Is there a switch for pre or post fader metering or does it auto switch after you record and go to post fader metering.
Also what is with the two different  meter readings on the fader channel itself. One on right (dBFS) and the on the left looks like a VU meter. Is one for recording (pre) and the other for mixing (post)?
It's all kinda confusing.
Any help appreciated.

Instructions on how to configure meters in Track View, Track Inspector and Console View
 
What the meters measure
 
Yes, you can set the meters to pre/post fader on playback. There is only one scale in the meter and the meters either show a mono or stereo level. If you are referring to the markings to the left of the fader in the Inspector and Console view, that is not part of the meter, they are the graduations for the volume fader.

FYI...arm a track, record a track, play back recording...and the meters may appear to behave oddly. If so, check to see if the track is still armed. If its still armed, the meter is reading the signal off the still hot mike, not the track you are playing back. Also, if the track meter stops displaying signal levels at any time, disarm the track for recording, then rearm it, in many cases this restores proper display of incoming signals for me.

Thanks guys. I've always mixed pre fader in Pro Tools and when I started mixing in Sonar X2, the faders seem to default to post.
I guess I'm old school. I prefer mixing pre fader.
Just curious, how many people mix pre fader metering in Sonar?

How do you know what your levels are if you have it set to pre fader?

I flip between pre and post. Sometimes I set up busses for a pre value and out put that bus to another bus with FX for the post value .

John
How do you know what your levels are if you have it set to pre fader?

What levels? The ones you think are not clipping? How do you know what any levels are (exclude summing busses) without going through each channel and plugin one by one?
In post fader I can run the audio through an eq and gun everything the hit it with a compressor and overdrive the in and the out distorting the b'jesus out of it, then pull my channel fader way, way, way, way back to about -48db and it shows me a nice un-clipped meter... HMM where is that distortion coming from? The meter in that case is only telling me I am send an ultra clipped signal to a summing buss at a low level.
 
Not that the pre fader setting will show you any more info or give you any clues either.
 
As with all metering and mixing;
You must be careful when applying plugins and watch for clipping at that stage and adjust inputs of the plugins accordingly.
 
Signal chain by default is Audio > Pro Channel > Plugins > fader.
 
So pre or post metering is really a matter of choice. Do you want to see the recorded signal level or not?
TO ANSWER GUYPICKS QUESTION:
I prefer pre fader metering. I too come from the old school.
It is more like a real console and tape machine. I grew up with 2" tape and stripped SMPTE tracks for automation. Every console I have ever worked on from Neve's to SSL's would show me how hot the signal coming off the tape was.
 
It seems odd if I have a fader pulled down and lose the visual reference of whether there is audio recorded on it or not.
 
Just my 2 cents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph1M3QZGku8

swamptooth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph1M3QZGku8

Very interesting. Never tried that before.
I don't think that included any plugs, it's just the wave file or files being played back at max which would distort the master channel.

[Nevermind]