Audacity 2.0.2, but will upgrade shortly 
I recorded 16 files at two different times. The playback volume is different for both, even though I’m not aware of having done anything different or changed settings. I think I’m speaking at about the same level. In the future:
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If I always set the input level to the same number on my microphone, will the output volume be the same? I did not see where to set this in Audacity, but I did find it in the properties of my microphone.
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If that’s not right, how do I control this? Maybe normalizing is the answer, though I found it changed the quality of the sound ever so slightly. Or maybe there’s a way to set an output level that will make playback consistent from one file to the next?
For this same project, I also had three different speakers (we’re in different parts of the US, so no way to use exact same recording equipment). I asked them to use Audacity as well, so I could edit if needed. Again, there’s the issue of keeping the same playback volume throughout. I’ve been testing some solutions and this is the one I came up with and am ready to implement. I’m curious to know if there is a better or easier way.
- I exported all 20 files to mp3.
- I imported all of the files at one time and did Effect/Normalize
- I exported multiple. (I wasn’t sure I could do this with aup files)
- The volume was too loud. Even though I know the user can adjust, I wanted it at least comfortably loud.
- I started over, and when I normalized, I changed the decibel setting. This seemed to do the trick.
What I’m concerned about is if after my project is published and I have to make a change, how will I match the other files? Each file is on a separate “slide” in a tutorial, so is imported into the software. I don’t think when I normalize I can specify match file X to the level in file Y, right? I had this issue for a recent project and manually adjusted the sound, trial and error to get the new file to match the old. Very time consuming… but it worked!!!
Thanks!