If you have the audio already recorded, then you will here the effects because it is playing back through Sonar. What you may want to do is have different mixer set ups in the fireface for different applications. However, you would need sighted assistance to do this. ----- Original Message ----- From: Omar Binno To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:45 AM Subject: [ddots-l] Re: question about monitoring Thanks alot for the detailed explanation, Tim. So while I had everything plugged into my mixer and not turning on input echo in sonar, the routing was taking place through the audio interface/mixer, and not through Sonar? But if that is the case, how come I could still hear effects if I inserted them on an audio track when playing the project? Thanks. Omar Binno AIM: LOD1116 Skype: obinno1 Website: www.omarbinno.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim Burgess To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 4:07 AM Subject: [ddots-l] Re: question about monitoring Hi Omar, OK, here's the deal: 1 - Monitoring via the interface (known as hardware monitoring) means that you hear a copy of the signal that's coming into the interface from a mic, guitar, or whatever, without it being processed by your software. The advantage of this is that there's no appreciable delay between what you hear yourself playing/singing and what comes back at you from the speakers/cans. The disadvantage is that you won't hear any FX processing that your DAW software is adding to the sound (a lot of singers like to ha a bit of reverb while they're recording and guitarists often don't find it easy to play their part "dry"); 2 - Software monitoring (like input echo in Sonar) allows you to hear the treated signal, so the guitarist can hear that monster noise from Amplitube and the singer can float away into the space created by a reverb plug-in. This can sometimes help the creative process, but very often introduces a small lag (called latency). On a fast machine with a high-quality interface and good drivers it should be possible to reduce this delay to a point where nobody notices or, even if you can hear it, it's so small that nobody cares. However, if you can't reduce it to this level, for whatever reason, it can make tracking very difficult as it starts to affect your timing. So, there's no right or wrong (as usual), it's just a case of finding what's appropriate for the instrument/artist you're dealing with and trying to tune your software to provide the necessary. Hope that helps. Best wishes. Tim Burgess Raised Bar Ltd Phone: +44 (0)1827 719822 Don't forget to vote for improved access to music and music technology at http://www.raisedbar.net/petition.htm -----Original Message----- From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Omar Binno Sent: 22 January 2009 07:49 To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ddots-l] question about monitoring Okay, this is a very rudimentary question. Until now, my studio setup has included using a mixer and an audio interface with sonar. However, I'm now switching to just using an audio interface as a stand-alone, without a mixer. I will be using the RME Fireface 800. The question now arises: should I do my input monitoring through sonar, or through the audio interface. My knowledge is rather foggy as to exactly what monitoring is used for. So first, what is monitoring, and second, when using an audio interface without a mixer, is it preferable to do the monitoring through the interface, or through sonar. Thank you for any and all input. Omar Binno AIM: LOD1116 Skype: obinno1 Website: www.omarbinno.com PLEASE READ THIS FOOTER AT LEAST ONCE! To leave the list, click on the immediately following link: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type unsubscribe For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the immediately following link: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq or send a message, to ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type faq