Not hearing what's being recorded

[gamma ray]

Setup:

Korg msr2000 synthesizer module.
Behringer MX602A mixer

Sony Vaio PC
SoundMAX Digital Audio Soundcard
HS2002

Problem:
When I play my synth along with already recorded tracks, I can't hear what I'm playing. If I turn up either the mixer or the synth's volume, the recorded is too loud (distortion). In other words, my synth is being recorded much louder than I'm hearing it at the time. Actually, this seems to be the case with anything going into this mixer. I don't remember having this problem when my wynth went right into the soundcard...

Any help would be infinitely appreciated!

[Qwerty]

Now that you have a mixer, you need to remember that the signal is being processed at the hardware level and also at the software level in Sonar.

This means that you should really be setting your mixer to capture and record the actual levels that you want. Then you should use the internal software mixer function of Sonar, VIEW-CONSOLE or just do it in track view, to balance what you are hearing when you are trying to record.

An example might make this clearer. When I record a vocal track, here is what I do -

1. Adjust the hardware mixer so that my vocal input level is nice and high without clipping
2. Go into Sonar and route all of my pre-recorded tracks to the first virutal main output "A".
3. I then set up a track to my vocals on. I set this up to output to virtual main "B"
4. I press RECORD and balance the volume of the pre-recorded tracks versus my incoming vocal signal by balancing the "A" vs "B" volumes.

This allows me to get a mix which sounds right through the headphones into my ears, while still providing the optimum recording level through the mixer.

I am not really sure about the specific of your setup, but the above setup presumes that you are NOT using input monitoring in Sonar and has the monitor speakers plugged into the mixer.

Hope this helps!

Ciao,

Q.