I just bought the Baggs M80 acoustic guitar pickup and plugged it directly into my MOTU Traveler interface. 

I've got huge level on the MOTU meter and huge volume in my headphones but really low level on the track. The recorded take looks like a flat line and I have to amplify the display to see it.
How can I change input sensitivity such that I can play normally and get a higher level recorded?  

Thanks - rev


Sonar 8.5.2, pickup is in Active mode.

Is there a pre amp in the signal path? 
Piezo pick ups need to be driven by a pre amp otherwise they are very low output and thin sounding. 

If this is not the case then have you tried using another source into the same input. 
What happens with a mike? 
If the Motu has a software mixer then check that too. 


Normally if you set the gain properly at the interface then that is reflected by the tracks level meter. 
Which is another question. Is the track meter showing a good level?  
If so then what is happening is your track view settings are zoomed in to far. 

I think Cactus may be on to the root of the problem, rev. It could be an impedance mismatch. 

I don't know if this is relevant or not, but my MOTU interface (828MkII) doesn't have a lot of gain. Even with condenser microphones I have to turn it 80-90% of the way up when using the built-in preamps. I had a similar experience plugging in a cheap electric guitar into the mic inputs.

Before going out and buying an expensive preamp, you might try a cheap stompbox preamplifier and see how that works. Maybe something like this, which even if it doesn't help with your levels would still leave you with a nice tuner and effects.

This pickup is a magnetic device not a piezo device. It can be run in either active or passive mode. In active mode it has a built in preamp and needs a battery and requires no preamp at all.  It outputs a higher level in this mode.

Have you put the battery in and used it in active mode. I would try that before doing anything else. 

Passive mode is for when your battery goes flat (and it will!) on a gig. In this mode I would imagine a preamp might be helpful as it will put out a lower level of signal and might need some impedance matching.  

Good one Jeff, I normally google what ever gear someone mentioned but was to lazy on this one. When I think of LR Baggs, I think of under saddle PU.  That might change the scenario but from what Dave just said it still could be a impedance miss match. 
I want to see those track meter's! 

No dudes! Forget all that about preamps and batteries, all that is rocking and I'm not short of level -  except when recording. 

That's the strange part, the MOTU meter is through the roof without any help from the input gain and I'm dying in the headphones - but the record level is low.

The M80 has a battery for Active mode but functions perfectly well without it in Passive mode. BTW: It's a beautiful pickup! Not cheap but you WILL sound great! I'm very happy with it.

I had a Fishman before, which needed a little square battery inside the guitar, what a drag and it sounded like a fake acoustic patch in an amp sim. The Baggs really sounds like an acoustic guitar even when you're not using a mic.

Nailed it! The MOTU software was the issue, all I had to do was tinker around in the app and everything came good. I have to fess though - I didn't know I had a microphone active. 

I found out when I suddenly heard the metronome in the recorded take. That could not be escaping from my headphones and getting picked up by the pickup! That made me realize a mic was on.

That might have accounted for the additional level but the real control was in the app, it's called Cue Mix and I had the wrong level and pan setting in there.

Thanks for your help dudes!

Glad you figured it out. Kinda thought this was the case when you said your Motu meter was rockin'. 

The mike was probably was running your monitors back into the motu. 
I've done that before too as I use a mixer for input and have to remember to mute all the unwanted channels when swapping around.