Clipping, gain from MR* recoprdings transferred to N-tracks

[daav]

My setup is:
Various mics (oktava 319, 2 MXL 603s, SM57, SM58) -> DMP3 -> MR8
Or
Bass direct-> DMP3-MR*
or Bass Direct-> K&H 200R head (for EQ and effects) -> MR8

And generally put guitars and other items through a UB802 berrie mixer and then into the MR8.

I take the raw wavs from the MR8 and transfer them to my PC, and then open them in N-tracks for mixing and adding effects. Lately. I have been using the preamp to get fairly strong signals through the MR8, and they sound great through monitors and headphones while tracking and for basic playback. These still rarely get above, say -6 db on the MR8 meter and do not clip by the peak meter on the pre or the MR8 inpout. But when i open the wav files in n-tracks, they ofen clip like crazy and recently when i recorded bass direct through the DMP3, it sounded great through the MR8 with a strong clear signal, but was unplayable in n-tracks, just blotches of white noise.

What am i missing here to get something that will sound decent in n-tracks, but is not recorded so weakly in the MR8?

Thanks in advance,
Daav

 

[David Katauskas]

Two things come to mind:
1) what do they look like after nTrack adds them? Are they clipping on the visual? If not, then either your track level is too high, or the mixer level is too high. Post a pic of the waveform.
2) unless there is a specific reason, you don't need to use the UB802 between the DMP3 and your MR8. It will only degrade your signal.

 

[daav]

Thanks David.

I am not at the comp i do my mixing as stuff at, but the forms as i recall look pretty big and dense, and fill from top to bottom.

I am not going from the pre to the mixer, I barely use the mixer at all anymore, the only reason i mentioned it is because i have used it when with electric guitar, i go from some racked gear (Real Tube II) or effects (Boss GT-3) direct. Normally i would mic an amp and then use the dmp3 again, but for neighbor friendliness, i ofter try to do electric guitars direct that way to keep it quiet.

I undersatnd the idea that the signal may be too hot when tracking, but i dontl quite get why that recorded sound is fine when played back through the MR8, but overloaded in n-tracks.

Maybe tonight i will go back and play around with this some more and try to get a screenshot or two.

Thanks,
Daav