Let us know a bit more about your current driver for the onboard soundcard and let's see if we can't offer you some help to optimise what you have currently, but really, a quality audio interface IMO should be the next step for you. There are loads of options for you out there, depending on budget and usage, either Firewirw or USB connected. Also you need to use either an ASIO or WDM driver to get best practical latency out of any soundcard, you don't say what driver you are currently using. The quality of the D/A and A/D converters in most if not all laptop onboard soundcards will be nothing like the quality needed, particularly for recording. You have a first class software DAW application in Sonar, and you really need a quality soundcard / audio interface to do it justice. Your query comes up every so often, and to save beating about the bush, your final statement, 'I'm wondering if it is just the sound card' is in fact, alomst certainly correct. Im running windows vista with no outboard gear.

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