Maybe ...but there are other possibilities to explore as well. You may be overdriving the signal from the mixer into the laptop. Remember that the laptop's soundcard probably has a mic input as opposed to a line input. because of this, it is important to greatly reduce the amount of signal going from the mixer to the card.

Does PT 8 have any Vu meters ( I'm not that familiar with the app ). If so, these should tell the story. If not, you might want to d/l a freeware one from somewhere like KVR Audio.

Another Q .. Are you recording at 44Khz and 16 bits. If you are recording at less there will surely be a noticeable degradation in sound quality.

What type of cords / jacks are you using between the two ?

AJ