New audio interface, new headache

[Gabriel Costa]

Hello everyone,
I'm Gabriel, and I've been a long-time user of Cakewalk Sonar. I used to work with a Behringer audio interface, but recently I switched to the M-Audio M-Track Duo.

I believe I installed everything correctly—drivers and all—but I'm running into a strange issue. When I press "Record" in Sonar, nothing happens. I can't even hear the other tracks. It feels like Sonar freezes. But as soon as I turn off the "Record" button, everything goes back to normal.

Occasionally, I get an error message (translated from Portuguese):
"It was not possible to open the audio recording device. The device might not support the current audio format of the project or might be in use."

Here’s what makes it even stranger: once, while watching a YouTube video, I suddenly could record—out of nowhere. It worked for about five minutes, then stopped again. It's almost like something in the background triggered the interface to work properly, maybe a plugin, driver, or system process.

The interface works perfectly for monitoring my guitar and general PC audio—it’s only when I try to record in Sonar that things go wrong.

I’m not very tech-savvy; I just want to play and record my music. This issue is really frustrating, and I’d really appreciate any help or guidance you can offer.

Thanks in advance!

– Gabriel

[Amberwolf]

Which specific driver are you using for it, and which OS are you using?

Which other drivers, especially anything labelled ASIO, are you using?

Which other programs are running (including background programs that just sit as an icon in the clock tray)?

 

 

If yours is a "modern" version of the M-audio devices (instead of the original manufacturer that has been gone more than a decade ago), you might find modern drivers for it here

https://www.m-audio.com/support/downloads

 

 

I use an ancient Avid version of the M-audio Fast Track Duo, and it works fine on Win10 with driver version 1.0.4.  The page on Avid's site for it appears to be missing ATM, so I can't link the driver I'm using.

 https://avidtech.my.salesforce-sites.com/pkb/articles/en_US/download/fast-track-duo-drivers

 

I used to use an even older M-Audio version of it (that still had the MIDI port the Avid doesn't), and used this driver for it

https://avidtech.my.salesforce-sites.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Knowledge/Fast-Track-Pro-Drivers

http://cdn.avid.com/AudioDrivers/Win/Fast_Track_Pro_Drivers/Install_M-Audio_Fast_Track_Pro_6.1.11.zip

Edited May 5 by Amberwolf

[mettelus]

If you are also using the M-Track as a general playback device (for Windows), the first application to use it may be locking the sample rate and bit depth on you.

Check in "Sound Settings" (in the Windows search bar)->Sound Control Panel (upper right) of that next screen. Highlight the M-Track, then right click->Properties.

At the top of that next screen click the "Advanced" tab at the top, and make sure the "Default Format" matches your project. Also, uncheck both options in the "Exclusive Mode" box (this is what locks it to the first app that touches it). Also, while in there, on the "Enhancement" tab, check "Disable all sound effects," and on the "Spatial Sound" tab, select "Off" for that drop down... both of these tap into Microsoft's internal Mixer and you do not want either for DAW use.

Even with the above done, if two apps are trying to use the device at different settings, the first one will lock it (i.e., your browser). When using a DAW, make sure all other apps are closed out first so your DAW can match the M-Track to the project you have open. Once that is done you "can" use your browser... unlike DAWs, browsers default to "whatever" output format is available, but a DAW must have the ability to sync the interface to the project (which it cannot do if it is locked out).

[Gabriel Costa]

On 5/4/2025 at 11:00 PM, mettelus said:

If you are also using the M-Track as a general playback device (for Windows), the first application to use it may be locking the sample rate and bit depth on you.

Check in "Sound Settings" (in the Windows search bar)->Sound Control Panel (upper right) of that next screen. Highlight the M-Track, then right click->Properties.

At the top of that next screen click the "Advanced" tab at the top, and make sure the "Default Format" matches your project. Also, uncheck both options in the "Exclusive Mode" box (this is what locks it to the first app that touches it). Also, while in there, on the "Enhancement" tab, check "Disable all sound effects," and on the "Spatial Sound" tab, select "Off" for that drop down... both of these tap into Microsoft's internal Mixer and you do not want either for DAW use.

Even with the above done, if two apps are trying to use the device at different settings, the first one will lock it (i.e., your browser). When using a DAW, make sure all other apps are closed out first so your DAW can match the M-Track to the project you have open. Once that is done you "can" use your browser... unlike DAWs, browsers default to "whatever" output format is available, but a DAW must have the ability to sync the interface to the project (which it cannot do if it is locked out).

Thanks for the reply. I was finally able to make it work!