Scott Posted Sunday at 02:13 AM Share Posted Sunday at 02:13 AM Hello All: I'm having an issue when Recording and Playback. I'm getting broken up sounds here and there. Both my audio interface and buffer size within Sonar was set to 128. Then, I set them to 256. Same issue. Could someone with more experience than me give me some guidance? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted Sunday at 03:09 AM Share Posted Sunday at 03:09 AM When requesting assistance with issues like this, it's important to list your system specs. What processor, how much RAM, what audio interface, what driver mode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted Sunday at 03:14 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 03:14 AM Windows 10....32 Ram and Motu Audio Interface Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristol_Jonesey Posted Sunday at 09:16 AM Share Posted Sunday at 09:16 AM 6 hours ago, Scott said: Windows 10....32 Ram and Motu Audio Interface What driver are you using for the MOTU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted Sunday at 12:25 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 12:25 PM I'm using the Motu driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettelus Posted Sunday at 12:56 PM Share Posted Sunday at 12:56 PM What FX do you have active in the project? Some FX don't take kindly to small buffers or can cause issues if they have look-ahead functionality. Unbounced Melodyne FX being one of them, with mastering plugins or convolution reverbs being others (depending on settings). When tracking/recording, buffers low (32-128) and most FX bypassed will yield good enough latency to record. During mixing/post-production, buffers may need to be increased (512, 1024, 2048) based on what FX are in play at that point. If you are trying to record into a project that is already seen some mixing work, the global FX bypass will "usually" fit the bill to allow the lower buffers needed, but again unbounced Region FX are something to be aware of as well. Because Melodyne separations data is saved in a CWP file, a good indicator if you have unbounced Melodyne edits is the CWP will be larger than typical (in the MB+ range). If Melodyne is active, higher buffers are needed to accommodate the ARA functionality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted Sunday at 05:31 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 05:31 PM I have Rahm Reverb active. And, thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Baay Posted Monday at 03:15 PM Share Posted Monday at 03:15 PM 21 hours ago, Scott said: I have Rahm Reverb active. Check the status of the license. Demo versions of plugins or plugins with expired/broken licenses will often mute audio intermittently. Usually opening the plugin UI will show if it's in demo mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted Monday at 05:43 PM Share Posted Monday at 05:43 PM On 10/26/2025 at 5:25 AM, Scott said: I'm using the Motu driver That's great. It's also good to list which driver mode you're using. ASIO, WASAPI Exclusive/Shared, WDM, whatever. ASIO is where you want to be, some people who are having issues switch it to one of the other modes to try to fix it and then forget to switch it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted Monday at 06:17 PM Author Share Posted Monday at 06:17 PM Yes, I'm using ASIO. Its all I've ever used. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted Monday at 06:37 PM Share Posted Monday at 06:37 PM On 10/25/2025 at 7:13 PM, Scott said: Hello All: I'm having an issue when Recording and Playback. I'm getting broken up sounds here and there. Both my audio interface and buffer size within Sonar was set to 128. Then, I set them to 256. Same issue. Could someone with more experience than me give me some guidance? Thanks Click the "ByPass all FX" button in the Mix Module and see if the problem goes away If it does, great! At this point, with FX disabled, I would start varying the ASIO buffer size from absurdly small to wastefully large, so that you build intuition for what a variations in ASIO buffer size should feel like: delays in start/stop, latency on virtual instrument (key press -> sound); clicks, pops, all the way to complete dropout. Okay, now you can re-enable FX and tune the ASIO buffer - if you're not seeing ANY changes (good or bad) as you vary the buffer size, then the problem might not be related to the buffer at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass Guitar Posted Monday at 07:30 PM Share Posted Monday at 07:30 PM (edited) Possibly this is the same issue that I have. Motu M 4. , latest driver ( which is getting old) I get a distortion in playback and new recordings are embedded with this. It stops if I completely restart computer. It seems to only happen if the computer has been running for a few hours and if I’ve used other apps. I also find out that it only happens with any app that uses ASIO. Like a Daw. So it’s not a Sonar issue it’s obvious to me that it is a Motu ASIO driver issue. I sent it in to support but they haven’t responded in over 2 weeks. It never happens with my other 2 audio interfaces. So try a total reboot and power cycle the interface and see if that works. If it does then it’s more proof regarding the driver. To test only open Sonar once the computer has rebooted. Disable any unnecessary apps that automatically load on startup. Also I recommend disabling any other audio systems like HDMI in windows settings. Only allow the Motu as an audio device. Motu is very Mac oriented and W11 seems to have altered something in the way it handles audio. Edited Monday at 07:34 PM by Bass Guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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