Check out some of the Videos

Heres one on clips

http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/SONARU.aspx/Get-Started
 
Scroll down the page-Its the 6th row down 3rd one in titled X2 Clips

Ah.....never thought of that.  Although the punch is dropping in volume as opposed to adding that extra 3db you raise an interesting point.  Would the normal procedure be to delete the bum notes i.e. the mistake you want to replace before doing the punch in.  In that way your punch in is going into an empty clip as opposes to recording over the mistake.   I take your point about the bad section still being there in the background. 
Good tip Mike. Nice one :)

I usually leave it in until I get my takes done then edit each to fit

One thing you could try is to do your Punch In on its own track instead of going over the original track and see what that does for ya.  

Atleast you will be able to adjust the volume with out to many issues.  Not sure if there is some law for volume on punch ins or not that might be effecting the dropping.

True, i could indeed try it on its own track.  I'll just need to really watch the positioning of the clip in its new track. I should probably turn off any snap settings to do that. 

A few things about punching:

When you make a mistake, simply use the split tool to split before and after the mistake. Then before you delete the new clip.... use the auto punch ...turn it on then use the "set punch points to selection"..... NOW, you can delete the old mistake....

now, simply set the now point to a few measures before the punch..... hit record and start playing along.... play through the punch in/out ....

the new punch should be totally flawless. no clicks and no pops, and it the levels are the same it should sound like it was recorded at one time. 

With a vocal punch, it's easier.... just split between the phrases and record the entire phrase again..... it's probably only a few words anyway.... so much easier than punching on a guitar solo for example. 


level differences generally come from the actual levels being different and also if you use any gain or normalization on the track and then do your punch. HOWEVER.... using the select clip and then PROCESS> apply effect> gain.... then select the preset down arrow..... you have access to very small to larger boost and cuts to the level......I have used this to bring a clip up or down as needed to match the surrounding material.

Thats really good stuff Gtr man.  shame they dont mention anything about using split in the help section of punch ins.  Your tip on editing the boost for that clip is an excellent tip also.  How did you ever figure out using the split but the punch?  Years of experience no doubt .
Thanks all...got some really great help here.  Appreciate it.  

Howdy all
just got the following from cakewalk support.  Thought id share this with y'all.
It sounds like either you were playing the part slightly differently from the original take, or the gain got changed either from the guitar's end or from the control on the M-Audio itself. you can compensate for this however if you drop the Edit Filter on the track strip and change it from "Clips" to Gain. This will create a separate gain envelope for each clip. This will allow you to increase the gain for the punched part to even it out with the rest of your track.


Thanks again for your help guys.