When importing vinyl Lps into AUDACITY from my ION Record deck i find the easiest way to find the loudest track is to start recording then gently lower the stylus onto each track then set the gain to the track with the highest peak(-0.1),then UNDO RECORD & carry on recording,prevents clipping.Still guess work for audio tapes though!!!.mickthefish
You can avoid having to undo by using the recording meter. Click on the meter to activate it.
It’s easier to “read” the meter if you make it wider than the default size. When recording I usually drag it to the full width of my computer screen.
You can also show better resolution at the high amplitude end of the scale by switching the meter to “Linear” view. http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/meter_toolbar.html#recording
I used to do that sort of thing, but then I realized that the digital recording path has at least a 30 db SN advantage over the vinyl and you don’t need to be that precise. So I have simply memorized the settings that give about 10 db of headroom for most records, set and go. Then in post-processing normalize the recording.
thanks for the helpful tips…steve & flynn–mickthefish.