11 replies to this topic

[airtas]

what exactly happens when you select this option.............obvisouly it makes the tracks louder but does it give a consistent increase?

[jeanrosenfeld]

If you mean in Music Disc Creator, project settings, clicking on the help there says:

Maximize volume of each track (will require more time to output): Select to normalize the volume of each track on the disc.

If you then look up normalization in the main help file (Help menu, Music disc creator help center, index tab) it says this:

Normalize tracks to a consistent level: This option sets the volume of songs in an audio project to a consistent level. The level is set by selecting the check box and moving the slider left or right. A setting of 90 percent, for example, sets the volume of all tracks in the current project to 90 percent of the loudest song. Normalization is turned off by default.

Normalize tracks is an option in Roxio home Tools menu, Options, Audio CD, where you will find the slider.

However, it is not clear to me whether that option is used by music disc creator, or whether it uses some internally fixed level of normalization. I don't ususually don't set that option, as for classical music (which is my main interest) one would not want to alter the relative loudness of different tracks (e.g. movements in a symphony).

I'm also not sure how it affects the dynamic range of each track.

[airtas]

If you mean in Music Disc Creator, project settings, clicking on the help there says:

Maximize volume of each track (will require more time to output): Select to normalize the volume of each track on the disc.

If you then look up normalization in the main help file (Help menu, Music disc creator help center, index tab) it says this:

Normalize tracks to a consistent level: This option sets the volume of songs in an audio project to a consistent level. The level is set by selecting the check box and moving the slider left or right. A setting of 90 percent, for example, sets the volume of all tracks in the current project to 90 percent of the loudest song. Normalization is turned off by default.

Normalize tracks is an option in Roxio home Tools menu, Options, Audio CD, where you will find the slider.

However, it is not clear to me whether that option is used by music disc creator, or whether it uses some internally fixed level of normalization. I don't ususually don't set that option, as for classical music (which is my main interest) one would not want to alter the relative loudness of different tracks (e.g. movements in a symphony).

I'm also not sure how it affects the dynamic range of each track.

gotcha so lets say track

A is super loud
and
Track B is 50% of it

if I check the box to maximize track b will be as loud as A?

[tbrewst]

Keep in mind that Normalization works on a wavform.Therefore if you use mp3's as the source normalization doesn't work.
Take a look at this thread for a bit more info.

[airtas]

gotcha so lets say track

A is super loud
and
Track B is 50% of it

if I check the box to maximize track b will be as loud as A?

is this  true what I am saying though?

[jeanrosenfeld]

Yes, if you set the slider to 100%. I think if you set it to 50%, all (including A) would be at 50% of A.

Why not experiment with a few wav files?  Then you could tell us...:-)

[airtas]

Yes, if you set the slider to 100%. I think if you set it to 50%, all (including A) would be at 50% of A.

Why not experiment with a few wav files?  Then you could tell us...:-)

I have a whole cd that the volume is very low.............since the whole cd is low maximizing wont help, correct?

[jeanrosenfeld]

Yes, I think so, but what you can do is open tracks in Sound Editor, then click on the fading and voilume icon, click maximize volume. That will increase the volume of the track by some, but such that its loudest part is not clipped.

[airtas]

Yes, I think so, but what you can do is open tracks in Sound Editor, then click on the fading and voilume icon, click maximize volume. That will increase the volume of the track by some, but such that its loudest part is not clipped.

whats the difference between maxmize volume and normalize?

[jeanrosenfeld]

I think the nomalize is related to adjusting the relative sound level of a number of tracks. In Sound Editor the Maximize works just on the selected track (s) and maximizes each irrespective of the loudness of the others.

[studioj.lardinois]

Normalization is not what you guys think it is. Normalizing a track means you take the very peak of the song, and adjust the volume of the track so that the peak is at 0dB, or whatever you set it to. Normalization is basically a transparent alternative to compression or limiting - it's like moving the fader up on the console, but done perfectly. Here's the catch - you don't need to normalize unless it's your own music and you mastered it incorrectly. A commercial recording will already be normalized.

You're hearing this from a professional audio engineer. Trust me on this.

If the song was mastered by "average joe's empty warehouse mastering facility" then yeah, it's probably not done correctly. But any legitimate recording will be normalized.

Now there are also different forms of normalization - peak and rms - absolute loudest point versus average... basically. Obviously this can cause some clipping.

Edited by studioj.lardinois, 23 February 2011 - 09:26 AM.

[d_deweywright]

studioj.lardinois, on 23 February 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

Normalization is not what you guys think it is. Normalizing a track means you take the very peak of the song, and adjust the volume of the track so that the peak is at 0dB, or whatever you set it to. Normalization is basically a transparent alternative to compression or limiting - it's like moving the fader up on the console, but done perfectly. Here's the catch - you don't need to normalize unless it's your own music and you mastered it incorrectly. A commercial recording will already be normalized.

You're hearing this from a professional audio engineer. Trust me on this.

If the song was mastered by "average joe's empty warehouse mastering facility" then yeah, it's probably not done correctly. But any legitimate recording will be normalized.

Now there are also different forms of normalization - peak and rms - absolute loudest point versus average... basically. Obviously this can cause some clipping.

You're implying (or I'm inferring) that normalization "should" be done on all tracks.  But is that necessarily so?  Shouldn't a gentle ballad be quieter than something that really rocks out?  Or are you agreeing with the trend to maximize and compress everything so that the perceived dynamic range of all songs is minimized?