Massive volume drop after bouncing to disk

[dal007]

Hello to all you PT gurus.

Now please, before anyone start complaining that there are other threads already posted like this...yes...I know...I have just sat here for hours reading them! lol Please bear with us doofusses as we may not explain our problems in the correct way using the correct lingo.

I have understood all the comments but still think the point is being missed as to the problem.
It is not the 'mixed' volume that is the issue, it is the final overall volume that you end up with after bouncing to to disk then to cd and consequently you have to turn your stereo up way past the usual volume to actually hear the bounced tracks.

(just a quick background of me) I was recently involved in a semi-pro band and we did our own recording in our studio with Windows XP Pro, Protools 7.1 and a Delta 1010. The bassplayer at the time did the majority of the desk work etc and we never had any problems with an overall volume of our final bounced tracks once transferred onto cd for listening purposes.

As for mastering...I doubt he did that (as none of us are professionals in mixinig at all) and we did not have any additional plug-ins or limiters or additional mastering goodies. It was all managed with Protools 7.1 as it was.

Since then, the band have separated and I am now using the studio facilities. I have just started recording a friend who is a solo artist using just a semi-acoustic guitar and straight vocals.
I have recorded the guitar direct and a condenser mic for the vox. All sounds fine, even with an eq plug-in for the guitar and nothing on the vox. (this is just going to be a reference track, so no major tweaking required, just overall levels etc).
So....with nothing else to add music-wise I have bounced to disk and then converted to mp3.

When I listened back to that mp3 it is at such a low volume it is ridiculous.
Now, I am sure I must be doing something wrong as we didnt have any overall volume drop issues when we recorded the band songs as wavs and converted them to mp3s afterwards.....only now I seem to be experiencing problems.

So the big question is why is there such a big volume drop from what you hear on the pc when tweaking to after a bounce session? The tracks on the pc sound awesome (even for a greenhorn like me who has vague minimal mixing capabilities) and as mentioned previously...we did not use any limiters or additional plug-ins previuously and had no overall end product volume discrepancies.

I understand that 'my' cd will not be as loud as the 'industry standard'...that is accepted....but to end up with a poultry minimal volume as it appears to be coming out is soul-destroying!

I look forward to any assisitance that you experts may have...or if there is a simple explanation you have seen on another thread and want to direct me over there...I will be only too willing to go and check it out.

Thank you for your time in reading up. Soz if this seems trivial to you guys and possibly frustrating....but after reading nearly all of the other related threads...this volume drop seems to be a common issue.

regards (and thanks in advance)

Dal (Greenhorn)