I'm having a hard time getting decent CD's produced. I have lots of level in Sonar and lots of level in the WAV output on export. When I burn the CD it seems like I'm losing about 6db of level. I have tried Nero and Audio creator with strange results. Nero is giving distorted output and Audio creator is losing 6db. I'm hoping there's some basic thing that I'm missing.
 
Any ideas?

mastering.
 
learn as much as you can, and begin.
 
or, pay a pro to do it.. fastest way from point A to point B

Make sure you aren't reducing the level on export by accident.

I am not familiar with either of those programs, but the "Nero giving a distorted output" hints at clipping, although both programs may not handle high gain well (even if not clipping), since they may have a gain stage before print (no idea here, just speculation). It is almost as if Nero is trying to print a clipping situation, while Audio Creator is (over)compensating for it.
 
Have you checked the exported wav file to verify that is it not clipped? If nothing is found there, have you tried simply burning the audio to CD using Windows Explorer to check?

Also, double check to make sure there isn't some sort of Auto-Level being applied where the app making the CD estimates the average volume of the tracks and then adjusts the absolute level so the average level is around the same.

I use mediamonkey or power2go normally. Some reason my bluray writer isn't liked by the Windows 7. Which might be fixable if I could be bothered trying to find the reason but anyway.

I keep my files as wav and listen to them on my fiio player.

It's beyond annoying. I'm sure that many people have this issue. I tend to agree with the comments about the conversion program doing something behind the scenes. The source material has a large dynamic range where the peaks and RMS levels are quite different. The only plug I'm using is a limiter on the master buss. I need the limiter to allow me to pull up the average sound level while preventing overload on peaks. 
 
It's almost like Cakewalk Audio Creator is using the peaks as a reference while Nero is using the RMS levels. This one issue is my biggest problem when using Sonar. The files are clean and punchy with a max output level of -1 db yet I can't create a CD that's loud enough to listen to in a car.
 
I'm working on an audio book so being able to listen in the car is almost mandatory. I should also add that this issue also applies to MP3 files. Anything I create using Sonar's export audio function seems to have a low output level.

if you have the auto-mastering software (LANDR) which may be useful to compare with your own level settings. also any auto-volume control settings in the CD software should be disabled to avoid having louder tracks from reducing other tracks. and using reference tracks to compare levels would be helpful - bring a reference track into your project or in your mastering software (e.g. Ozone, Sound Forge, etc) to compare levels eq etc.

Ribbon mics are my favorite discovery and you don't have to buy expensive ones. The cheap ones are great too... especially when you aren't taking them on the road.

gswitz
Ribbon mics are my favorite discovery and you don't have to buy expensive ones. The cheap ones are great too... especially when you aren't taking them on the road.

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