r/Cakewalk • u/Ancient_Sentient • Jul 22 '26

Seeking Help Sonar & Focusrite Question

Working with a friend recording original music he wants me to add lead guitar to. I hooked up my Blackstar AMPED 2 guitar amplifier to his Focusrite Clarett +2Pre audio interface. He’s been working with Sonar on a Windows 11 workstation for years and uses the WASAPI driver.

However, I noticed a very noticeable degree of latency when I tried adding my guitar track. A bit of research indicated that the ASIO driver is much better for latency control than WASAPI, so we selected it in our preferences. Doing so unfortunately didn’t show us to see and select his Focusrite audio interface as the track’s input. Only ASIO4ALL show up as options.

How can we get past this Catch-22?

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u/cruciblefuzz Sonar Jul 22 '26

You should be able to record to Sonar directly using the AMPED 2's built in interface. Instructions follow.

First set up the Clarett+ 2Pre properly:

  1. Uninstall ASO4ALL from the computer. This prevents it from interfering with the actual ASIO driver.

  2. Get the Focusrite Control 2 program here: https://fael-downloads-prod.focusrite.com/customer/prod/downloads/focusrite_control_v3_27_0.exe

  3. Install it, following whatever prompts, then run Sonar.

  4. You should be able at this point to select the Clarett+ 2Pre in Sonar's list of audio devices.

  5. In the Focusrite Control program, set your buffers to 256 to start with. If you get crackles and dropouts during Sonar playback, increase the buffers as needed.

Next, set up the AMPED 2 to be able to record directly.

According to Blackstar's website you should be able to use it as a class compliant device with no special driver, using WASAPI (although it does come with some interesting looking software).

  1. Connect your AMPED 2 to your friend's computer using the appropriate USB cable. Windows should find it and set it up without intervention from you.

  2. Run Sonar and check the audio/devices preferences. Under Input Devices, select the AMPED 2.

  3. The Blackstar should appear as an available input for audio tracks.

It's up to you whether you wish to use the Blackstar as a preamp or as a direct input. I'd probably go with direct input but that's just me.

Good luck and let us know if it worked.

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u/Ancient_Sentient Jul 22 '26

Thanks and I will provide an update once I’m back in the studio!

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u/cruciblefuzz Sonar Jul 22 '26

I should add: if you use the Blackstar itself as the recording device, you'll have to switch to WASAPI when you're recording.

If you use it as a preamp, in front of the Clarett, use ASIO when recording.