Audacity Forum

A question on the Amplify effect, if I export the recording after using the Amplify effect will it be at the amplifies level? If so then that is great news.

I got hung-up on your distortion problem and I forgot about that question...

Yes. The default Amplify setting will adjust the volume up (or down*) to make your peaks exactly 0dB (the "digital maximum"). That's called "normalization". Audacity also has a Normalize effect which has a couple more features/options. I have another application that calls this "maximization" which is a better word but the proper audio terminology is normalization.





* Audacity uses floating-point data internally/temporarily so you can over-amplify or apply some effect that pushes the peaks over 0dB and the data won't be actually be clipped (yet). But if that happens you should lower the volume before exporting because many audio formats can't go over 0dB and if you do export to a format that does go over 0dB the listener will clip their digital-to-analog converter if they play it at "full-digital volume".

All of the replies have been very helpful. I now know what levels to use. I have eliminated the very distorted recordings by simply paying attention the microphone bar graph and keeping it at 0 dB or below. The Amplify effect is useful to give a good sound level if the record level is low and I have demonstrated that I can export the results of the Amplify effects. I believe that I am getting the true sound from my Blue Snowball Ice mic and I question its quality. I am an amateur musician and tone is very important. I work hard to produce a good one and I am unhappy when the mic does not reproduce my tone. My mic is different than what has been described in this thread. I don't have a switch on the mic for three different levels. Mine must be a scaled down version of the Blue Snowball. I am wondering if the Blue Yeti is superior enough to make the cost worthwhile. I could return the Snowball mic that I purchased. I would have purchased a Blue Yeti if it were not back ordered. In fact I have ordered one which I will either cancel or wait for delivery. Perhaps I should post on the music portion of the forum for mic questions. I will not use many of the Audacity functions and just stick with simple mono recordings, but I do want good fidelity. One more thing on mics, the coronavirus has had a big effect on their availability. Either the factories were closed for a while or people working from home caused an increased demand, or both.