MUSIC MIXDOWN HAS MYSTERIOUS, UNINTENDED OVER-COMPRESSION.

Hello Wizards,
 
I have been using Sonar for years to create my wave files.  But I have just started using Sonar X3 for mixing.
 
(Samplitude Pro X has been my mixing choice because of the beauty of the graphics.)
My question is:  Is it normal for Sonar to produce what looks like an extremely compressed initial mixdown even though, on the master bus, the meters never come close to clipping and the only FX on the master bus are H-EQ and NLS (non-linear summer by Waves)?  I realize the NLS can cause this if used improperly.  I'm using the NLS the same in Sonar as I have used it for years in Samplitude where my mixes have never experienced this over-compression problem.  On the master bus I also have the L1 limiter by Waves but the threshhold is set at 0.0 because I'm using it only to limit the overall mix to -0.2 dB.
 
On my aux sends I have a compressor (#1), reverb (#2) and decapitator (#3).  But they are under control and not even close to causing clipping on the master.  When I move the wave file into Samplitude, it appears squashed in the extreme and my music, generally, sounds better not so compressed.  
 
I did bounce the music without any master bus FX and the wave file came out looking like what I expected.
I hope to get the expected results in Sonar because Sonar is a better over-all program for my purposes.
 
Thank you for your time and your help!
 
 

You could have the wave preview on on the Master buss to check the look of the wav as its being made.
 

bitflipper
The solution, as long as there is some headroom left, is to turn down the Gain control on the master bus.

Just to be clear, he doesn't mean the fader as that's post FX but the Gain control that's pre-FX.