Low audio levels after burning CD

[lbcsteve]

All,

Problem- The playback levels on my CD's are low, as compared to commercial CD's.
Here is my audio chain- 8 track analog tape run through Carvin mixer with USB out. USB out to USB in on my PC. I am running Audacity at 44Khz, 16 bit stereo recordings. Next I export (both mp3 & wave) to Windows Media player for burning. Sound quality on CD playback is fine, it's just that I have to turn up the audio amp higher than normal to get a good playback level. I do understand commercial CD's are heavily compressed, like Metallica's latest!
Both mp3 & wave have the same issue. Audio levels on the analog mixer are at 0dB, "monitor input" levels in Audacity are around -10 to -6dB.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Regards...lbcsteve

[steve]

Here is my audio chain- 8 track analog tape run through Carvin mixer with USB out. USB out to USB in on my PC. I am running Audacity at 44Khz, 16 bit stereo recordings. --- MISSING BIT HERE --- Next I export (both mp3 & wave) to Windows Media player for burning

Before you export, select the entire track and apply the "Amplify" effect from the Effects menu. The default settings in "Amplify" are automagically adjusted to give the track a peak level of 0dB. I prefer to leave just a little headroom and set the peak level to -0.1dB

[lbcsteve]

Stevethefiddle,

Thanks for the tip. I'll try this and let you know what happens!

Regards,
lbcsteve