I'm on Sonar 8.5.2 and everything goes through a MOTU Traveler interface. I'm having a problem giving the vocalist more level so she can hear herself. Turning up the headphone volume raises everything at once. Adjusting the mic sensitivity means the vocal level gets too hot, she now has to stand back more (which changes the sound) and reduces the level.
 
I can turn down all the other tracks such that the mic input can be heard better but that's not a very satisfactory answer. There must be a way I can route the output of the vocal channel (somewhere!) such that during recording I can give her more level without affecting anything else?
 
Anyone?
 
Thanks - rev

I can't remember if CueMix has sends that are assignable, but, I have used sends routed to an output (headphones) to get an extra bit of signal.  Perhaps increase the singers send level to FX bus, (if available, such as reverb or delay), minimize the effect such as smallest, dryest room or minimal delay with no feed back.  This could add extra level. 
 
Is there a fader for DAW in the CueMix, you could lower that (in CueMix) then raise the the headphone level and balance to taste. 
 
Good Luck

You need the right hardware, that's the plain truth. 
If your interface does not have a input / computer blending control or if it does not have a GUI mixer that acomplishes the same thing your hooped. 
Most interfaces allow you to mix the singers mike ( input) with the DAW's playback ( computer) 
Turning the control towards the input makes the singer louder, turning it towards the playback makes the music louder. Simple. 
I use a small mixer for cue mixes and adding a little reverb in the cans. Small mixers are not expensive... I actually own two. My interface is capable of creating 2 or more cue mixes but I still find the mixer works the best. 

CueMix doesn't have a level control for DAW playback. Instead it relies on the DAW main fader. So yeah, you'll have to turn down the DAW main fader and then turn up the headphones output. This is simply the way things work.

If you find it easier you could put a send on your master bus, send that bus to a second set of outputs and tell CueMix to use those outputs for the headphones mix. Also put the mic on there. That way at least you won't have to keep raising and lowering your main fader.

I insert sends on my individual busses routed to the headphone mix.
 
It's easy to drop them all by whatever amount is necessary for the vocalist to hear everything and more importantly, what they hear of themselves in the cans

CueMix doesn't offer plug-in use, and the Echo function in Sonar is VERY iffy. So, what I've resorted to is using a hardware compressor chained off the mic-pre. If you can Aux-Send the mic pre's output to the compressor, then return the output of the compressor back to the Aux Return of the mixer, which, I assume ultimately feeds the headphone amp, the compressor can give you what you need in relation to the mix.
 
If you use an external mic pre, one that offers both XLR and 1/4" outputs, youu can run the XLR to your DAW or mixer, and the 1/4" output to the compressor.
 
You can find an Alesis 3630 compressor for next to nothing, which works quite well. I'm using a dbx 560 (dbx 160 in a 500-series module).
 
Hope this helps!

Seriously listen to Jonesey. If you need an instant mix for a specific headphone setup and don't want to screw around with your levels insert sends on everything (that's needed for tracking) and send them to a bus.
 
Solo the bus and create your headphone mix using the Sends levels on each track.
 
If you already are using busses for each set of instruments (Drum Bus, Guitar Bus, Bass Bus, etc) then it's even easier because you can just insert sends on the busses to send to your headphone mix bus (instead of on every track).
 
Once you are done tracking you just mute (and unsolo) the bus. That way it is not blending in to your general mix. You can set up multiple headphone mixes this way by using multiple sends for each artist without screwing up your general mix or screwing up previous headphone mixes.
 
Another way is to do a "Save As", mix the song as is in a way that works best for the artist you are recording, export it then import it into a new track in your original project. Solo that track and whatever track(s) the artist is recording into then you can turn just that export track up or down as needed. This however means you can't turn things up or down individually (because it's a whole mix) but it's a simpler scheme if your artist doesn't need things constantly being readjusted (which unfortunately they usually will).
 
Cheers.

Beepster:
Yes, spot on dude, I was just about to thank Jonesey for the simplest solution.
 
Thanks Jonesey!
 
I also like the idea of mixing down the track and having the singer sing against that. I can archive everything else for better performance and give the singer any level they like. My singers don't need a custom mix so anything approximating the final song will do.
 
Thanks to everyone else for all the other answers!
 
rev 
 
 

You could also just do a "Save As" and totally mangle the project in any way you want as you track the vocals (or whatever) then do a dry track export (no effects) of the tracks you recorded and import them into the original project for mixing.
 
Tons of ways to do this stuff which is what is so awesome about digital recording (one of of the million and one things that is so awesome about it... lol).
 
Cheers.

I'm sure that people have different preferences here, but I personally NEVER record the singer into the original song project.  I export the song to WAV and import that WAV into a new project template that is already set up for recording vocals.  My template already has tracks inserted for the guide track, a folder full of ready-to-go tracks for the lead vocals, another for harmonies, etc. all pre-routed to busses, with a reverb already instantiated for the headphone mix, etc.  That gives me a lot more flexibility for controlling the headphone mix and latency is a non-issue.  I also use that project file for comping vocals, pitch-correction, etc. to clean up and finalize the vocals.  Once the raw vocals are done, I bring them back into the original project for final mixing.