The recordings seem to be coming out OK, noise is low, but the volume is not high enough to pass ACX specs.
The problem I’m having is when I increase RMS high enough for ACX, it brings the Peak up too high, so that fails.
I’m confused about what I should use to increase the RMS (Amplify? Normalize? Compressor?) and how to keep the Peak within proper range.
I’m also not sure what order to work in. Do I lower the peaks first, then amplify? Or amplify then reduce peaks? Or is there a way to increase RMS without increasing peaks?
Sorry that these are probably simple questions for someone experienced. I’ve done a lot of reading, but haven’t been able to figure this out.
Import tracks “02 -19.0 dB” and “07 -21.7 dB” into a new Audacity project (they will import as two tracks, one above the other).
Use the Mute/Solo buttons to switch from one to the other. Is one noticeably louder than the other?
I tried your suggestion, and I can’t tell there’s a difference between the clip that’s at -19 dB and the one at -21.7 dB.
I also compared -18.8 dB and -21.7 dB, and they sound pretty close to me.
Of course, I’m listening to them over the voices in my head, but still…
One thing I just found, as I’m going through all 22 clips, is that one (so far) had an RMS that was still too low after the first pass of Amplify/Limiter, so it needed another round.
Does that degrade the resulting quality, or is it OK to do two rounds of Amplify/Limiter?
Or is there a better way?
This is all fascinating to me, since I’ve never really paid this close attention to the technical specs of audio. I’ve always just listened and, if it sounded good to me, I was done!
