Kalle Rantaaho

The  OP says the problem occurs only in vocals, some notes too nasal  and such. It doesn't sound like a lack of bass traps to me.

I'd try different microphones. I did not see mentioned what kind of mic the OP uses. Also I'd like to know how does  the frequency curve of a commercial vocal part, one that OP likes,  look like compared to OP's own track.

I have a set of Sony Hi-fi headphones that can sound  fantastic, just like Tom Petty or the likes with acoustic guitar tracks. Problem is, listened through any loudspeakers I have, the same tracks are plain distortion, unusable. Having proplems with just certain cyllables or letters, leading to assume EQ is to blame,  might root back to microphone.

21 hours ago, 57Gregy said:

Welcome to the forum.
If you Bounce to Tracks all the quantized tracks to 1 stereo track, is that track correct?
 

That's what I was about to suggest, too..

Try to either Bounce To Tracks, all of them,  or Bounce To Clips by track or Freeze.

There was a time when Windows did not recognize/accept most special characters.  I assume then, that those limitations are history.

On 6/24/2023 at 6:10 PM, tdehan said:

Like I said... I don't know what FREEZE means.

Help-files? Reading the manual pdf? Just trying what happens, when you click Freeze?

There surely is a fundamental misunderstanding behind the original question.

I don't understand the issue at all.

I don't think Bandlab and Cakewalk support each others project formats. The age and history of the apps are so far from each other, that it would surprise me. But what do I know... someone wiser chimes in, I'm sure.

What  audio interface and drivers are you using?

To confirm: You are not confusing audio and MIDI, are you? (no offence taken, please. One never knows)

Many audio instrument sounds are very difficult to convert to MIDI with convincing results, or they require a lot of manual adjustments.
Melodyne (not the entry level version) could be the best VST application for  tasks of that sort (?) 

I'm not aware of any equipment that could convert real audio instrument sounds to another live. But then again, I fell off the wagons of development many years ago. There are gadgets that convert, say, guitar to MIDI  as you play, and that MIDI can be used to control a synthesizer to produce whatever sounds.

Someone with better updated info surely chimes in.

1 hour ago, Lord Tim said:

This is because those tracks are mastered. Whenever I drag in any commercially released tracks and overdub anything, I'll have to drop them by at least a good 6 to 12dB before I'm able to hear my overdubs properly, without clipping the outputs.

You may well need more beefy speakers, of course, but the balance thing in this case is certainly juggling tracking level volume with final mastered volume.

For the most I agree, your answer is the most likely one. But nearly 30 years on the forum have tought me some signs that make me suspect the answer may hide behind a complete misunderstanding . If the OP thinks the output might be louder if he buys bigger speakers, and says the volume isn't sufficient for tracking, but doesn't tell about the interface and routing, the true answer can hide somewhere we don't come to think about :o/

And then there are, or were, the VSTs that don't keep the preset listing. When you re-open the project the VST has the right preset loaded and playing, but you can't see what preset it is.

There is something here that we're missing. I think we're looking somehow in the wrong direction. The size of the monitor speakers has nothing to do with the issue, that's for sure  (I assume they're Rokit 5's, not Rocket 5 ??).  The fact that such an option is mentioned at all makes me think there's a fundamental routing error or something. If the monitor speakers play mp3-files loud enough then they are able to play any audio equally loud.

Are you recording mainly MIDI? How? With a controller keyboard or hardware  synth? What synths? Or are you recording audio? With microphones or line in? You don't mention at all your audio interface input level. That's where the "true" loudness of the recorded audio signal is  determined.

How do the audio waveforms of the audio looks on the tracks. If you compare the waveform of a loud, imported mp3 to something you've recorded and find too quiet, how do they look? Do they almost  fill the track or are they thin? 

What format of projects are you talking about? .cwp, .cwb or maybe even .wrk or .bun? Bundle-files are known to get corrupt sometimes, and when they do, there's little you can do about it.

IIRC, in a case of missing audio files Sonar gives a message about it pointing you to right direction. If it just rolls endlessly without any signs of life it makes me think of corrupt bundle files. 

I've never heard of such a problem.  As Bitflipper writes, any generic onboard card should manage 44,1 / 48 KHz without problems. That was the case already 30 years ago.

I think we need more info about the whole setup.

I think your only option is to record the vocals one part/verse at a time, then move to the next one passing the instrumental parts.

50 minutes ago, Michael Vogel said:

I’ve read the posts; I’m with John T.

If the dots’ purpose is to indicate that data exists at a zoom level where that data is not currently visible, then surely the dots themselves should not disappear at any reachable zoom level.

I agree. John T has been misunderstood by some here. Then again, at first I had also difficulties understanding the actual nature of the problem.

One should read the posts carefully before getting presumptuous.

Tell us more about the gear. What is feeding the Yamahas? Are you using a laptop or desktop PC? If laptop, how is it powered?

What did you have before the Yamahas and were they ok?

In the very rare cases when I use punch in-type solution  with midi I don't even use punch in. I just record the bit in question on another track, and then  drag it to it's correct place editing some if necessary.  With my poor playing skills that's faster than actual punch in, because you don't need to be so precise. You can sort shovel the stuff in and then fix the details.

What Variorum wrote ^

Basic panning is something you only use on mono tracks.

On a stereo track the pan-knob is actually for adjusting balance. If you pan a stereo piano track 100% on, say,  left side, the right side does not move to the left, but simply goes inaudible. 

1 hour ago, Steve_B said:

External cd drive is a good option if you already have  cd's  containing the tracks you want to reference.  

Otherwise -

1. Buy the mp3 download 

or

2. Record the output from Spotify/Youtube  with Audacity to create wav/mp3,  Audacity is  free and reveals a loopback driver option (on my system) that lets you record whatever audio is currently playing.   Quality would plenty good enough for a reference track (for me anyhow).

Steve

Can one really trust that the files from Spotify or Youtube have not gotten manipulated too much? The reference track should be (almost?) exactly the original. Especially different sorts of compression or loudness are often a problem in the files of many such service providers, and those are the worst distractors if you want to compare files.

I'd recommend getting an external CD/DVD-unit. They're so cheap.

On 2/15/2022 at 11:10 AM, David Baay said:

In any case, no one is saying that exporting Entire Mix is wrong, just that exporting the Master bus directly is a best practice to avoid unexpected results.

That's what I've been told, too.

Ever since I've worked in SONAR/ Cakewalk as a hobbyist I've been advised by the more experienced to route everything to export through the master bus.

This is maybe (?) the first time since early 90's that I see someone preferring Entire Mix and not causing a burst of disagreement.

Have you tried any random tricks to solve that? Like saving as .cwp and checking if there is an audible audio file in the  audio folder?

I know what you're talking about :o/  A mix that once was "hey, that's almost like a real one" is now "pitiful, I didn't do it. Who's messed it up?"

As no one (?) else is complaining about a similar problem as a general bug, it must be something specific to your system or particular projects.

I doubt there's any one DAW that includes different versions from rookie-level to pro?

There used to be three different versions of Cakewalk/SONAR, but the basic recording techniques and procedures were exactly the same in all of them. 

In my opinion the basics of recording and using VSTs are still practically the same in all DAWs. Then again, there are audio editors, like Audacity, that are  quite straightforward to use, but are actually not meant for recording and real studio tasks.

5 hours ago, paulo said:

It would certainly be nice to be able to make use of the synths in S1. Seems a bit petty to lock them down. If I own a licence to use them, then I own a licence to use them. What difference does how I use them make to Presonus ?

It is possible that Presonus does not have the right to allow the use in other appications, if there are third parties involved.

Like in the case of  zillions of free VSTs that you're not allowed set as a part of some DAW or other software.

Does the actual  audio really disappear (=silent playback), or only the waveform image?