I regularly record a radio show and save it as an MP3 file. I move it to my ipod and listen to it while driving. Is there a way of setting Audacity so that it records at louder volume? I’ve worked out how to increase the volume at the export to mp3 stage but wondered if I can do this on the fly.
Thanks RR
Not that I know of. Audacity is a post-production editor and doesn’t apply effects, filters and corrections in real time.
Sometimes you can convince Windows to help out. Audacity gets its sound from Windows. Is there something in WASAPI settings? You’re getting out of my world. I’m not a frequent Windows user.
I know the Control Panel for Recording in Windows 7 has volume controls.
Koz
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “on the fly”…
You can adjust the [u]Recording Volume[/u] any time during recording, but a radio show should have consistent-enough volume that you don’t have to do that.
It’s “standard practice” to leave some headroom (3-6dB for pre-recorded or broadcast material, more for live recordings) to avoid [u]clipping[/u] (distortion) and then to boost (and/or dynamically compress/limit) later in post-production when the software knows exactly how much headroom remains.
There is a leveling effect, or you can use compression/limiting to automatically even-out the volume in post-production, or you can use the Envelope tool to do it manually. But again, that shouldn’t be necessary with a professional/commercial radio program.
I’ve worked out how to increase the volume at the export to mp3 stage
You can’t do it during export, but you can quickly & easily apply the Amplify or Normalize effects before exporting.
…This shouldn’t be a problem for commercial radio broadcasts which are generally “loud”, but perceived loudness doesn’t correlate well with peaks so not all normalized (AKA “maximized”) files are equally loud.