That seemed to fix the problem for the audio on the 24c.  I updated the one I bought in 2023 and got the same message up to date, but I proceeded to update it again.  And now the original one seems to be working.  

However, neither on would control the Mackie Control.  Cakewalk shows that MIDI is connected, but it isn't really talking to the Mackie as buttons don't work. Also, if I changed the buffer size to a different value it goes into breaking up as before, and when I put it back the same buffer number then it is still breaking up.. Then I unplug the USB, plug it back iin and it is working, still without MIDI control.

Can you give any suggestions on why the midi isn't working. I have always been able to get it going before.  It says that Mackie Conntrol 1 is connected. If I can get the MIDI working I will just stick with this one.

I would be fine with the V-studio 100 if I can get the control surface buttons to work.

Thanks for your time and help.

Frank

[pwalpwal]

On 5/1/2025 at 1:35 PM, Frank DeFede said:

Sonar V-Studio 100

honestly, i know they don't have the business relationship with roland anymore, but i'd expect them to still/keep support/ing it (and the other cw/edirol hardware)

good luck sir

/disapointmentrantover

[Jeremy Oakes]

8 hours ago, pwalpwal said:

honestly, i know they don't have the business relationship with roland anymore, but i'd expect them to still/keep support/ing it (and the other cw/edirol hardware)

good luck sir

/disapointmentrantover

Why ? 
J