Low volume in cubase 5 audio recording?

joemardo1

New member
Hi there,

I have Cubase 5 and wonder what I am doing wrong as my vocal recordings are low in volume and I have to use the audio menu gain to bring them up in Cubase 5?

I have a fast track pro, and use a shure dynamic mic, one of the cheaper models, I am sure its not the mic.

I make sure that there is no clipping on the fast track and also check in the stereo in, in the mixer in Cubase as sometimes there is clipping there, so I lower the fader.

When I record a vocal track even the wave form in the tracks appears with a low amplitude. As I said above I then have to go into the audio menu in Cubase 5 and use the AUDIO/process/gain to bring it up to a useable standard, usually increasing by 4db each time in the dialog and then testing the overall volume. I usually have to do this 4db gain change three times before I reach the desired volume that I require.

Just wondering what am I doing wrong here? Should I just ignore the clipping in the stereo in on the Cubase mixer and bring the fader all the way up, so that I get a decent volume first time around without having to use the gain in the audio menu?

Many thanks for any help.

Joe
 
Hi there,

I have Cubase 5 and wonder what I am doing wrong as my vocal recordings are low in volume and I have to use the audio menu gain to bring them up in Cubase 5?

I have a fast track pro, and use a shure dynamic mic, one of the cheaper models, I am sure its not the mic.

I make sure that there is no clipping on the fast track and also check in the stereo in, in the mixer in Cubase as sometimes there is clipping there, so I lower the fader.

When I record a vocal track even the wave form in the tracks appears with a low amplitude. As I said above I then have to go into the audio menu in Cubase 5 and use the AUDIO/process/gain to bring it up to a useable standard, usually increasing by 4db each time in the dialog and then testing the overall volume. I usually have to do this 4db gain change three times before I reach the desired volume that I require.

Just wondering what am I doing wrong here? Should I just ignore the clipping in the stereo in on the Cubase mixer and bring the fader all the way up, so that I get a decent volume first time around without having to use the gain in the audio menu?

Many thanks for any help.

Joe

First off, stop recording vocals on a stereo track. A mono source should be recorded to a mono track.

Second, the visible waveform is only a visual aid for editing of recorded tracks. There is a slider on the upper right side of the project window where you can adjust the size of the waveform. As you can tell once you change that, it has nothing to do with the audio levels.

Lastly, you are best looking for an input level of around -18dBFS on your meters in Cubase.

I haven't the time just now to explain much more here. I suggest you take some time to read and watch tutorials. It will help immensely. It did for me when I was learning Cubase. :)

Welcome to the forum Joe!
 
the desired volume that I require.

How did you determine what volume is "required"?

The way digital recording systems are set up is to use -18dBFS or so as the "0" or nominal level. You need to maintain headroom at all times, and this standard reference level makes that easy. Keep your recording levels and your mix levels averaging near that number and you should just about never approach the dreaded 0dBFS. Save getting up to "commercial" level for the mastering stage.
 
Thanks guys for replies.

I probably didn't explain myself very well but I do actually use a mono track when recording a mic, its just that the default name in Cubase mixer is stereo in for input on far left side.

I use a program called band in a box for a lot of my backing tracks and when I import the Wav files into Cubase, they have far more volume than the vocal I then record into Cubase, hence the reason for applying the audio gain process to take the vocal up.

Another little thing is I tick the option to normalise the backing tracks in band in a box before they are all exported, maybe I should leave that unticked?

Maybe a better idea when mixing not to process the vocal with the gain in audio Menu in Cubase and just take the backing tracks volume way way down, and they would have to be taken way down in order to mix well with unprocessed vocal.

Hard to know, I probably just need to experiment but I do get the impression from your replies that I shouldn't have to add gain from the audio menu to vocals.

Thanks for the help and welcome to forum.

Joe
 
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Thanks guys for replies.

I probably didn't explain myself very well but I do actually use a mono track when recording a mic, its just that the default name in Cubase mixer is stereo in for input on far left side.

I use a program called band in a box for a lot of my backing tracks and when I import the Wav files into Cubase, they have far more volume than the vocal I then record into Cubase, hence the reason for applying the audio gain process to take the vocal up.

Another little thing is I tick the option to normalise the backing tracks in band in a box before they are all exported, maybe I should leave that unticked?

Maybe a better idea when mixing not to process the vocal with the gain in audio Menu in Cubase and just take the backing tracks volume way way down, and they would have to be taken way down in order to mix well with unprocessed vocal.

Hard to know, I probably just need to experiment but I do get the impression from your replies that I shouldn't have to add gain from the audio menu to vocals.

Thanks for the help and welcome to forum.

Joe

Yes, the default input in Cubase is typically a stereo input. Create a mono input bus. Unless you are recording an actual stereo source, forget about that.

Best to turn down the gain on a backing track (whether you made it or not). You goal is not to get the mix loud and push levels to get there. Not until the mastering stage should you worry about that.

Get the mix sounding good at the levels suggested. Or at least well below the dreaded 0dBFS (as boulder stated)in digital realm.

This does involve turning up your monitors more than you would listen to mastered products. That is how it is done well.
 
I use a program called band in a box for a lot of my backing tracks and when I import the Wav files into Cubase, they have far more volume than the vocal I then record into Cubase, hence the reason for applying the audio gain process to take the vocal up.

Another little thing is I tick the option to normalise the backing tracks in band in a box before they are all exported, maybe I should leave that unticked?

Jimmy's already said it, but I'll just rephrase:

Keep average levels around -18dBFS. If your drum tracks are higher then turn them down. Try exporting the drums without normalizing. If that doesn't get them to the right range then adjust them in the DAW. If possible it's best to turn them down via your software's version of "Clip Gain" (as it's called in Pro Tools), which is ahead of all the channel processing like inserts and fader.
 
Jimmy's already said it, but I'll just rephrase:

Keep average levels around -18dBFS. If your drum tracks are higher then turn them down. Try exporting the drums without normalizing. If that doesn't get them to the right range then adjust them in the DAW. If possible it's best to turn them down via your software's version of "Clip Gain" (as it's called in Pro Tools), which is ahead of all the channel processing like inserts and fader.

Proper. :)
 
Thanks guys for all the great advice. I really appreciate it.

Just one little thing, since I was recording a mic to a mono track, but using the default stereo bus in Cubase (and have been advised on here to create a mono input bus, which I have done) what bearing if any did it have on my recording?

I now know that having a mono input bus for a mono source is the right way to go, but just a little curious how it affected the recording by sending the mono signal through a stereo input bus to a mono track.

Many thanks again for all your help.

:)

Joe
 
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I probably didn't explain myself very well but I do actually use a mono track when recording a mic, its just that the default name in Cubase mixer is stereo in for input on far left side.
You can rename that. You should set up mono inputs.

I use a program called band in a box for a lot of my backing tracks and when I import the Wav files into Cubase, they have far more volume than the vocal I then record into Cubase, hence the reason for applying the audio gain process to take the vocal up.
Instead of turning your vocal up to meet the insane volume of the backing tracks, turn down the backing tracks.

Another little thing is I tick the option to normalise the backing tracks in band in a box before they are all exported, maybe I should leave that unticked?
That might be why they are so loud. Don't bother with normalizing, it doesn't do anything useful in this instance.

Maybe a better idea when mixing not to process the vocal with the gain in audio Menu in Cubase and just take the backing tracks volume way way down, and they would have to be taken way down in order to mix well with unprocessed vocal.[\quote] Yup.

Btw, in Cubase, there are volume handles on all the audio clips. You can use those to turn up the volume of each clip instead of doing the offline process of adding gain. This comes in handy when you have a couple words that are not loud enough. You can just cut the audio clip around those words and turn them up with the volume handle. If you click on the audio clip, you will see a little square at the top middle of the clip. Grab that and pull it up or down to change the volume of that clip. If you select multiple clips, you can adjust them all at once.
 
Thank you very much Jay (Farview) for all those helpful hints. No doubt they will all come in handy for me.

Many thanks
Joe
 
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