USB Audio Interface Doesn't Seem Loud Enough

Hmm check every volume setting you have again. Channel gains, master volumes etc.
I have a similar USB Audio (also form Focusrite) and with my Rockit 6s I have to tune it WAY down in the software or my ears explode…

What it says is that if you drive it to 0dBfs (decibels relative to full scale) which, too keep things simple, is the no clipping limit of a digital system (in this case your FocusRite), it will output an analogue level of +10dBu.

Autogain should mean that Traktor normalizes your tracks, i.e. make them all equally loud by changing the gain for you. Which is what you would normally do manually in say a CD setup. It shouldn’t make your entire system sound less loud.

The limiter is supposed to make sure you don’t go louder than the level it is set to. You could switch it off and see what the difference is, although I don’t think that is where your problem sits.

Question is, where does it sit?!

In effect, a software mixer (like in Traktor) is no different from a regular analogue mixer as far as the gain structure is concerned. In a PA environment you’d set your amps to max (in your case your Rokits to +6dB). Like Henley said you use the channel gain knobs to set the correct channel level for the song that is playing (or have Traktor take care of that for you through autogain) and with your faders at 100% you should be at 0dB average output for that channel.

You now have a channel that sends 0dB average into your setup and an amp that is open all the way. The only thing sitting in between these two and what determines how loud it will sound is the master volume/gain. You want to keep it under a certain level to prevent (digital) clipping, but apart from that you can run it up to the level you need to get the sound level you want out of your speakers. And like Terry said, usually you won’t be able to turn everything up to 100% because it would be too loud.

The only thing that is an unknown for me at this point is the setting of the FocusRite. I know on my DigiRack002 I can control my sound levels with the monitor knob on the AI. I know your Focusrite has a monitor knob. It MIGHT be the one control you need to turn up to get the level you need. Alternatively you might be able to set the output level in the FocusRite tool.

Something else I noticed on the FR, is that it has an input/playback knob for direct monitoring. What that does (I think) is give you the possibility of choosing the mix between listening to what comes into your in ports (which is nothing in your case!) and what comes back out through the USB port. If that is set like it is in the picture (halfway) or even further towards Input, I can imagine that would lower the actual output as well.

Sorry for the long a** answer (again lol), but I really do think that the correct settings for the FR might be where you need to look.

Greetinx,
C.

p.s. the offer of pm still stands 🙂

p.s. 2. I just took a quick look at the FR manual and it more or less confirms what I said here. The monitor knob controls the total sound output to the speakers connected to the balanced TRS connectors (not the RCA’s though) and the Input/Playback rotary knob lets you blend direct input and return from DAW (or your traktor sound). So, the Input/Playback knob should be fully to the Playback setting, the monitor knob, well, as high as you want the volume coming out of your speakers 🙂

niu02kevin, post: 37768, member: 8306 wrote: Thanks for all the information guys. I’m going to mess around a bit, read through the user guide from Focusrite, maybe re-install the driver, check the settings, and I’ll get back to you. It’s snowing like crazy so I’m not going anywhere today.

Good luck, checking the two knobs on the FR should be fairly quick to do, before reinstalling stuff.

Let us know what happens.

Greetinx,
C.