I am digitizing LPs and question whether I should use Normalize. I understand that Normalize can amplify the entire recording without clipping. But is that what we want? For example, if one recording is very loud on the original LP (let’s say heavy rock) and a second recording is very quiet on the LP (let’s say some typical background music), do we really want to make them both the same volume? It seems more logical that we record them both at the same level and leave them there. The recording level would be set as high as possible without clipping on the loudest LP. Then the quiet LPs would remain quiet.
Normalize will amplify the whole album so that the quiet tracks will stay relatively qieter as the original recording/mastering engineer intended.
It is good practice to record to a maximum peak of aroun -6db this corresponds to about 0.5 on the linear waveform display. Help yourself here by expanding the meter toolbar by clicking and dragging.
Record and edit with Audacity set at its default 32-bit float 44.1 kHz
As your final editing step Normalize to say -1 dB - don’t go all the way to the theoretical max of 0 dB as some players don’t like that.
As your final step export 16-bit PCM WAVs at 44.1 kHz (or compreesed formats like MP3 if you require those).
Thank you for the quick reply. I am doing all that you suggested. But if I record a quiet LP and then use Normalize will it not become louder with a volume similar to a loud LP?
That makes more sense than the generally stated “normalize everything.”
I was unaware of that. Are most standardized and some are not or do they all vary? It seems when listening to LPs I usually set the volume once and then do not change it for different LPs.
My thoughts exactly. Maybe the best approach is to record everything at -6dB maximum and then adjust it to your liking with either Normalize of Amplify.
I am just starting to convert my LPs to digital so I want to get the recording approach correct before I start. I don’t want to learn something new after recording 50 LPs and then have to redo them.
I became more acutely aware of this during my LP transfers as I find myself adjusting the gain on my little phono pre-amp for almost every record I record in to Audacity to keep a target -6 dB peak.
Your best tool in all this is your ears - let them be your guide.
The best advice I can give is to start out with your least favourite LPs. I started instead with my favourites so I did find myself going back and doing them again as my technique got better
No matter how much advice you receive or how much reading you do, you will almost certainly get better at digitising your vinyl as you gain experience of “doing” it. waxcylinder’s suggestion of starting with “less important” records is a good idea.
That may not be due to the variation between the LP recording levels. It may be because some originals have quiet material (elevator music) and others have louder material (heavy rock).
The best advice I can give is to start out with your least favourite LPs. I started instead with my favourites so I did find myself going back and doing them again as my technique got better > > > >
That may not be due to the variation between the LP recording levels. It may be because some originals have quiet material (elevator music) and others have louder material (heavy rock).
It can also depend how long the record - there is only so much vinyl real-estate for the cutting engineer to play with. A good exaple of this is the earlier Rolling Stones LPs are definitely louder than Aftermath, as Aftermath contains more material and is longer. Another example is that of 12" singles which can be recorded very loud.
