Difference in recording quality between Sonar and Ableton light 12?

[Mr No Name]

1 hour ago, HOOK said:

Call me deaf if you want.  I don't particularly hear much of a difference in any of those clips that couldn't be attributed to proximity or axis placement.

Could be overthinking.

some people have very good hearing, I personally can hear dog whistles very clearly.

[Scott C. Stahl]

5 hours ago, HOOK said:

Call me deaf if you want.  I don't particularly hear much of a difference in any of those clips that couldn't be attributed to proximity or axis placement.

Could be overthinking.

I did my best to avoid proximity and axis issues as much as possible... recording in quick succession. There will always be quality variation unless I found a constant source other than my crappy voice. The BIG difference is going from GEN 4 to GEN 3. This has been consistent with repeated attempts. The top end on the GEN 4 recordings in real world (With effects, compression, etc) is unmanageable.

Now judging between versions of whether I like Triangle or powr3 on the GEN 3 for example, is more problematic I agree.

Still, the overall quality is one thing... it's whether on repeated tests the COMPARATIVE results are consistent is what caught my eye. 

Folks must understand I did not suspect this cause at first at all. It ruined a session (I thought my Mic pre was going out on me)

My client will have to re-record his vocals some time when he's back here unless he goes to another studio up his way. (650 miles from here)

Put a little sweetener like an EQ or other effect on those GEN 4 files and try to enjoy the results. (You won't)

I do appreciate the input tho. I need to be on my toes as much as I can, when it comes to my own perceptions on all this. Thanks

Edited 10 hours ago by Scott C. Stahl

[Will.]

16 hours ago, Scott C. Stahl said:

These are all without Effects. Taste varies on warmth, but the smoother they start out and you add compression, eq, etc. that gets ugly fast. No music as I sung these lines. Tried to maintain exact same voice level and mic position. Obviously not a good vocalist, but I hope this gets the point across

And how does the unit sound to you with tge Air mode off? You have to press it three times. The Gen 4 has 3 Air Modes. 

Keep in mind the gen 4 is designed more brighter, clearer and upfront than what the Gen 3 sounded. It has bettet pre-amps. I believe its housing some ISA preamps. So, the airy sound you hear in the Gen 4 comes from the preamps. Between the Focusrite Gen-4 and my Audient iD14 I dont hear much of a difference in my recordings - with focurite now having real analog feel in their budget units. I do lean more towards the Audient for my vocals, but thats only because I know the audient really well. Where I use the Focusrite is wihen I do my mixing. For me the Gen-4 has better (cleaner) outputs than the Audient - so my monitors gets a boost there. 

You might be dealing with the exposure that the Gen 4 is projecting in the vocal. Its more upfront, you might be hearing the flaws in your vocal recordings in more detail.