AdrianNewington
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Output Level Indicator confusion
Hi, Sonar X1 producer with the Master Bus feeding a Behringer USB Soundcard. As you can see below, The Master Bus has 2 level indicators showing different levesl, with one display showing levels seem to be a bit Hot, yet the level at the Master Bus outputting to the Soundcard is quite reasonable. What am I actually seeing here? Which level indicator is accurate? When I do a mixdown, and examine the levels inside a WAV editor, its nowhere near the ceiling as what the indicator is showing. Is any adjustment needed on those Vertical faders? Thanks 
Music to Uplift & Inspire. Windows 10 64 bit - HP 23" All-In-One PC Sonar Professional, ( and X1 Producer, X3 Basic).
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stevesweat
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/19 20:47:05
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Is the console meter set to "peak" and the track meter to "rms"? That would do it.
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AdrianNewington
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/19 20:54:01
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Hmmm... Meters all seem to be set the same. 
Music to Uplift & Inspire. Windows 10 64 bit - HP 23" All-In-One PC Sonar Professional, ( and X1 Producer, X3 Basic).
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John
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/19 21:01:38
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Be sure that everything is going through the master buss. Sometimes a track will be routed directly to the main outs. This may cause a difference in output levels.
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AdrianNewington
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/19 21:05:08
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I just thought I'd do a "Reset All Meters"... but it didn't do anything.
But another curious thing happened... I dropped down those Vertical Faders by about -30dB, and did a Mixdown, and the resultant file was as normal and a good level.
(Note: when I do a Mixdown, I choose "Buses", and select only Master... as opposed to "Entire Mix".)
Another Note: I just did another mixdown, but chooosing "Master Output". and with the faders down so low, the mixdown was indeed very very low in volume.
So now I need clarification on these variations, and which Mixdown option is best.
Thanks
Music to Uplift & Inspire. Windows 10 64 bit - HP 23" All-In-One PC Sonar Professional, ( and X1 Producer, X3 Basic).
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John
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/19 21:37:45
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Did you check your routing?
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AdrianNewington
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/19 21:39:47
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Hi John,
By Routing... do you mean to ensure that each individual track is set to got to the Master Bus?
Otherwise... I'm not fully sure what this fully means.
thanks
Music to Uplift & Inspire. Windows 10 64 bit - HP 23" All-In-One PC Sonar Professional, ( and X1 Producer, X3 Basic).
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John
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/19 22:47:58
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Right. I think I explained in my first post why. In your second post what you described is very common with routing that isn't what one thinks it is.
You're thinking its a meter mismatch when that is very unlikely. What is very likely is a track or buss that is going directly to your main outs bypassing the master buss.
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Bristol_Jonesey
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/21 05:29:13
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AdrianNewington
Hi,
Sonar X1 producer with the Master Bus feeding a Behringer USB Soundcard.
As you can see below, The Master Bus has 2 level indicators showing different levesl, with one display showing levels seem to be a bit Hot, yet the level at the Master Bus outputting to the Soundcard is quite reasonable.
What am I actually seeing here?
Which level indicator is accurate?
When I do a mixdown, and examine the levels inside a WAV editor, its nowhere near the ceiling as what the indicator is showing.
Is any adjustment needed on those Vertical faders?
Thanks
Those 2 readings are from 2 different meters. You're trying to compare your Master Buss (right) with your Hardware outputs (left) As suggested, make sure ALL tracks/busses are routed to your master buss and not directly to your H/W outputs. Simple test - mute the master buss. If you DON'T hear complete silence then something's routed direct to H/W
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chuckebaby
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/21 06:13:02
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That's the most logical explanation (what John and Sir Jonesey have mentioned). because think about it, the sum of all tracks to your master, with the exception of 1 or 2 tracks outputted directly to the main outs, what would happen ? you would have 2 different readings. I really didn't say anything those guys just said. so listen to them 
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brundlefly
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/21 11:14:35
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Can't see it in the screenshot, but given the hardware bus is exactly 6dB higher than the Master bus, I would guess there's a parallel Send on the Master bus to the hardware out.
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AdrianNewington
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/21 16:32:11
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Well I think I've got the source of my problem, after ensuring that no tracks or busses are bypassing the Master Send.
Years ago when I had Sonar 6, I had created a template as a basis for each new project.
Then years later I went to Sonar X1 producer and loaded that old template, tweaked it a bit, and re-saved it.
Then a few more years later, I grabbed that template and brought it in to Sonar X3, tweaked it a bit and re-saved it yet again.
So I had a thought to delete the Master Bus, and add a new one back in.
Wallah! things went as expected,
So I've scrapped my dodgy template and re-created one from scratch.
All looks good now.
Thanks so much for all your helpful advice.
Adrian
Music to Uplift & Inspire. Windows 10 64 bit - HP 23" All-In-One PC Sonar Professional, ( and X1 Producer, X3 Basic).
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soens
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Re: Output Level Indicator confusion
2016/11/21 18:18:39
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I've seen a lot of issues migrating templates & projects across multiple versions of Sonar. My latest is similar to this one... but different.
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