Level not matching visual of track

mewtd15

New member
Hi everyone. First post on here, thanks in advance for help.

I use Cubase Elements 10.5 with a Tascam US-122mkII sound card. and an se electronics se2200 A mic.

I have used this combination without issues previously, but I am having difficulties for some reason.

I am trying to record acoustic guitar.

I have the mic set at 0db instead of the other option of -10db.

When I record the guitar, with the knob on the Tascam around where I've always had it in the past, the track is visually full from top to bottom. It is just a full block. It sounds fine, no distortion, however it looks distorted.

When I reduce the input level the visual representation of the track looks better, however listening back it sounds very weak and faint.

It wasn't like this when I previously recorded.

Any ideas on where I should be checking?

Thanks very much.forum1.JPG
 
HI - I don't see any slider for that, but also would it not be the same distorted view then for all tracks? The track above it which is an imported wav file of a drum sample is sounding and displaying fine. Any pointers to this magnification setting? Thanks.
 
It should affect all tracks equally. I've had the occasional bug in other DAWs where some of the tracks were displayed at the wrong magnification, but that usually cleared up with a restart.
 
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Not saying this is the issue here (that really does look like a magnified track). But just for the anti-visual reference, this is why I rarely ever (1) pay attention to meters unless I'm calibrating my chain and (2) rarely ever pay attention to wave forms.

3 highlighted files -- (LUFS) Left, -12 -- Center, -17 -- Right, -15. The one that looks *by far* the loudest is *by far* the quietest (not surprisingly, it was also by far the best sounding).

17021357_10158432030355089_6293250998655374883_n.png
 
Yes, a track that is generally low but with lots of short duration peaks will fill the track display in a way that looks louder, at least when you're zoomed out in time.
 
Folks, thank you for the input.

It's only affecting tracks that I record on, but not when I import a wav file (drum sample, for example) so I think the magnifier is not zoomed in or anything, or else it would be the same for all tracks.

It is so strange that you are saying sometimes when the track's level is not matching the way it looks, because really, what else is there to go by other than the level as it looks in the resulting wav file!!
 
Folks, thank you for the input.

It's only affecting tracks that I record on, but not when I import a wav file (drum sample, for example) so I think the magnifier is not zoomed in or anything, or else it would be the same for all tracks.

It is so strange that you are saying sometimes when the track's level is not matching the way it looks, because really, what else is there to go by other than the level as it looks in the resulting wav file!!

Might be stating the obvious but you have to be sure you're comparing apples to apples.
Very often bought or downloaded samples will be processed heavily and compressed.
Relative to any sourced samples or commercial material your recorded tracks should be weak or quiet.

I'd make sure your DAW doesn't have magnify-per-clip, (fresh new session, if necessary), then I'd make a recording using the same process you always did but watch the meters for the track as you go.
Don't worry about the visual representation, but make sure the meter isn't clipping / showing red.

If you have an old recording of guitar/bass/whatever that you made yourself, record arm and try to replicate that; See if there's a measurable difference between old and new.
 
Honestly, don't worry about the size of the waveform in the track editor. It is probably due to different gains on the individual tracks. Just use the faders to adjust volume to get all your tracks to mesh up nicely.

Make sure you're not clipping on the input of the track you're recording.

BTW, there is a slider for waveform size near the upper right corner of the track window.

SizeSlider.JPG
 
Turn the magnification down, zoom in and check the peaks are still there. My guess is just magnification too. On the mixer screen what do the levels look like?
 
It is the "distortion" that bothers me? The 122mkll is a pretty old interface and might have devloped a fault. Does the problem occur on both mic inputs and have you tried recording another line source such as a CD?

Not just "upgraded" to Win 10 havya?

Dave.
 
Dear All,

THank you for engaging with the issue, I really appreciate your ideas.

In the end I think it was the zoom was the problem, the screen shot supplied with the scroller highlighted was the key.

Thank you everyone.

---------- Update ----------

This was the key, thank you so much!
 
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