Hi all Kamelodic here with some questions about gain staging!
 
Ok so my first question, how many dbs should I be trimming to give myself more headroom?
 
Second question. Which trim plugin is better suited for SONAR PLATINUM?
 
Third question. Should I put it as an insert in the FX rack, or should I place it in an FX chain in the Pro Channel module?

1. depends!
2. an old one: http://www.gvst.co.uk/ggain.htm
2. a new one, just found this, looks nice! http://hofa-plugins.de/en/plugins/4u/
3. depends where you need to control the gain! insert the plug between the other plugs that need it :-)
hth

Gamsahamnida=Thank you

😊

You shouldn't need to trim for any more headroom.  Even garden variety interfaces hit -105 dB which should be plenty of headroom for any normal signal.
 
Can you supply an example of when you needed a trimmer other then the one at the top of each SONAR track? 
 
@ 
 

Well I do for my master bus to stay at between -6 and -3dbs. Since compression and such can raise volumes

kamelodic
Gamsahamnida=Thank you
😊

Greetings to Korea! Welcome! I never learned to speak Korean conversationally, but I could read it and phoneticize the syllables. I spent 9 months working there and needed to learn how to read a menu in a local restaurant, know what kind of animal protein I was getting and what kind of rice (I remember 37 different types to learn), and then be able to speak it well enough to get what I thought I was ordering! 
 
Even today, 15 years later, I still use a dol sot bowl to eat my stir fries from, with the proper spoon and those fun-to-learn-how-to-use pressed-flat stainless steel chop sticks! 
 
EDIT: I use the Trim pot in the channel strip to gain stage initially. I tend not to use FX plugins that don't have Output Gain control.

Ooh well thank you I'm only part Korean but I know some things

proper gain staging does not require 'trimming' for headroom.
 
optimally, you have the 'correct' gain coming into your convertors,
and after that, you 'maintain' that gain staging no matter what inboard or outboard effects you apply.
 
i cannot think of a better way to explain this, than with this image:
 

 
if you do not understand what this means,
literally and historically,
i urge you to begin your homework.
 

If your clips are being recorded without clipping just use the "Gain" knob at the top of the track strips to lower levels before they hit your Prochannel and FX Bin/Rack effects.
 
If your Prochannel or other effects are not being overloaded just turn down the track faders so they don't overload your "busses".
 
Also as you add effects make sure that they are not adding volume to the track or bus output. Almost ALL effects have an Output control. If you add an effect and it increases you track/bus volum output turn down the effect's Output volume. You can check this by looking at the track or bus meter and turning the effect on and off. Adjust the Effect's output volume until the meter level is even between off and on status.
 
And make sure you are sending your tracks to busses before they go to the master. So send all your guitars to one buss (or your rhythm guitars to one bus and your lead guitars to another bus) and all your drums tracks to one bus, etc... then all you busses get sent to the Master bus. It's a sub mix and you can control the volume of multiple tracks at once (and add extra effects if you want there too).
 
The signal chain goes like this in Sonar....
 
Clips > Gain Fader (which is the top of the track strip) > Prochannel/FX Bin (the order of those two depends on the Pre/Post status you select for the Prochannel) > Track Fader > Any busses you send your tracks to (this could be straight to the Master or as I suggested to sub busses and then out to the Master) > Audio output hardware
 
You can also put "Sends" in the track strip portion to "tap" the signal and send a part of the signal elsewhere and Sends also have Pre/Post statuses that need to be paid attention to. You can use these for parallel effects like compression or reverb or just simply send a signal somewhere else. The latest version of Sonar now has other send type capabilities but that might be getting too complex.
 
If your tracks are clipping while you record though BEFORE they get into Sonar that is something that needs to be dealt with outside of the computer... like turning down the Input trim on your interface, mixer or other external devices.
 
....
 
But the simple answer is... if you do not have anything clipping on your input hardware... just turn down the Gain Knob at the top of your tracks in Sonar.
 
Cheers.

another excellent homework assignment:
 
 
http://www.digido.com/art...-practices-part-1.html