Small wave form Patterns in MC5

Your input levels are to low. Turn up the gain so the waves a re bigger....

Another option if you turn up the gain and still have smaller forms.... normalize them.  But that is last on the list.... get the gain up without distorting or clipping (running in the red).

What is different between your systems, the settings and the guitars? We don't know it, obviously, cause you don't give any hints, but that's the first thing to check, isn't it?

What gear are you using? Soundcard etc.
What are you recording? Guitar directly or via an amplifier or via an effect box ( or with a mic, what kind of a mic?)

The input level is determined by your soundcard and other hardware.
It's all about what kind of signal you're feeding in what kind of an input. Does your soundcard have a software mixer?

Do you have similar guitars? There are differences in the guitar pickups. Do you use a Hi-z-input of your soundcard (in case you have alternatives)?

What OS are you using? Have you checked if the sliders in Windows mixer are all up?

You see, when you ask a question, you should provide us with basic info necessary for answering. How could we know what is wrong if we don't even know what you're doing and using?

You should make sure that your MC is really using the Line 6 Pod instead of the integrated chip (Realtek or SigmaTel or whatever the brand is. Do it in "Options>audio"). What driver type are you using? ASIO is the most recommendable, and they say they have rock solid ASIO drivers for the Pod. Download the newest ones from the manufacturers website. After that I'd guess the answer lies in the Pod Studio, not in MC.

I don't understand what you mean by "dedicated soundcard" that you don't have, but your brother has, because the Pod IS a soundcard. What extra soundcard does your brother have and how is he using it ? Or do you mean internal/integrated soundcard (It's hard to believe your PC doesn't have one, though)? Isn't that quite an essential difference between your systems?

Like I said earlier, check the settings with your brother and make sure you have them set in an  indentical manner.

Also, ASIO can only use one soundcard at a time, unless they're indentical. WDM drivers, which are also good, can manage several soundcards.

Patience! You'll work it out.

Checked Options-Audio.....Driver Mode-ASIO...Playback Device- ASIO GX Output 1...Recording Device-ASIO GX Send 1
 Click on ASIO panel.....Driver format-Driver operating at 44100 Hz; 16 bit
ASIO Settings....ASIO Client (none) Default buffer rate 512...Default bit Depth 16 bit.
 Tone Direct & Audio Streaming- Buffer size extra small

Sorry for confusing you, yeah i have  integrated sound card and i am using the Pod as the sound card. So is my brother.Thanks for confirming that the Pod is a sound card as i was not totaly sure. Checked pod drivers and they are up to date Will check with brother and go through everything with him.
   
    Thanks for all the help really appreciated..Euan

then your gain problems have to be in the pod.  MC doesn't control the input levels at all - input levels are controlled by hardware (knobs on the external soundcard) or by the software associated with the soundcard (the pod's software).  there may be input level sliders for the POD that you have to verify are correct or you may have a gain knob problem on the POD.  make sure your PODfarm mixer INPUT levels are up.

when you zoom in on the tracks...does the wave form fill the track slot?   If not...no the monitor doesn't make a difference.

drag the bottom of the track down to expand it.

you should worry about your peaks in the waveforms.  they should be similar and they should be recorded around -6dB or so.  what are your peaks hitting on the meters?

I checked the gain on the Pod mixer it was set a 0db.. The same as my brother. Anyway I set it to -6db and it made no difference..Checked all (as far as i can be sure) settings with my brother and all seem to be the same..Should i uninstall and start from scratch??

I checked the gain on the Pod mixer

 
Is that the input gain or output?

Success!!!  After hours and hours of experimentation I now finally have big waveform patterns. The problem was the input/output levels in the podfarm mixer, as all you guys suspected..Thanks to all for pointing me in the right direction...Euan