Volume Problem

I’ve been recording with a mic connected via USB to my PC. I recently recorded on my phone, and I want to use that audio. However, the volume is incredibly quiet when I load the audio from my phone. Normalizing doesn’t work, even though I’m using the same decibels. What am I doing wrong? If I turn the audio all the way up, I can listen to it just the same as anything else, so how can I get audacity to raise the volume so listeners won’t have to turn their volume all the way up. I hate when I’m listening to a podcast and episodes vary wildly in volume, so I want to avoid that.

Thanks in advance.

You probably need to use the Compressor or Limiter effect. Either one with make-up gain. The Limiter is “easier” because there are fewer settings & options… Try the Hard Limit preset, and maybe limit to -6dB (with make-up gain). Then repeat if it’s not loud enough.

Normalization works on the peaks. The “loudest” peak will determine the volume of the whole file. And our ears don’t respond instantly to peaks so that one “loud” peak may not actually sound loud.

Compression and limiting can “push down” the peaks, allowing you to bring-up the overall-average volume and loudness.