Audacity 2.1.1
OSX 10.11
Hi. In Audacity, I import various MP3s/wavs, then align them end to end, blend when appropriate, and then export as one wav.
The levels aren’t even. I try to balance them all to peak in the red, but the wave form is still uneven and I have to compensate at the board when broadcasting live.
How can I avoid having to compensate for uneven wav volumes? How can I make all the various files the same peak volume?
Thanks
It’s nice to think applying just the right compressor and limiter and everything will be just fine. Probably not. If you try to mix a home recording, an older commercial recording and a current release, the blue waves may be very similar, but the loudnesses of the performances may be off the charts different from each other.
You may be a candidate for Chris’s Compressor.
Chris wrote his compressor so he could listen to opera in the car. So the orchestra, chorus and organ swelling crescendo has to come out about the same volume as the the hero singing sotto voce in the south forty. I use it to even out podcasts so I can listen during hiking without blowing my ears off.
http://theaudacitytopodcast.com/chriss-dynamic-compressor-plugin-for-audacity/
I increase the top variable, compression, from 0.5 to 0.77 and the shows come out remarkably similar to the local radio station.
Koz
Have a look at “Replay Gain” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReplayGain and http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=ReplayGain).
iTunes uses a similar (but proprietary) system called “Sound Check”.