Differences in monitoring signal v recorded signal

[lunababy]

Hi all,

I am using an Apollo Twin as my DAC with Ableton Live, and therefor turn off my track monitoring to avoid latency. There is a distinct difference between the audio I hear through the Apollo, verses what I hear back after I have record captured the signal in Ableton. Some of this is that Live is recording the material at a lower volume than what I am monitoring at, but some of this also appears to be actual quality of the audio.

Does anyone know how to get the signal I am monitoring at equal to the signal I am recording at, in terms of volume? Why would these levels be different?

Also, is it possible that when the signal is converted into Ableton, that it looses some luster somehow? Any advice on how to fix this?

Much appreciated!

[H20nly]

i think you might be monitoring the signal before it gets to Live. if you want a better idea of how things will sound you need to monitor post, not pre.

[lunababy]

i think you might be monitoring the signal before it gets to Live. if you want a better idea of how things will sound you need to monitor post, not pre.

Yes, but I want to monitor before Live for latency issues. And then I want it to sound the same after it is captured, not quieter and of lesser fidelity.

[H20nly]

right, but that's why you're noticing the difference.

i can't imagine that the Apollo Twin takes that hard of a hit on latency by switching the monitoring. what is your latency before and what is it after you switch?

also, how many samples is your buffer set to?

[lunababy]

My buffer size is currently 256, with an Input latency of 7.73ms Input Lat. and 6.37 ms Output Lat., and I have configured the driver error compensation correctly (I think)...I just really prefer to monitor through the Apollo for work flow purposes as well. But, I can't seem to recreate the signal that I hear monitoring through the Apollo when I track it. It always looses something, and I can't figure out why.

[lunababy]

And maybe I should mention...I experience this difference mostly when recording a synth from a MIDI signal. I have my MIDI track routed to a synth that then gets recorded on a separate track. When I play the MIDI, and hear the synth through the Apollo, it sounds great. Then I record it, play it back and it sounds weak.

[Da hand]

Some of this is that Live is recording the material at a lower volume than what I am monitoring at, but some of this also appears to be actual quality of the audio.

Also, is it possible that when the signal is converted into Ableton, that it looses some luster somehow? Any advice on how to fix this?

Did you match the volumes (to be exactly the same) of the monitored and recorded versions when judging the quality?

9.99999999 times of 10 this is the error when making such comparisons. If the audio is at a lower volume it will sound like it has less luster than the higher volume version. Our brains simply like more volume - so things will appear to sound better at higher volumes even though they may not be in reality. Also, our brains change the frequency balance as the volume goes up (or down).

[H20nly]

lunabay, do you have Console installed?

it's the control application that comes with the device... Da Hand is making a good point and the best place to set those levels will be in Console


Also, your latency seems really high for that device... It boasts "near zero latency". I'm trying to find some links on that on the UA website...



EDIT: check this out from 2:07 for Console settings https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articl ... leton-Live

Ableton Live Settings at 3:34

Hardware Buffer settings at 5:30 - in this section is shows Live having around the same latency you have with the buffer set to 128... but it goes onto say (around 5:45 mark) that the Apollo Twin ignores that and uses it's own buffer so that you always get 1.1 ms of latency at 96K.

[Da hand]

Does anyone know how to get the signal I am monitoring at equal to the signal I am recording at, in terms of volume? Why would these levels be different?

Yes, lower your monitoring volume to match the recording volume. The recording volume is set by your sound card, not Live, and it will be at a fixed volume gain unless you have away to change the analog volume on your sound card before it gets converted into digital audio.

[Da hand]

Da Hand is making a good point and the best place to set those levels will be in Console

Thanks H2Only

I just looked in the manual myself and Console is definitely the place to control all these aspects.

[H20nly]

yeah i used to want one of these Apollo Twins.... after watching most of the video i posted above... i do again

i have a UA Twin Finity pre-amp that was a life changing upgrade for vocals... and bass guitar. so i am already really satisfied with UA gear.

i'll have to wait for my Apogee Duet to die... hopefully many years from now.

[lunababy]

Thank you both for the help.

I do have Console installed, and the video taught me about the Console Recall plug in which will be helpful, but how do I match the levels from what I monitor and what I record? Do I just do this by ear? Before I upgraded to the Apollo, I was using a Motu mk3, which never caused this issue. I would track what I would hear, so, forgive me for being dense, but how would I go about attenuating this?