So, I think this is true, but I'm not sure, so asking...
 
I've been mixing 8 tracks of continuously played music, so each song I make changes and tune things up. The last song is a little quieter than the others, and so it doesn't push the headroom on the master bus.
 
My thought is that there is more precision in the bounce until it writes the file, and that if I push the gain on the master bus up +6 DB that the file that gets written when I bounce to track will have an ever so slightly higher resolution.
 
Am I right to think this, or would bouncing the track and then normalizing give me identical resolution to bouncing the track with gain at +6 then normalizing?
 
Thanks in advance.

Pushing the input gain up by +6dB on your master bus runs the risk of digital clipping unless of course you're already way under the clipping point.

A clearer idea of what you're tying to do might be in order.

I'm also not a fan of normalising, though there are people who do it routinely (for some reason)

I've been mixing 8 tracks of continuously played music, so each song I make changes and tune things up. The last song is a little quieter than the others, and so it doesn't push the headroom on the master bus. 

When your mixing the song, do not worry about the volume. Just do not go over 0db on your master bus when there is no compressor or limiter on the bus. Just worry about getting the best sounding mix in the mixing stage.
After your done mixing and it sounds the best you can get it, then you start the mastering stage. This is where you get your volume levels up to par.

No need to normalize!

CJ

CJ knows whereof he speaks.  Good advice.

I am bouncing my mix pre mastering. after the bounce I would normally apply multi band compression, eq maybe, and boost 11. I usually normalize before compression and boost 11. in the case of the bounce to a track to master, I could use a little of that headroom now by turning up gain on the master bus. then normalize and do the multi band step. I wouldbe careful not to clip of course. my question was whether I get slightly higher digital fidelity by turning up the gain on the master, then normalizing a fatter wave form a compared with bouncing with gain at 0 then normalizing.

I'd leave normalising out of the picture altogether.

And unless your system is really struggling for horsepower, I wouldn't bounce it down either

Do your "mastering" on Sonar's Mater Buss

I don't want to sound foolish. I'll try. suggestions are welcome. right now I'm thinking about how I often have to trim the first seconds of the final clip and fade in and out the ends. I can see how listening to the final as you mix would be much better than what I'm doing. also, using PC limiter would remove the input gain question. thanks for your patient suggestion.

You're not sounding foolish - don't worry about it, remember there's no such thing as a stupid question (there are many examples of stupid answers on here and every other forum)

Personally I would avoid using Boost 11, too.  The Concrete Limiter will give you a much more transparent sound.
 
I'm sure there are better mastering limiters than the CL, but it is far superior to Boost 11, which will mash your track.

You're not sounding foolish

Foolish is not asking the questions and just assuming  :)