Recording Music.

Hello people,

Before describing my problem I'll make a list of hardware I use just to make everything a little more understandable.

MPC 1000 (Black) + JJOS1
Mackie Pro FX 12
iMac.
Apogee Duet Firewire Audio Interface.

I got everything hooked up, MPC > Mixer (Main Out + Assignable Out to Channel 1 through 6 on Mixer), Main out of the Mixer to the Input on the Apogee, Outputs of the Apogee to my Monitors, this setup is working without any problems!

Making music on the MPC goes fine, Mixer works fine in combination, but here is where my problem comes in, when recording music from the Mixer to the DAW (I've tried multiple DAW's, Audacity, Adobe Audition, Cool Edit Pro, Tracktion). The volume of the recording I did from my mixer to DAW is way lower then the volume of the mixer when monitoring the sound, I tried recording my inputs and even used the USB functionality of the Mackie.

MPC main volume is all the way up, Mackie main out is set to +0dB

I've read multiple threads of people who have (sort of) the same problem but 9/10th of the time without any answers, I hope anyone on this forum could help me with this problem because it is really bothering me.

Thanks in Advance!

Why are the audio interface outputs hooked up to the speakers..
Your're comparing how hot the output signal from your mixer is vs your apogee.
...Whats the problem hooking the apogee outs though the mixer...

That does seem more logical than what I did, I'll try it when I'm at home again,
Thanks!

EDIT

Okay, I'm home again and I hooked everything up as you mentioned, but I have my speakers hooked up in the main out using a XLR - 1/4 Jack, I need to change this to XLR - XLR (there are outputs on the back of the mixer to hook this up) so I can hook the Main Out (Mixer) > Inputs Apogee.

I'm going to get myself some XLR -XLR cables when I'm back from school, I'll tell you if it worked out!

Thanks!

I'm back again, and the problem still isn't solved.

I bought some new cables (XLR > XLR) and hooked everything up
- "Main Out" on the back of the Mixer to my Monitors.
- "Main Out" on the Top to the inputs of my Duet.

The problem is still the same when I play the track straight out the MPC it sounds normal (on volume with music on the computer), but when I record to my throught (again, tried multiple) the sound is much much lower.

How can I solve this?
Is it a hardware issue, is it a software issue?

Well is the output vol on the audio interface all the way up.
Is the volume in the pc software / volume mixer in your os cranked up

.... If yes.. then I guess your interface doesn't have as hot an output as your mpc... which isn't surprising....


....The othe question is if you'e recording your audio loud enough or normaling/compressing it afterwards... . are commercial songs you play on your pc loud enough for you.
(taking into account commercial music is comp's and limited to f*ck... and you may not want to aim for that level of ear fatiguing madness)

I have the outputs of my: PC, MPC, Mixer turned up all the way just before they start to distort.

But before this setup I had:
- Main Out of the MPC > Inputs of the Duet
- Outputs of the Duet > Monitors.

When I played something from the MPC (through the Duet) the volume sounded louder when recording something from the MPC (through the Duet). So I think it has something to do with the DAW because when recording it in their the volume gets lower (after recording).

Thanks in advance.

PS.

I'm not really trying to get it on commercial level, I'm comparing it to the music of a guy who is a bedroom producer and records everything straight from the MPC and then uploads it (without further mixing). But I get your point

Did you see the last part of my post... I edited it after the fact....
Would also help if you posted an audio clip.

....The othe question is if you'e recording your audio loud enough or normaling/compressing it afterwards... . are commercial songs you play on your pc loud enough for you.
(taking into account commercial music is comp's and limited to f*ck... and you may not want to aim for that level of ear fatiguing madness)

I edited my post, I will upload some examples tomorrow!

(edit)

I'll also try hooking the outs of the mixer to the XLR inputs on the Apogee (I have them plugged them into the regular input atm). I will post the results tomorrow!

Peace

I solved the problem!

I used the Main out on the back of the mixer to the monitors (XLR > XLR), Main out on top of the mixer to the inputs of the Duet (1/4 Jack > 1/4 Jack). Everything is working well so thanks for commenting.

I still got one question, on the mixer I have the individual channels (1 through 12) all set the 0dB, and my Main volume to like -40, is it better to do this the other way around?

The only downside on doing it that way the volume of the individual channels is changed less precise.

Thanks!

MadMonkey wrote:I solved the problem!

I used the Main out on the back of the mixer to the monitors (XLR > XLR), Main out on top of the mixer to the inputs of the Duet (1/4 Jack > 1/4 Jack). Everything is working well so thanks for commenting.

Yea balanced vs unbalanced cables can affect volume levels... someone else may be able to explain the tech details..
I learned this the hard way too, by using two mono cables on the outs of a stereo sampler.. one was balanced the other unbalanced... result .... one channel quite a bit louder than the other.

MadMonkey wrote:I still got one question, on the mixer I have the individual channels (1 through 12) all set the 0dB, and my Main volume to like -40, is it better to do this the other way around?

The only downside on doing it that way the volume of the individual channels is changed less precise.

Thanks!

Try both, use whatever sounds better to you.... guess it depends on the quality of the op amps in each channel vs the ones in the main section... as well as other factors... but I don't know so much about that... maybe someone will chime in.


Ooh, and glad it worked out for you