Volume quite low in Logic

Speculum Speculorum

Speculum Speculorum

Power User
Hey guys,

I've searched through the forum and it seems that everybody has got a slightly different answer. I am wondering if anyone may be able to answer my question.

I just installed Logic 9 (I've got a big learning curve ahead of me), and I got sound to come out of my monitors (yay!). However, the audio is incredibly quiet by comparison to the volume that was coming out of my headphones when they were plugged into the Axe II headphone jack.

I am running my Axe in with USB, and I have made sure that the sample rate was 48k. I had my inputs as Axe, and my outputs as my Saffire Pro 14, as my active monitors are hooked up to the interface. What would normally be quite loud (-27 db) when listening to music is a bit louder than me strumming my strings when I'm playing through Logic. Suggestions? Sorry if I am repeating a common question. I have been staring at a screen putting CDs in all day long and my brain and fingers are tired of working. Thanks in advance!


Sincerely,
Brian
 
Okay, so a little update here guys.

I opened up Logic after work today (I stopped by my local GC and the guy who set me up gave me a few pointers), and I was able to get a a higher volume by changing the following:

When working with my headphones plugged into the Axe-fx headphone jack, the audio is quite loud. I had my amp level set to -11 or so in order to play with the output 1 knob at just under the 12 o' clock position. I brought up the level to close to -2, and the audio increased in volume to acceptable levels. However, shortly after making this change, my audio started having extreme latency issues, breakup, random distortion, etc. I literally had to shut down and reopen Logic in order to get it to return to normal. However, any time I change any volume parameters this happens again.

What the heck am I doing wrong? Is there something wrong with my system? I have my Axe-II as my input, and my Saffire Pro 14 as my audio output. I have absolutely no idea what I could be doing. I've scoured the internet and tried various things. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
If I recall correctly, setting input volume in Logic is controlled by the output of the device you are recording. So, if I'm recording a synth, I set the fader on that channel to unity, and then bring up the volume of the synth to get an hot enough level. Also, See if you have "Auto Input Monitoring" on. Perhaps, you are not actually hearing the correct level as it goes through Logic. I haven't futzs with recording into Logic yet. If I have time tomorrow,ill check it out.
 
Although it has another purpose I use Boost/Pad in the I/O menu to increase the volume of the USB signal into Logic.
 
Thanks to both of you. I've got the next two days off. I picked up tutorial DVDs for Logic and am going to dig into those while I'm installing other software (Omnisphere, SD 2.0, Ozone 4, updating firmware, etc). I will look into both my auto-input monitoring, and also the Boost/Pad function on the Axe.

I am, however, wondering if this isn't a two-part problem. I will see if setting the boost/pad in I/O won't effect the signal latency as well. It was truly strange. Of course, it may be that I was using Axe-edit to do it. Might have overloaded things. Will give it a shot later.
 
Okay guys,

I'm laying it out for you here. I think that I've figured out this input/amp level/output level thing figured out now. At first, I played on my settings and had the global output increased, but when I switched over to FAS presets it was digital clipping city. So I quickly analyzed what was going on and realized that I needed to put that back down to zero. I started playing with the level and gain structures of my amps until I was at a volume where I was getting clean signal but not having output clipping issues. I was getting well into the yellows in my input and output in Logic, but it wasn't brain-blasting. This is, embarrassingly, when I realized what is likely my error.

I was confused because when I listened to mastered music on my computer through my monitors it was loads and loads louder than anything inputting from the Axe. Then I listened to a respected Axe-fx user who had uploaded a clip of his straight, unprocessed tone that he recorded into Logic 9. Low and behold, it was about the same volume as my Axe. It was a little thicker as he had double tracked it, but it was just a hair louder than what I was producing in my monitors when I played through them.

And then it hit me like a hammer. Well, duh, of course mixed and mastered music is going to be louder. It's mastered. As in, supposed to be loud. Basically, I was comparing apples to oranges. Please tell me I'm not just making all of this up. :eek:ops


Sincerely,
Brian
 
i've noticed that when i record a track into logic that is seems very quiet, but when i re-play it with the other tracks it gets much louder. not sure if that's a logic thing or something i'm doing. i've struggled getting a loud recorded track into logic on several occasions. b/c i don't use it every day i tend to forget what i did to fix it on the previous recording. i should probably write it down!
 
Sorry if I stepped on toes. I am really completely new to these concepts. I don't mean "loud" as in loudness wars, but commercial volume.

Please, correct me if I'm wrong. As I said before, I don't know very much about all of this yet. When I'm playing a high gain setting with my Axe into Logic, should the guitar be as loud as a guitar that I am hearing from a mixed and mastered heavy metal album? If that is the case, I am in a lot of trouble. I can't get anything too loud before it starts output clipping or clipping in my DAW.
 
Google "proper gain staging". You don't want your recorded signal too hot or you'll clip your output converters...especially once everything gets summed. Headroom is a good thing in digital recording. Peaks should hover somewhere around -10 to -12. If your guitar is too quiet, turn up your speakers!
 
Thanks Webb. That was the straight-across answer that I needed. This stuff is hard enough to get without cheeky answers on forums. I will heed your advice and start making some progress now. :)
 
Are you still getting the pops and crackles?

If not how did you fix it?

I am still having issues with the Axe-FX II into my mac... Never had a problem with any other interface.

Thanks

Martin
 
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