well this guy reminds me of my uncle
old fashioned and sticking to old analog stuff and the old methods.... anyway...
i used to normalise everything i record and used to have a lot of clipping problems even with the volumes lowered .... few weeks ago i decided to try mixing without normalising my audio and I was surprised.
I just record as clean as possible a signal that is not clipping (i use the LFO leds on the virus to see if it or not clipping before reaching the mixer), then compress (not always!).... to say the truth, the result is much better, it clips a lot less than usual and the sound isn't saturated. It sounds clearer.
I think clipping problems were due to normalising...... maybe because it boosts noises or something..... it is good to learn things by practising but it would be nice to have a technical explanation too....