Hey all,

Can anyone please shine a light on why when monitoring audio on our interfaces the analog direct monitoring always sounds so much better than the recorded audio? I've been recording music for years and this has happened with every interface I've ever had. I've seen lots of people online try and tackle this is issue saying things like 'its just psycho acoustics' and 'your probably just hearing you rooms but its clear as day to me that my signal sounds completely different once in the digital realm. Other people online seem to have this issue so is there something I'm missing or is there a huge flaw in the way we track audio at home that no-one really wants to admit? For the record I record in Reaper at 24bit 48k with everything gain staged and level matched...

”Sounds better” is subjective. If this was me, I’d remind myself I know what I’m doing and if I was hearing a discrepancy, I’d set about trying to bring objectivity to the situation.

Try A/Bing a known audio source (reference track, etc.). If it still “sounds better” when analog monitoring it, I’d follow the signal path to try and see if there’s anything coloring the sound like a pre-amp or any onboard DSP in the interface, etc.

If I still can’t figure out why it sounds different (because again “better” is subjective, “different” is objective), I’d try to record the output of the Analog monitoring outs if they are separate from the main outs (record it in the DAW but break the signal path to prevent a feedback loop, like selecting no outputs on the DAW track channel).

If I still can’t figure it out, at this point I’d be calling my house builder asking if the neighborhood was built on an ancient graveyard or something because you’ve got digital ghosts lol.

A bit hard to say without knowing how you compare these things.

When you monitor directly it is possible that you are listening louder. And that extra loudness you perceive as "better".

Are you the person playing the instrument when direct monitoring/recording the part? If so...This probably has a lot to do with it. You are not only hearing the audio from your interface...but also feeling the strings of the guitar or touch of the keys...etc. There will be a completely different brain reaction to this.

What are you recording and where is the sound source? Are you recording an electric guitar through an amp that is sitting in the same room? Or are you recording an acoustic guitar? Anything that that makes audible sound, even if you are using headphones will change what you hear while direct monitoring. Vocal is bad for this as well because you hear your voice inside your head not just from the air outside your ears.

Most interfaces have a direct monitoring knob. Best test to do would be to listen while direct monitoring...don't record anything just audition it while direct monitoring...then switch to listening via the DAW...again not recording...just swipe that fader back and forth. make sure to volume match both sides and see what you can hear...maybe even get someone to operate it and you do a blind test and see if you can accurately guess which is which.