I do a lot of rendering softsynths and I was wondering if I am actually doing this the best way given levels and normalizing. Here's what I usually do:
1. set output to 0 DB, leave the synth on its default output level
2. zero out any panning
3. render
 
Usually, the resultant rendered audio file will have a small SB width.  I have too enlarge the view sometimes to even see the wave in the track.  I am not a great audio tech guy, so I don't know what the best way to really do this is.  Here are a couple of questions:
 
1.  How do I set the output level of the vst single instrument track to get a more appropriate output level to the rendered track - if its not already?
2.  Should I normalize the rendered audio track to bring up the DB?  
 
3. is there a method here I am not aware of?
4. Does this have something to do with unity gain or anything like that?
 
Any help would be appreciated.
 
Sonar X3d, Maudio Fast Track Ultra, Windows 7

It all depends on how strong the signal is before it enters the soft synth and how strong the level is after is leaves the soft synth.
 
It also depends on what the input and output of your soft synth is set to.
 
There is no right or wrong answer. You set your levels and panning the way it fits best in the song and this is mostly personal preference.
 
FYI: there is no need for normalizing
 
CJ

Thanks CJ...I we got all these audio tools and I don't know when to use them and when not too.

Whatever volume you hear the synth playing back at before rendering should be close to or exactly the same volume the rendered clips play at.
 
Normally, you get the level about where you want it (by ear, not by absolute measurement), then freeze/render the synth. After that, it's just another audio file that you can boost or trim with a volume envelope like any other audio.
 
There shouldn't be any need to normalize or otherwise shoot for any specific target level. As long as it's in the general ballpark, you'll be OK. Note that the vertical size of the waveform display is pretty much irrelevant. Zoom if you can't see it. 

have you tried freezing your soft synth to see if there is a difference in the wave form on the track ? 
if you haven't tried that ,
I would suggest that you freeze the synth , then copy that rendered audio to a brand new audio track ...
once you have the frozen synth audio on its own seperate audio track you can unfreeze the synth ...
when you unfreeze the synth the frozen audio will disappear from the synths output track ….
I assume you were bouncing the synth , so now you can do what ever you were doing …and then compare
 
freezing synths  would be a good thing to check out for a few reasons ..
 
1, when the  synth freezes it is easy to get a much hotter out put on the track before the freeze by bumping the synths output up a few db's if the volume seems low to begin with ..
to compensate later on in the mix you can just lower the track fader of the rendered synths audio .
2, you can compare the differences in volume and sound between the way you have been doing things by comparing the frozen synth to the bounce to tracks method .
 3, if you happen to be adventurous in your sound selections , you can experiment w different settings on your synth and freeze them to create a bunch of layers of the frozen audio renders  that you can put on their own tracks 
w those , you can now  bring them in and out of the project / mix while still keeping your synth set to the original setting you had before .
 
I don't know if i helped you any …but I tried 
 
all the best
 
Kenny 
 
 

Actually that will probably help a great deal.  Thanks for the details.  I will try it ASAP.  I didn't know you could copy the audio track of a frozen synth either.

Marc2109
Actually that will probably help a great deal.  Thanks for the details.  I will try it ASAP.  I didn't know you could copy the audio track of a frozen synth either.

Marc2109, 
I'm glad you got something out of it 
 
taking it a step further ….
you can have more than one project running in SONAR at the same time if you set your preferences to have more than one project open ...
a little trick I discovered years ago  I do this all the time whenever I do synth based music  ...
at some point I will have frozen all the tracks in a project , audio , synths ,,, you name it ...
once they are frozen I could split them and literaly copy and paste them into any sort of arrangment and order I wanted to do within the project ….
a section that had 2 bars could go for 16 ,,16 bars could be edited down to 4
I can add or delete parts at will with no apparent consequence or adversse repercussion ...
I've been doing it like this for years and it has become part of my work flow ...
heres what cool about it 
you can literally re arrange a whole song / project while its frozen and take musical chances you would not normally take ….
now if you happen to have SONAR set up to have multiple projects open , you can have a new project set up , open in the shadows w blank audio tracks  set up at the same tempo as the one you were working in …...
first you  go into your frozen re arranged project and copy over all the frozen tracks one track at a time …by lassoing sp ? the track and copying it 
open the new project and hit paste in the time line and track where you want them to be to pasted 
…the rendered synths and audio w effects will be copied over 
this is because …….when you freeze a track that has effects on it they are part of the render 
 
when you think about and try it ………..it's pretty mind blowing what I'm telling you 
 
of course you will want to save the new project if you like the results ...
one nice thing about the new project is it is all fresh , its all audio and the CPU hit on your computer will be  very low .
now if you want to on the new project , you can reintroduce some of the synths …..since there should be plenty of CPU available .
 
there is a reason why I mention all this to you ……
this is a very cool way to get new and interesting results fast while using what you already have .
 
Now lets go back to the frozen project 
if you like what you have going on there and you want to save a copy …..do it as a save as with a new name 
it will be frozen and maybe nice to keep around …to augment or what ever 
be forewarned , there is a blessing and a curse depending on how you look at things 
 
the second you decide to unfreeze the synths and audio everything and I do mean everything go's 
 
…………….POOOF ………back to exactly what is was just like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight 
 
thats a good thing because it's important to have your original project as you created it ….
on the flip side I've always felt sad when it went POOOF because a lot of times I much preferred the frozen project with the edits
 
BTW ….that's how I got into doing this type thing  w all the frozen duplicate edited projects and audio ….
 
 
 
have a good one , 
 
Kenny
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fantastic...I never realized. You just changed my workflow.

Marc - what volume have you got you sound card output?   It should be on full.   If its not, then you could get a good sounding volume of sound through your headphones or speakers, but the actual output could be low, which would explain the thin wave forms you are getting.  If you solo the soft synth track you want to bounce to audio (or freeze), what levels is it peaking at?   If its low, then the wave form will be small.    

Yes the volume is on full in the FTU control panel. The softsynth outputs though, are not.  I tend to forget about them and leave them on the defaults. I am going to run all the tests recommended here over the next few days.  Thanks gentleman for all of your help.