chuckharpguitar
But when i ... play the wave file on my lap top speakers it sound very low quality!
You mean it sounds like you are listening on laptop speakers?
They generally make everything sound low quality. Does any other music sound good on your laptop speakers?
If so, listen for what is different.
Just for grins, create a copy of your project, and work on it using only the laptop speakers, not the external sound card. Get is sounding as good as you can. Don't expect it to sound
great. It won't.
Now, save that project, and re-open it in Sonar, but this time use the external sound card and M-Audio monitors.
It sounds very different from the original project, doesn't it?
This is a taste of the "translation" that Craig (Anderton) mentioned. It's about training your ears and understanding how your mix will sound on other systems.
Listen to it in the car, on your iPod, etc. Treat your friends to a listen of your new creation. While they think you are showing off your new song, you are listening for stuff like no low end, brutal spikes at 5khz, or that snare that sounds like an empty coffee can.
Bring that knowledge back to your studio and work it into your mix.
It's going to take time and practice. Lots of it. Don't give up.
Also, read the posts in the various forums here(Techniques, Songs, etc). You can learn a lot.
After you have enough posts (25) you can post a song for potentially valuable critique.
Working with sound is incredibly intricate. I've been doing this for nine years, and I've just scratched the surface.
Bottom line, don't base mixing decisions on laptop speakers, and again, don't give up.