Exported Audio levels are relatively different than in Sonar

What do you use for listening to the exported files - Windows Media Player?? Make sure you don't have any compressing or such activated there. Do the files sound right when you export them back to SONAR?

Have you got everything routed through Master Bus to your soundcard?

Double check you export settings.

Anyway, if you listen to the exported song using different software, OR different player OR different loudsperakers or whatever, the mix is very likely to sound different, the more so, if you're unexperienced. The most difficult task in home recording is to make products that translate well in any reproduction system.

Have you got everything routed through Master Bus to your soundcard?

this is the most common mistake IMO for this problem.  make sure ALL tracks and ALL buses are routed to the MASTER and ONLY the Master is allowed to route to the soundcard.  if you have any tracks or buses summing at the soundcard and not summing at the master, then you will have problems.  either the sound will be too low, or more than likely, you can start clipping and have digital distortion because of summing too hot at the soundcard.

All great suggestions. Thank you for the quick replies.

The music sounds the same (bad) when I import the .wav back into Sonar as it does when I listen to it on WMP, so it's not a matter of what device/program is playing the file.

I double-checked my signal routing and export options. All automation, etc. is enabled for the export. I have everything mixed down to 4 audio tracks - vocal, piano/strings, guitar/bass, and percussion. Those 4 audio tracks' output is routed to 4 buses that have volume automation. The 4 buses are routed to the master bus which is routed to the audio interface. I'm not sure how any other signals could be getting augmented into the export. I even tried soloing the four tracks during export just to be sure ... with the same result.

[P.S. I know the 4 track to 4 bus thing is redundant, it was an artifact of an earlier work process]
 
EDIT: FIGURED OUT THE PROBLEM. WHEN I MIXED DOWN TO THE FOUR TRACKS, I ARCHIVED THE REST OF THE TRACKS AND ASSUMED THAT MEANT THEY WOULD BE MUTED. THEY WERE ALSO HIDDEN SO I COULDN'T SEE THE METERS GOING FULL TILT BOOGY. LONG STORY SHORT, I HAD THOSE HIDDEN ARCHIVED TRACKS FEEDING INTO THE INSTRUMENT BUSES ALONG WITH THE MIXED DOWN TRACKS (NOT TRUE FOR THE VOCAL MIX, ERGO THE LOUDER VOCAL DURING EXPORT WHICH WAS SUMMING ALL THE TRACKS (INCLUDING THE HIDDEN ONES) THROUGH THE BUSES. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE HELP. YOU MADE ME CHALLENGE MY ASSUMPTIONS. ONE LAST QUESTION... WHAT EXACTLY DOES ARCHIVING A TRACK DO? I ASSUMED THAT MEANT IT WOULD FILE THE AUDIO AWAY SOMEWHERE TO REDUCE THE SYSTEM BURDEN.

Somehow it doesn't surprise me 'cause after all we are talking computer software here which will always behave in spooky ways.
 
But generally speaking the export, for me, has always resulted in a file that sounded like what Sonar played back. The only trick and I,m not alone, is I use /edit/select none/ before export.

bryan2449


I was hearing the archived tracks during playback in Sonar, I just didn't know it. (So, I was hearing double volume for several tracks, and I had automated the volume levels so that it sounded correct to me). Then, when I exported (only the non-archived tracks), the ones that were in-fact doubled, came out sounding quite a bit (half) softer than in Sonar. Hope that makes sense.

Ok. It was the other way round... My misunderstanding.
Anyways ... I've never experienced nor heard anyone else experience archived tracks being audible.

bitflipper


Archived tracks are not audible. They are completely ignored by the engine as if they weren't even there. However, it's understandable that someone might hide a track while forgetting to archive it. 

The curious thing here is that the hidden tracks were only audible during export and not during normal playback within the project. The only scenario I can think of that would explain that is if the tracks were muted and hidden but not archived, and then the "track mute/solo" option was unchecked prior to exporting.

Good call, otherwise, forget whether it's 'playback or export, archived tracks playing?

I was hearing the archived tracks during playback in Sonar, I just didn't know it. (So, I was hearing double volume for several tracks, and I had automated the volume levels so that it sounded correct to me).

Big grin here. One of my fave stupid pet tricks is opening up and mixing on a song that has a previously bounced-to-track mix track playing along unmuted while I wonder why moves just doesn't seem to have the effect they should!