Vocal playback(monitor) sounds different from the actual recording

I’m using cubase LE-AI element 9.5 with Focusrite Scarlett solo. I’m recording both guitar and vocal through scarlett solo. My guitar records fine (as in, it sounds the same as playback), the problem is that my vocal does not sound the same as the recording. The input is mono, and the output is “Stereo Out”.

I think the problem is this Stereo output channel, because the playback sounds as if multiple tracks of the same voice are playing simultaneously. When I use “No bus” as output instead, my voice starts to sound like one voice again, and it sounds just like how it records. But my vocal volume then becomes too small, and I prefer the sound when I use “Stereo Out” as channel.

Can anyone help? I think my set-up is the problem here, but I couldn’t find answers googling so far…

Some screenshots of your settings could probably be helpful here.
Are you able to post screenshots of your Audio Connections Window, showing Inputs, Outputs and Control Room. Studio Setup Dialog showing your interface settings. Your Cubase Mix Console showing the Input and Output routing.




I don’t understand what Control Room is, could you explain to me what it is?
Also, more googling makes me think that this is a “doubling” problem. Although, I have already turned off Direct Monitoring and it’s not happening with my guitar, so…

I’m sorry, Control Room is not part of Cubase LE. My bad.
I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary, I’m afraid.

This statement puzzles me a bit though.
If you set the output (under routing) in the Mix Console of your vocal track to “No Bus”, you shouldn’t be able to hear anything from that track.
If you Solo the “Vocals” track, change Output routing on track “Vocals” from “Stereo Out” to “No Bus” and press Play, can you still see activity on the “Stereo Out” bus?

The last thing I can think of is you have a Send on that track that has a strange routing. Can you check?

Sorry for the late response (I had to go to sleep just right before my last response).

I thought about it, and I think it wasn’t the problem with the set-up. I guess it’s only natural that my voice monitor should have a doubling effect, since I would be hearing my voice both directly from myself and through my headphones with some delay. When I put the mic close to my mouth and sing softer, the doubling effect wouldn’t be there anymore.

So sorry to bother you for such a stupid problem. I’m just doing this as a hobby, and I haven’t really learned from anyone or anything related to recording songs and stuff. I was just wondering for days why my voice would sound so different from what I was recording. Maybe I was being a little bit sensitive?

Although, it does bother me a bit, so is there any ways to mitigate the doubling effect that I’ve mentioned? Lower the latency? Or maybe it’s something that you just have to go with when recording…

(Also BTW being able to hear my voice despite No-Bus was only due to FX-Roomworks in Send, though apparantly that had nothing to do with doubling effect)

What you are describing now is typically referred to as “bleed” and is basically when a microphone is picking up surrounding sounds other than what it is pointing at. (A snare drum picked up by a kick drum mic, headphones in a vocal mic, etc.)

The only way to combat that when tracking vocals is to use over the ear headphones with good noise canceling properties. (And here I’m talking about passive noise canceling—as in, a good seal around the ears to keep sound from the headphones escaping. NOT active noise canceling that requires batteries and turning it on with a switch or button.)
There will likely still be some bleed in the recording, but the level should be so low that it is not detectable in a full mix.
(In more quiet passages you can edit the vocal take to to remove bleed in between vocal lines.)

But if it is bleed, then that bleed would be in the recorded audio and this statement doesn’t make sense:

Perhaps the “doubling effect” was obscured by only listening to the wet reverb signal? I can’t say.


It is common practice to set the latency to a low value when tracking/recording and raise it when recording is done and you start mixing your song.
Low latency is important whenever you record with any VST in the chain. For example if you are recording a VSTi virtual instrument via a MIDI keyboard. But it also applies if you are recording audio and monitor through Cubase. The latter you can circumvent by enabling “Direct Monitoring” on your audio interface. Not all interfaces support Direct Monitoring, but your Scarlett Solo does.
The downside, as I’m sure you already know, is that it puts a lot more stress on your computer. That is why many producers raise the buffer on their interface when mixing to gain more resources and be able to use more plugins.

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