External MIDI tracks bounce at different volume than what I hear on speakers when playing in Logic

[JMComposer]

Folks, apologies for what is probably an elementary question.  

The Issue:

When I bounce out audio from my external MIDI instrument (my Roland Integra-7), the bounce is significantly softer than what I've been hearing (and mixing) on my speakers when playing in Logic.  Is there a "best practice" for routing the sound so that the level I hear when playing back or mixing in Logic, is the same level I hear when I bounce that out as audio?  The most important thing is that the sounds match, so that all the effort I put into mixing doesn't go down the drain.  

My setup:

I used the External Instrument Plugin.  I also show the corresponding channel strip in the mixer.  

[Jordi Torres]

Hi JM,

Check the Normalize setting in your Bounce window. It should be set to "Off" (if you're already taking care of not overloading your Stereo Output channel).

J.

[JMComposer]

@Jordi Torres As always, thanks for swooping in to help. I do have the normalize set to Off, but I’m still having this problem. I have a theory about how this whole thing might be fixed and I’ll post about it tomorrow. Meanwhile if you (or anyone), has any other ideas, I’m all ears.

[JakobP]

Make sure you don't have any kind of "direct monitoring" enabled for input 5-6 on your interface ?

[JMComposer]

@JakobP JakobP, you're a saint who happens to be a Logic Pro user.  You fixed my problem.  

This also solves the other issue that I was having a few days ago where Soloing a software instrument doesn't mute an external MIDI track.  I found a convoluted solution for that and I'll update that one accordingly:  

Folks having this problem specifically with the Focusrite 18i8, note that turning off "direct monitoring" isn't obvious (it's not on the unit).  You need to go to the "Focurite Control" app and click on the "X" button on the Hardware Input faders in question where you want to turn off input monitoring.   

[JakobP]

You're welcome 😄