Bobby, I must comment here because I had a similar question during my learning stage a few months ago with my FW 1884. I'm not at my DAW, so I'm doing this by memory, so if some of my labeling is wrong I apologize. In addition to what DJX said, be sure your output columns on the recorded vocal tracks are set to eventually head out the analog 1 output jacks (really 1 & 2) on the FW 1884. Is your other music recording coming out of both speakers? When setting your input channel selection for your mic, on the Input column, press enter and go to Input Track Series, enter, and then you'll see what DJX was referring to. If I'm correct, if you plug a mic into channel 1 on the Tascam, you'll need to select Left Analog 1. The recording should be in the center. If you are using a mic on channel 2, then you'll need to select Right Analog 1. Channels 3 and 4 will be Left Analog 3 and Right Analog 3, and so on. Even though you are selecting left and right, your recordings will be in the center. Left and right are just letting you pick one of the paired inputs. If you select Stereo Analog 1 to record with a mic plugged into the 1884's channel 1, this might be recording your vocal to one side of the stereo track. I'm just guessing here, but I recall trying to figure out the same thing. I hope this helps. In regards to your vocal clips appearing in the Media Player, that is too far over my head! S.B. From: megamansuperior@xxxxxxxxxxx To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ddots-l] Re: 0 dB or higher? Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 10:15:44 -0500 Hey no problem, check that stuff out and see what you find; there're many members on list who use this board so they should be able to offer assistance if these tips don't fix your problem. Just come back and let us know if you still have problems, it is a lot to handle... D!J!X! From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bobby Lusk Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 10:13 AM To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ddots-l] Re: 0 dB or higher? Thanks again. My Sonar music comes from the Tascam FW 1884 mixing board (if that helps,) and Jaws and other programs are run through external speakers. I'm still learning all the terminology of this program. I'm still pretty computer illiterate, but I'm learning as I go. I will probably have to get a sighted family member or friend to help with all the input and output stuff, but hopefully, your tips will help me fix the problems. God bless you. ----- Original Message ----- From: D!J!X! To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 8:15 AM Subject: [ddots-l] Re: 0 dB or higher? Ok, first check that your sound card outputs are plugged in correctly. If you insert a midi soft synth or something, do the tracks play from both speakers or from the right as well? If they come out of both then your outputs are ok. Next, make sure that when you selecct an input for your vocals track that you are choosing a stereo source for your card. For example if your mic/preamp is plugged in to say inputs 1/2, you can choose either 1, 2, or 1/2 stereo. You would want to choose this. Some cards are different regarding this, so you might have to turn your vocals track in to a mono track to get the vocals as a mono stream and thus having them come out the center. Finally, as we did with the outputs, check that your inputs are set correctly. Wat card are you using? And don't worry no such thing as a dumb or too many questions, we are all here to help... HTH, D!J!X! From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bobby Lusk Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 7:02 AM To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ddots-l] Re: 0 dB or higher? Thank you for answering my question. I hope you don't mind if I ask a couple more questsions. I'm very new at this, and I'm just starting to get my head into the water so to speak. When I first got my computer and recording equipmnet, the people who helped me get everything set up had everything going through the same sound card, but over the phone a few days ago, Bryan Smart from Dancing Dots was able to help me get everything in its correct sound card. I'm finally able to record my music, but even though I have the pan on all my vocals set to Center, they all come out of the right speaker. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Also, I noticed that when I was going through my play list on my Windows Media Player, for some odd reason, all the vocals I had recorded were being saved as WAV files. I'm not talking about completed projects nor even midi tracks; I'm talking about little clips of my vocals being saved and put into my library container in my Windows Media Player. Is that supposed to happen (especially since the Sonar music comes out of a different sound card than the Windows Media Player? Sorry for taking up your time, but these are things I've been concerned about. Thanks for your time. Regards. Bobby Lusk. ----- Original Message ----- From: D!J!X! To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:33 AM Subject: [ddots-l] Re: 0 dB or higher? It is suggested that you keep all your midi volumes at 127 (max) and just control the audio volumes instead. If using an external synth then fix it's hardware volume. Of couse there's exceptions to every rule, so it's not a definite thing. HTH, D!J!X! From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bobby Lusk Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 7:15 AM To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ddots-l] Re: 0 dB or higher? Hello. I have a question. I set all my audio volumes to 0 DB, but what's a good recording level for midi tracks. With the vocals set to 0, when I play my project back, I can hardly hear the vocals without increasing the volume. Should I lower the volumes for my midi tracks? ----- Original Message ----- From: D!J!X! To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 10:41 PM Subject: [ddots-l] Re: 0 dB or higher? -0.1 is the max you can go up to. Try compressing some tracks and playing around with indevidual track volumes, or try using a limitter to see what it does. Take in to consideration that if you want your mix to breathe or have some natrual ambiance to it, it will never sound as loud as today's comercial rock and hip hop stuff, just because those cds have the crap compressed out of them. It all depends what you are working with. Not that compressing is bad, but it's an art that must be mastered to be done right. Some of your tracks might have some peaks here and there which is what's holding your volume down a bit, with a compressor or better recording techniques you might be able to sort this out. I'm sure others will chime in here with better suggestions and/or tips on how to fix your problem. HTH, D!J!X! From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stacy Blackwell Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:23 PM To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ddots-l] 0 dB or higher? Hello again. My new question is that I have maxed the outputs of a project until it sounded balanced. I pushed everything to the 0 dB output level. I thought the mix was good, but when compared to a regular CD, the overall volume was a lot lower. To match the volume, I had to max out some buses to 6 dB. I shouldn't have to do this, should I? I thought 0 dB was where the volume should be for a quality recording. Are my original recording levels too low? I don't think they were that far below 0 dB. My MP3 conversion was also quieter in volume. Any suggestions? S.B. Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. Check it out. _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Discover 10 secrets about the new Windows Live. http://windowslive.com/connect/post/jamiethomson.spaces.live.com-Blog-cns!550F681DAD532637!7540.entry?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t2_ugc_post_022009