This stuff is just such aggravating bullshit to me. Its like no matter what, nothing works. Nothing sounds right or sounds good. You'd think at some point after 4 years of toiling with it I would ACCIDENTALLY stumble upon the right way to do things, but its like I'm just cursed with bad sound. Something just isn't right. Its much more fundamental than gain settings or mix. Things just don't sound as they should to start with. I'd be fine with giving up if it weren't for the fact that I don't know how I'm going write music without using some kind of daw or recording myself and demoing songs. Problem is nobody seems to have my same issues, and have no clue what I'm talking about when I try to ask for help. Their answers are all the same stock answers, which are ultimately off track and not the right answers for my issues. And I'm so ignorant I don't even know what to ask or even what I'm looking for.