Voicemeeter Stress / VB Audio Cable (how to get a Sonar Sound recorded with Audacity or something else)

[Astraios]

2 hours ago, mettelus said:

Bottom line is to check all routings... what do you need to hear/monitor, and what does your tutorial need to hear/record? When reading what you are trying to do, it seems that a DAW is superfluous to me... what is the "need" for a DAW in what you are doing? A video tutorial is your end goal, correct?

I put this YouTube clip together 2 or 3 days ago using Filmora and Voicemeeter... (without Loopback  🧑‍🚀  and it is in VP9 High quality Codec, which isn't easy to archive - so, a bit of understanding is part of my business

Touch Portal as MIDI Controller on Cakewalks Z3TA+2 in Sonar DAW

Edited Monday at 05:30 PM by Astraios

[Will.]

2 hours ago, Astraios said:

using Filmora

Perhaps this is your problem. I'm not too familiar with Filmora, but the rest of the world is using OBS or Streamlabs to record their screens and system audio. I record four camera angles and the system audio in both applications, and I use SONAR with the Focusrite loopback, utilizing my ASIO drivers to capture all four mic inputs for the podcast.

You're complicating things unnecessarily. Major broadcast companies use these free applications because it makes the work 100x easier. Streamlabs is more popular among female YouTubers because it has a paid version that comes with hundreds of overlays including makeup beauty filters and those weird effects Snapchat and TikTok have.

[mettelus]

2 hours ago, Astraios said:

I was able to do everything with Voicemeeter and VB-Audio Cable "without any problems."

This is where you should have stopped; your needs were met. Unfortunately, it is fairly commonplace for folks to rabbit-hole others with "my way is superior" rather than reading the OP and answering the question/intent of the OP. Suggestions are perfectly fine and more than welcome, but invalidating another's efforts and destroying their work is WAY over the top for me. Very rarely is there only one way to do something, so how others do something is totally irrelevant if your method works for you. I am sorry you went through this, especially since you were struggling and found a solution.

If you want to take on suggestions for other methods when you have free time, that is a perfect way to learn and expand your toolbox, but be very wary about undoing a method you know works already.

[Bass Guitar]

Hey @Will. question, seeing as you have the Focusrite, Do you have to set up anything special in the Control app?  As in there’s a mixer channel for the Loopback that can be muted etc? 
At no point has the OP confirmed that they tried the same settings as I used and had no problems. 
The clue that it could be the Focusrite mixer app is they are claiming that they can’t get audio out of Sonar. 
 

 

 

[azslow3]

3 hours ago, Astraios said:

 Someone suggested that was nonsense and that I should use Focusrite Loopback, which for some reason doesn't work for me. I could record sound from YouTube with Sonar using the loopback, but I couldn't record anything going out. 

 You need to check Focusrite Loopback is enabled. In Windows 11:

1) right click the speaker icon, select "Sound settings" ("Soundeinstellungen")

2) in appeared panel select "More sound settings" ("Weitere Soundeinstellungen").

3) in appeared panel select "Recording" tab ("Aufnahme"). Try to find something like "Focusrite feedback". If not there, right click on any and select "Show deactivated devices" ("Deaktivierte Geräte anzeigen"). Right click on Focusrite feedback (I guess it should be there), select "Activate" ("Aktivieren") (obviously in case it is deactivated).

4) you should be able to select it as input in Audacity and other programs. And hopefully it can record Sonar then.

PS. You could record in Sonar because it is in the set of ASIO input channels, unrelated to windows settings. 

[Astraios]

1 hour ago, Will. said:

 

I don't like the OBS GUI at all. I'd work with FL Studio, but Sonar just looks good. For me, the visual aspect is a big factor. I don't really care what others use... but thanks for the tip.

[Astraios]

25 minutes ago, azslow3 said:

 You need to check Focusrite Loopback is enabled. In Windows 11:

1) right click the speaker icon, select "Sound settings" ("Soundeinstellungen")

2) in appeared panel select "More sound settings" ("Weitere Soundeinstellungen").

3) in appeared panel select "Recording" tab ("Aufnahme"). Try to find something like "Focusrite feedback". If not there, right click on any and select "Show deactivated devices" ("Deaktivierte Geräte anzeigen"). Right click on Focusrite feedback (I guess it should be there), select "Activate" ("Aktivieren") (obviously in case it is deactivated).

4) you should be able to select it as input in Audacity and other programs. And hopefully it can record Sonar then.

PS. You could record in Sonar because it is in the set of ASIO input channels, unrelated to windows settings. 

I did everything because I always dig deep into all problems. But it didn't prepare the loopback for audio recording, but now I've had enough of the loopback.

[Astraios]

1 hour ago, mettelus said:

This is where you should have stopped; your needs were met. Unfortunately, it is fairly commonplace for folks to rabbit-hole others with "my way is superior" rather than reading the OP and answering the question/intent of the OP. Suggestions are perfectly fine and more than welcome, but invalidating another's efforts and destroying their work is WAY over the top for me. Very rarely is there only one way to do something, so how others do something is totally irrelevant if your method works for you. I am sorry you went through this, especially since you were struggling and found a solution.

 

That's a harsh judgment, but you have to put up with a lot on this forum. Thanks for your efforts anyway. 😇

From the beginning, this was more of a conversation between Will and me, who (probably rightly) claimed that I didn't need VoiceMeeter/VB-Audi Cable and that I could do it with the Focusrite Loopback (which only works to a limited extent for me). I didn't know it would develop into such an extensive discussion. But at least I now have the latest Focusrite drivers—not bad either.

Edited Monday at 09:19 PM by Astraios

[Will.]

2 minutes ago, Astraios said:

I don't like the OBS GUI at all. I'd work with FL Studio, but Sonar just looks good. For me, the visual aspect is a big factor. I don't really care what others use... but thanks for the tip.

Then use Voicemeeter as before. It's going to be a limited setup, but that's where this thread with solutions will come to a halt.  

[Will.]

1 hour ago, Bass Guitar said:

Hey @Will. question, seeing as you have the Focusrite, Do you have to set up anything special in the Control app?  

Nothing at all. 

1 hour ago, Bass Guitar said:

 As in there’s a mixer channel for the Loopback that can be muted etc? 

Yes. Control 2 comes with all the necessary routing setup needed. 

Loopback

Focusrite Loopback

 

 

 

[Bass Guitar]

3 hours ago, Will. said:

Yes. Control 2 comes with all the necessary routing setup needed. 

OK so that’s a possibility why the OP had no sound from the Loopback. Software mixers are great but they add another layer to the audio system. 
With my 6i6 I often had to reset to the factory defaults to get my audio back. 
Anyhow he’s got it working using yet another layer so we’ll leave it at that. 

[Will.]

6 minutes ago, Bass Guitar said:

OK so that’s a possibility why the OP had no sound from the Loopback. Software mixers are great but they add 

No that's not it. He's confused. 

[Salvatore Sorice]

On 10/6/2025 at 5:58 AM, azslow3 said:

It can be Will is right and you can, at least there is one report of success: 

But he doesn't mention if he was using ASIO in Cakewalk.

I suggest you try. If that doesn't works, try disable Loopback input in Cakewalk and try again. 

Sure that is not going to work with two ASIO applications, they can't run in parallel with Focusrite.

I always use the latest Focusrite ASIO drivers.

[Astraios]

Okay, now it's getting serious. The whole thing works flawlessly with FL Studio in a few seconds. What does that tell us? 😗

FL Studio LoopBack Recording

It just goes to show how confused I must be...

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Astraios

[Bass Guitar]

I watched the video you posted. There’s no dialogue so I had no idea what it was about? There’s little text boxes but they are very brief and they are too small  a font to read , kinda like Sonars new graphics 😬

At least I see what you’re trying to do. 
It seems the workflow that I think you are using would be very time consuming. 
 

I know you are tired of me still recommending the method ( posted in my video)! that is pretty much standard for all You Tube Creators. But it is really a fast way to produce content which you can do in real time. 
Example is that video took less than an hour because I just opened OBS studio, open Sonar and the other apps and started talking into my Mike. I usually take the time to write a script but its is not going to stay posted. 
I shot the raw footage and dumped it into Vegas. Clean it up and Render. 
 

Not sure what you mean by OBS GUI? 
I’ve never even noticed it? Remember it is not a video editor it is a video / audio mixer. Its job is to access all your cameras, your computer screen as well as mixing all available audio sources. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Bass Guitar

[Will.]

4 minutes ago, Bass Guitar said:

Its job is to access all your cameras, your computer screen as well as mixing all available audio sources. 

Correction . . . it's to separate them. 😬

[Bass Guitar]

3 hours ago, Will. said:

Correction . . . it's to separate them. 😬

And it does green screen so I can put myself in a first class recording studio to impress viewers! 
 

And it’s absolutely free! Unlike Sonar which is not actually free. The word free means you are free to use this forever without strings attached. 
Real free software like Audacity, Handbrake, OBS studio, Waveform, VLC media player, WinAmp, Foobar and on and on can be downloaded. Installed and will work forever without having to be Nagged or  re authorized. 
 

I call anything other than that a Demo. A temporary use app that might stop working.