Audacity Forum

Hello! I've searched google for this, but the "fade in and out" gets me too many hits dealing with fade effects. What I'm dealing with is an old worn out tape that fades in and out.

This is a cassette tape that I picked up at a rummage sale. It's an audiobook with no music accompaniment. What I'm looking for is the best method to boost the volume of the low end of the fade without blasting the volume out on the high end of the fade. Is there any way to smooth the volume out when dealing with this problem?

Thank you very much! First time post, but a long time audacity user (and lurker!)

Use the "Amplify" effect to boost the entire recording as high as possible,
then use the Envelope Tool to bring down the volume of the loud parts so that they are about the same as the quiet parts.
Then use "Mix and Render" (Tracks menu) to "apply" the envelope to the track.
Finally, use the Amplify effect again to adjust the track level back up to a reasonable volume.

Note that by amplifying the quiet parts, the background hiss on those parts will become significantly louder.

Thanks Steve! I'll give that a shot tonight. Should I record with the input level high, too?

Not too high or you will get distortion.
Aim for a maximum level a little over half the height of the Audacity audio track, but ensure there is some gap between the blue waveform and the top/bottom of the track at all times. Digital audio is very unforgiving of recording too high.

try this mechanical fix first ... http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 26#p162826