There has been no shortage of forum posts questioning proper gain staging a signal as it travels through Sonar.  I may have read most of them.  Mixing and plugin usage works efficiently at -18dB to -15dB, + or – a few.  Graham Cochrane of the Recording Revolution has an awesome video explaining this.  He calls it the “sweet spot”.
 
Within Sonar, every channel’s gain knob works for an already existing audio signal.  My questions pertain to the audio signal as it is being recorded.
 
From what I understand, there is no control within Sonar to affect the incoming signal strength; something you would consider to be an attenuator or a pad.  That signal strength hitting Sonar must be determined by the preamp/interface only.  Is that correct?
What if I want to push my preamp really hard which then clips the signal meter in Sonar?  There appears to be nothing that can be done about that within Sonar.  I simply have to lower my external preamp gain.  Again, is that correct?
 
Next, is there a recording level “sweet spot”?  Does it make any difference what level to target during tracking?  Is -6dB any better or worse than -26dB?  Once the signal is recorded, I can adjust it with the gain knob to “level the playing field” amongst the tracks for mixing. 
 
Analog recording levels aimed for the red on the VU meter.  What recording level am I aiming for in digital?
Thank you for all your input.
 
Rob
 

HI:)
 
For Voices I'm trying to keep the loudest Peak at -6 dB, and for the incoming gain depends on the Gain of my Recording Mixer (Direct Out), I have a little bit Compression on this Track of my Mixer (1:1,5).
So for the recorded Material the Voice goes from perhaps -20 to -6 dB.
Before Compression I'm lowering the loudest Pieces by 3-6 dB, so I'm near the "Sweet Point", -20 to -12 dB.
 
For sure it depends on the music, I'm recording, for classical music no compression......
 
Bassman.
 

Definitely no shortage of opinions haha!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8_b1xfOrJY&t=107s
 
 
Here is a video I made exploring some of the pitfalls one can run into when integrating outboard preamps into your interface... and ultimately sonar.   
 
Preamps manage the voltage before it hits an Analog to Digital converter.  Once it is converted sonar will record it where you tell it too (channel) - and then the gain knob in sonar controls the input to sonars mixer, it is not a controller for an outboard preamp.
 
What you are really doing when you manage preamp gain ... 1st.. is creating a difference between the level of your desired signal, and the level of your undesired noise.   In the analog domain, there was signifigantly more noise.  Tape.  Hiss.  In the digital domain we don't have that unless we want it.
 
Lets say your recording an acoustic guitar with a condensor mic and a transient comes along with a loud strum... if your recording at minus 18, that transient might push up to minus 6, you still have a ways to go, and that transient is recorded properly.
 
Grahams video in my opinion is great.  when your recording a source, any daw will sound better around the numbers he has thrown out there - 18 ish.  When I would mix analog way back when I would peg mixers all the time and say it sounded great, digital just is not like that.   The more I turn things down in sonar, the better and clearer my mixes get.  Many of my final mixes before mastering hover between -20 to 10 range rms, and I let mastering bring them up.   Leaving all that space and headroom in there really opens your mixes up... space man... space....

RobWS
There has been no shortage of forum posts questioning proper gain staging a signal as it travels through Sonar.  I may have read most of them.  Mixing and plugin usage works efficiently at -18dB to -15dB, + or – a few.  Graham Cochrane of the Recording Revolution has an awesome video explaining this.  He calls it the “sweet spot”.
 
Within Sonar, every channel’s gain knob works for an already existing audio signal.  My questions pertain to the audio signal as it is being recorded.
 
From what I understand, there is no control within Sonar to affect the incoming signal strength; something you would consider to be an attenuator or a pad.  That signal strength hitting Sonar must be determined by the preamp/interface only.  Is that correct?
What if I want to push my preamp really hard which then clips the signal meter in Sonar?  There appears to be nothing that can be done about that within Sonar.  I simply have to lower my external preamp gain.  Again, is that correct? 

 Yes that is correct.
 

Next, is there a recording level “sweet spot”?  Does it make any difference what level to target during tracking?  Is -6dB any better or worse than -26dB?  Once the signal is recorded, I can adjust it with the gain knob to “level the playing field” amongst the tracks for mixing. 

For Sonar there is no "sweet spot". It must be noted that recording at 24 bits will allow a wide level range without penalties. If you record at 16 bits you really have to keep your levels high without clipping. 24 bits is an easier bit depth for recording because noise is so much lower. 
 

Analog recording levels aimed for the red on the VU meter.  What recording level am I aiming for in digital?
Thank you for all your input.
 
Rob
 

I don't care that much what the levels are as long as I'm not in the red. Many are very careful with their levels I'm not because I record at 24 bits. I've had very low level recordings that were fine by just raising the level after the fact. It wont hurt to be careful and aim at specific levels but you don't need to sweat it too much if your recordings are low as long as the noise is also very low.  
 
Edit to add.
The notion of a sweet spot is an analog thing as such. It would refer to how an analog circuit behaves when driven by a signal. Digital as such has no sweet spot. A peramp might have a better sound at a specific level.  It really depends on the hardware.  

The "sweet spot " is analog, not digital. The old notion of recording as "hot as possible without out going over" was always a bad idea in my experience. Full scale digital 0dbfs is a hot signal. Most prosumer gear is "edgy" at best at those levels. -18 or so seems to be 0db, analog meter right on the red. With 24 bit you can run well below that and still keep your s/n at good levels. -18 was still the right level at 16 bit, but the "pros" were too dense to figure that out. Well designed and built analog gear can have 24db of "headroom " but not most. At least that has been my experience. Digital is not cold or harsh; it's just accurate. Garbage in garbage out.
Keep your nominal levels around -16 or -18 and the occasional peaks will take care of themselves.
T

Some excellent points made already.
 
There is one other drawback when tracking a "hot" signal at that is, when you come to mix, in order to keep your master bus well out of the red you'll find that your track faders will be operating way down on the scale where there is far less resolution than there is higher up.
It's relatively easy to overcome this by using the gain control at the top of each track to bring the signal down in order to have your faders higher up, but it's so much easier to get it right at source and not to track so hot to start with.

In Graham's videos ( the ones I have seen ) he is talking about a sweet spot when it comes time to hit the channel & track effects chains ...individually and throughout the whole project ... during both tracking and mixing 
 
In one of his vids where he is using Pro Tools he used an external plug to dial back to around - 10 db ...as per track .
SONAR in the console view has the gain trim which doesn't affect the incoming signal as the OP mentioned , yet I have tried what Graham mentioned once I had gotten my audio into SONAR and I feel there is a lot of merit to his approach of gain staging each and every track in the project with the intent of being able to dial in "the sweet spot" 
The sweet spot he is talking about is where you can be able to audition your plugs and determine how they affect your tracks sounds in a much more discerning way ...his approach eliminates the most common fallacy and tricks that our ears like to play on us ..
What is this fallacy ? if it's louder it sounds better ...Right ?  
I noticed that he liked to also set his plugs to an equal unity gain volume wise when he was comparing the effected audio to the non effected audio ...
I found that to be very interesting because his approach seemed to open up a whole pallet of subtlety of tones where the plugins were able to go through a full dynamic range as opposed to a plugin that was shouting all the time ... hope that makes sense ...
Interestingly enough I did notice that my Pro Chanel was magically cured of it affliction of always going into the Red once I started using Graham's approach .. 
Anyway , as far as the levels of inputting audio and midi into SONAR ..
I have a Focusrite 2i4 and it does offer me a lot of control as to how hot I want to record ...
My general feeling about that is I'm a very dynamic player so I will always leave a little bit of extra head room ..
Recording at 24 bits I like to stay in the green ...my general RMS is Pre Loudness Wars ...
around - 20 db for my peak RMS level and I like to peak overall in and around -6 to around - 4 ...MAX
I have also used a hardware compressor at times for playing that is not meant to be as dynamic...
ex,  tracking in Rock and POP  where there is meant to be a lot of glue ...
Even then , the compressor going in is not used to squash , it's more there  to compensate for the fact that I like to hit it hard on the guitar so by backing off and giving an even level to my live recorded sound where what goes in gets printed ...it has helped catch a few tones I would not be able to get if I stayed totally in the box ..
 
After having said that , I think I may have gone a little nuts
Why ? who else here is agonizing over every little detail ?...
Fighting for that extra little inch of a db using a pre recording time pep talk ritual just like the Al Pacino locker room speech in the movie On Any Given Sunday ...
What about all the sleepless nights of worrying  about how this approach compares to how "fill in the blank " a famous producer does it ...
I got into music to meet pretty girls and now look what recording has done to me ...
I no longer care about what pretty girls in bikinis look like on the warm beach ...I want to look at a computer screen with a New SONAR theme on it ...
In the end , it's Music right ...if it sounds good it must be good
 
Aye Carrumba  so this is how 2017 is starting out for me ? ...I'm in deep $hit
 
all the best,
 
Kenny
 

I don't know enough about PT to have an opinion. Its possible PT with its DSP architecture may have "sweet spots" but the DAW I use is purely digital and digital has no such thing as a "sweet spot".  
 
It also is somewhat troublesome in that the notion of a sweet spot means other choices are not sweet. This means there must be a very large limitation. So if he records a string quartet and they have very large dynamics his sweet spot will only occasionally be hit. Then again if there is no sweet spot then he has nothing to worry about. 

I've been all over this "Sweet spot" for years. Simply put, only when im tracking Distorted guitars do I like a hotter signal than when recording, say Vocals. I find that recording in 24 bit / 48 HZ gives a great reproduction and without getting the signal too hot and keeping it within the -3 to - 6db range (Sonars meters) while recording your going to be good.
To be noted. your interface does control the input level, but some interfaces only have a Green/Yellow/Red safe light to show signal strength (not a VU) So look to Sonar for accurate readings.
 
there are some who choose to get close to 0db when recording. I've tried, I and I don't hear the difference.
I actually prefer a more dynamic signal just not too weak. ruined many a good tracks by clipping trying to get the strongest signal possible. some are so hard to hear while recording you don't notice it till after your done.
and recording 40 tracks in a project it is too hard to listen to each track after every time you record it.
So I play it safe. I use a compressor to control the dynamics (but only a small bit) and this compressor (yes before the pre amp) help control the overs and gives a more rounded signal. a strong consistent signal.
 
Experiment. you'll see.

John
I don't know enough about PT to have an opinion. Its possible PT with its DSP architecture may have "sweet spots" but the DAW I use is purely digital and digital has no such thing as a "sweet spot".  
 
It also is somewhat troublesome in that the notion of a sweet spot means other choices are not sweet. This means there must be a very large limitation. So if he records a string quartet and they have very large dynamics his sweet spot will only occasionally be hit. Then again if there is no sweet spot then he has nothing to worry about. 

Hi John ,
 
Regarding DAW's and The World Of One's and Zero's ...I understand fully where your heading w your point of view .
 
The Sweet Spot that is being discussed here in this thread may have very little to do with what brand DAW a person uses .
The Sweet Spot some of us are discussing may have more to do with the highly subjective quality's a person is looking to bring out in the music they are producing with an inherent  sub division that falls under "what type of workflow will enhance that desired end goal".
To accomplish that task a person may choose to investigate or adopt a different workflow from their norm to reach their intended sonic summit ... 
As misleading as the term may be , it serves as a nice little catchphrase to describe a successful end result .
A highly subjective end result I may add based on a Methodology that is not DAW or platform dependent .
 
have a good one ,
 
Kenny