too quiet with sonar

  • Thread starter Thread starter Elmo89m
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Elmo89m

Elmo89m

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i recordin my guitar amp with a sm57 through a preamp and then into my comp and finally to sonar 2 xl.....but my levels are always way to quiet....i turn my inputs up as high as they can without clipping in sonar....but when i play it back i need my computer speakers to be turned up three times louder than when i play a cd...for the same volume....what can i do to raise the overall volume of my mixes...either during the mixing process or the recording process?
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You should not be comparing your recorded mixes in Sonar to a professional CD. Professional CD's have been mastered, and generally the volume is boosted (sometimes significantly) during the mastering phase.

So long as you are getting relatively good levels in Sonar (-3 to -6 db peaks) and no clipping, you should be OK. Leave the volume wars for the mastering phase (or leave them entirely :) )
 
sonar goes into the red after -6 db doesnt it?....anyways i guess i should have asked this originally...how do i bring the volume up when im mastering?
 
calibrate your system - set your cd input lower than your wav input so switching between sources are roughly equal. using compression, limiting, maximizers, eq, etc... all will (potentially) help in setting your peaks and rms levels but start by getting all your sources and outputs roughly (or perfectly) calibrated so you can focus on mixing and a-b compares...
 
okay thanks...and then when the peaks are tamed i can bring up the overall level right?
 
yes, once you have the peaks controlled your overall level can or will come up depending on the technique used (compression/limiting/expansion).
 
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