How to have the same volume/gain for all my songs?

[ArnaudAIx]

I use Audacity 2.0.3 on W7.
I record songs and want to burn a CD. Problem is that the songs have different volumes/gain. So, I need first to equalise the volume at a general average level for all songs.
The only solution I've founded is to export to mp3, then use mp3gain to know how many Db I must add or remove, then go back to Audacity and apply the Amplify effect with the number of Db given by mp3gain.
Is there a nicer solution within Audacity to perform that?
Thanks.

[kozikowski]

What happens if you run Amplify and change the second number (New Peak) to -1? Do that to several songs. Is that better?

There are ways to set dynamic compressors and other exotic tools at your songs, but if you're reasonably rational about your performances, this should go a long way to evening things out.

Koz

[DVDdoug]

WavGain works on WAV files and it uses the same algorithm as mp3gain and ReplayGain.

The only solution I've founded is to export to mp3, then use mp3gain to know how many Db I must add or remove, then go back to Audacity and apply the Amplify effect with the number of Db given by mp3gain.

That's actually not a bad approach...

The best way to do it is by-ear. Normalize/maximize all of the tracks for 0dB peaks. Then choose the quietest sounding track as your reference. Adjust-down the other tracks (if needed) to match your reference track.

[ArnaudAIx]

Thanks a lot for your advises. I'll try.
But it would be nice to have this feature integrated in Audacity.
Like mp3gain, you choose a gain (89db in mp3gain by default) and the song (all tracks) is then automatically adapted to the desired gain.

[kozikowski]

The problem is people needing different results when they change the loudness of their tracks, and they supply sometimes very different clips and songs to do it. One size doesn't fit everybody. There is a thing called Sound Check on an iPod which is supposed to even out the sounds in your playlists. Many people like it. Many people think it's terrible.

You personally happen to like the way mp3gain does it.

Koz

[Damienb]

Have you tried a different VST compressor? I use a free one that comes with presets. Antress: ModernCompressor is the one I use. Apply it to your tracks once you are done editing. I sometimes do it twice. I don't normalise my tracks as often 0db in a digital sense causes a bit of distortion. So using a compressor to output it to say -1dB seems to be a gentler approach and ensures the tracks are even. I then export to Mp3 at 160kbs.

Damien