LordRavenWolfe
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Sonar X3: Recording levels very low.... help!
Good evening everyone! I am using windows 10 (oh joy) and I have an Alesis Multimix 8 that I use to feed everything to my computer, and back, etc etc...
I have found an issue and I am not sure how to explain this one: When I use my multimix soundboard for anything such as Audacity, Skype, etc, the sound levels are perfectly fine. In fact, I have fine tuned for those applications. However, I wanted to record some piano music in Sonar and so I plugged in my Yamaha DGX 650 and turned the volume all way up on the yamaha (assuming I'd throttle the volume in my mixer) and record some piano music.
I found very quickly that one of two things happened: 1.) The volume would be so loud it crackled and was nothing but static... or 2.) If I turned the volume down just a tad bit, it became really low. Now, let me explain: When recording, the volume sound PERFECT. But upon playback, the volume is extremely low.
I have tried turning up the gain on my mixer, as well as the volume, both to no avail. In fact, right now my mixer has the gain at full throttle and the volume at 3/4 the way, and the playback is still extremely low. At first I thought maybe my headphone settings were really low, but then I realized that couldn't be it because I could play a regular song in iTunes and it would damn near burst my ear drums.
I am at a loss here. I don't know if there is a setting in Sonar that I am missing or what. I do know if I open a standard song in Sonar and hit play that the playback is extremely loud, so it's as if only my recording is coming through low. Any advice? I'm new to Sonar (was a Logic Pro guy for years but my mac finally gave me the middle finger and went out in a blaze of glory... literally, I got mad when it broke and set it on fire, Jimi Hendrix style.) I just don't know enough about Sonar to understand where to begin in diagnosing this issue.
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Bristol_Jonesey
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Re: Sonar X3: Recording levels very low.... help!
2015/09/02 05:13:50
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☄ Helpfulby LordRavenWolfe 2015/09/02 12:14:48
Sonar has no control over the levels your signal is recorded at - everything must be set outside, prior to getting into Sonar.
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slartabartfast
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Re: Sonar X3: Recording levels very low.... help!
2015/09/02 05:20:01
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☼ Best Answerby LordRavenWolfe 2015/09/02 12:37:40
Your recording levels are set by the hardware (mixer, synth, audio interface) not Sonar, and the input meters in your audio track should reflect this. Crackles you describe usually indicate clipping, and a clipping indicator and meters reading above 0dB will confirm that. If you are getting anywhere near 0dB in Sonar then you do not have a problem with your recording levels. In that case if you are having trouble hearing the playback of a recorded track, you have a low output/playback level. Check the output meters on your main outs in console view to see if they are receiving a strong signal. If they are (assuming you have not routed output around the mains) then you are looking for either a problem with your routing or a setting in your audio interface or another device in your output chain. It would help if you could describe completely the routing you are using both inside Sonar and outside the box. There are quite a few ways that you can manipulate volume in Sonar, and you need to check output level settings at every stage in the chain. Filters and effects can reduce output volume, so if you are using those try bypassing them if the problem persists.
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Kalle Rantaaho
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Re: Sonar X3: Recording levels very low.... help!
2015/09/02 06:16:41
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☄ Helpfulby LordRavenWolfe 2015/09/02 12:08:51
What are the playback dB levels of the recorded signal when you have the track level meter set to 0 dB? I mean, does it only sound low to you when you're playing it back (due to some routing or level setting thing) or is it actually a low signal (thin waveform image)?
As mentioned above, the true level of the signal is defined the moment the AD-converter changes it to 1s and 0s.
After that, if it's a low signal you must play it back very loud (thus lifting the noise level as well), or if it's clipping to distortion, you can't get rid of the distortion by lowering the volume, you can only listen to the crackling loud or low.
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Zargg
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Re: Sonar X3: Recording levels very low.... help!
2015/09/02 06:16:49
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☄ Helpfulby LordRavenWolfe 2015/09/02 12:15:09
Hi. You need to balance the output from your Yamaha, into your mixer (without clipping / going too hot). Then find a output from the mixer, into SONAR (approximately -12 to -6). Which driver mode do you use? Best of luck. Ps. was typing at the same time as Kalle. And seem to have a lag on some pages...
post edited by Zargg71 - 2015/09/02 06:26:42
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LordRavenWolfe
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Re: Sonar X3: Recording levels very low.... help!
2015/09/02 11:02:12
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Thanks everyone. As soon as I have a moment to get into the program I'll start it up and have a look. however, I am still confused as to how the output levels can be extremely low when I record in Sonar, but they aren't low if I record in Cubase, Audacity, Skype, etc etc etc...... that just baffles me.
I never had an issue when I used my Multimix 4 from Alesis but I have had this issue since turning to my multimix 8. I think it is probably just my not fully understanding how this mixer works as it has all kinds of buttons that have to be pressed, etc, just to get sound to come through the headphones, etc.
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LordRavenWolfe
Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
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Re: Sonar X3: Recording levels very low.... help!
2015/09/02 12:05:32
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slartabartfast
Your recording levels are set by the hardware (mixer, synth, audio interface) not Sonar, and the input meters in your audio track should reflect this. Crackles you describe usually indicate clipping, and a clipping indicator and meters reading above 0dB will confirm that. If you are getting anywhere near 0dB in Sonar then you do not have a problem with your recording levels. In that case if you are having trouble hearing the playback of a recorded track, you have a low output/playback level. Check the output meters on your main outs in console view to see if they are receiving a strong signal. If they are (assuming you have not routed output around the mains) then you are looking for either a problem with your routing or a setting in your audio interface or another device in your output chain. It would help if you could describe completely the routing you are using both inside Sonar and outside the box. There are quite a few ways that you can manipulate volume in Sonar, and you need to check output level settings at every stage in the chain. Filters and effects can reduce output volume, so if you are using those try bypassing them if the problem persists.
Thank you for the quick reply! Basically, I have a multimix 8, it's USB. I have my line input (keyboard) in slot one, and that's it. Other than the fact that I have it set to main to monitor, 2 tracks to main, and 2 tracks to usb so that I can hear what I'm recording. I restarted my computer this morning and after doing that, I turned the gain all the way down on my settings, and I turned the piano down. Then I just turned up the EQ to see if it would peak or not, and it didn't, so I slowly turned up the gain and volume on my piano until it registered. I then throttled it back down, hit record, and voila!!! It is coming through CRYSTAL CLEAR and LOUD! I have another issue now (which I have posted in the Alesis forum as I know that it has to be an Alesis issue). Basically, after I recorded Track 1, I inserted a new track, and armed it to record, and I noticed when I hit record, my mixer is rerecording track 1 onto track 2 as I play my piano on track 2... so it's like it's merging everything all at once. I know this is simply one of those "main to out" or something issues. I'm just not familiar enough with mixers to fully understand what all these technical terms mean. But at least I have phase one fixed. Now; onto phase two!
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