Hello, all. I am still using X1Producer's Edition, as I don't record that often. I was laying down down tracks with my band today, and the only questionable tracks were the vocal tracks. I did my best to keep them from clipping, and once I did, I found that the levels for the vocal tracks were very low on playback.

I have a fairly new PC running Windows 7 Professional. My sound source is a Presonus Firestudio Project. I am running the mics through the Presonus using the phantom power.

So, I have to deal with the gain on the preamps, the gain on each channel in Sonar and the volume slider in Sonar. I am also using the Warm Vocal preset for Compression offered in Sonar.

Can I get some tips on proper gain structure so that the vocals are as robust as possible?

Thank you.

Dan

What do you mean "keep them from clipping"?    What mic are you using?

W/ Presonus preamps (like many lower gain preamps) one can have a hard time finding a sweet spot w/ certain mikes.  But basically it is learning to use your tools.

However, it shouldn't be that hard to get a vocal sound -12 dB or even lower.  The great thing about digital is the noise floor is so low you can raise the recorded level.  If you are down in the lower -20 db peaking range you should be able to raise the average level w/o peaking.  THis goes for vocals and all tracks.

The gain in SONAR should be all 0's on faders and such, exept for your already recorded material which should be leveled or rough mixed.  The correct gain is acheived by the preamp in the Presonus (see above pp).

Using a soft comp etc. won't really do anything to your recorded sound going in - it only effects the recorded sound.  It is mostly used to flatten and fatten the track and is a whole 'nother topic.  Play around w/ it during mixing, but don't feel obliged to use it.  W/ soft comps/eq, it is easy to overdue.  They are there, why not use them?  Because you might not need them.  Experiment, but don't commit until you get a better grasp of what you want to do.

@

If you've got your vocal tracks peaking at anywhere from about -12dB upwards and you find them "too low" it means everything else is "too loud".

Bring everything else down to compensate.

It should be stated that talking about dB levels should be put in the context of what bit depth is used.  I think its important to note these levels are normal for 24 bit recordings. If the OP is recording at 16 bits that would change the suggested dB level.

the sliders on each of the channels in sonar do not affect the recording gain.  they only affect playback.

you should set the sliders to 0dB as AT says and just adjust the gains on the hardware inputs to make your recordings where they are set to an appropriate level.  as John suggests, 24bit vs 16 bit would be different suggested levels, but both should be under 0dB.

Thanks for all of the information, guys. If I understand correctly, the individual channel volume sliders to not affect the recording levels; what about the Gain knob? I though the Gain feature was similar to the Trim knob on an analog mixing board.
 
Further, are you saying that I should only use the compression in the Pro Channel after the track has been recorded?
 
I am recording with a Blue Bottle and a Cad E300.
 
 

Nope. Your gain going into Sonar can only be altered by your pre-amp or interface before it hits the AD converters

After that, if your signal is clipped, then it's clipped and nothing can be done other than re-record at a lower level.

You can monitor what you're recording by enabling Input Echo on the track, but no Fx wil be "printed" until you freeze or bounce the track (and even then there's good reasons not to do this)

Are you recording at 24 bit? I hope so. If you're only recording at 16 bit then you have less headroom to play with and will need careful gain structuring to achieve a decent S/N ratio.

dank

 
 
Further, are you saying that I should only use the compression in the Pro Channel after the track has been recorded?
 
I am recording with a Blue Bottle and a Cad E300.
 
 

Yes, because it's the only way. You can not compress the input signal without an external compressor (or one integrated in your soundcard).

I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but are you saying that nothing in Sonar alters the volume of the track? The only gain stage is the Presonus' preamp?
 
I will check to see if I am recording at 24 bit.

Nothing alters the recording level going into Sonar apart from whatever is in your chain before it hits the AD.

I'll say that again:

NOTHING alters the recording level going into Sonar apart from whatever is in your chain before it hits the AD.