Sequencers (general)

[Stephen Jones]

I was wondering if you guys could help me with something (new forum guy).
I've been using a friend's version of Cakewalk 8.04 to see if I like it/if it work well with my set-up (which is mainly going to be used to record audio as opposed to MIDI) and I've noticed some strange things going on.
First, I've noticed that WAV files heard within Cakewalk (ie-imported) as oppoed to outside Cakewalk seem to have a bit of a sound deprivation - a little bit less high end and not as smooth. At first I thought this was a volume issue but it appears this is not the case.
And then I've noticed that tracks mixed down from Cakewalk and exported to WAV again sound a generation removed from tracks within Cakewalk (ie - listening to tracks before Mixdown in the Cakewalk window). This may be due to the fact that I am working with a 16-bit soundcard, and I'm guessing that mixing down several 16-bit sounds is in essence squashing them to lesser bits so that the whole can be 16, but again I'm just guessing.
I guess my question is, am I nuts? Do all sequencers have these limitations to them? I was under the impression that once sound is captured digitally then these generation issues shouldn't be an issue. Can anyone reccomend a sequencer where these problems are either eliminated or minimized? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
stephen

 

[AlChuck]

I think you're nuts

Seriously, it's likely an issue of levels. If the WAV is recorded at too low a volume, if you increase its volume you raise the noise floor along with everything else. To really use the resolution of 16 bits you need to have your signal's peaks come as close as practical to 0 db. Otherwise you essentially get a lower-resolution recording and when you try to crank it up it sounds not as good.

The mixing-down thing you said about squashing down bits is totally bogus, it doesn't work like that. It is possible that EQ problems will make it sound cruddier.