using Amplify to increase volume

[davidrbroder]

I have used the Amplify effect to increase volume as well as tweak the bass a little bit in a song I imported into Audacity. However when I export the song from Audacity to Windows Media Player (Windows 7) the sound is not as "crisp" as it sounded in Audacity, the bass is not as pronounced and the volume level is somewhat diminished. Is there a way to correct this?

[DVDdoug]

If you re-open the file in Audacity, does it sound OK or does it sound the same as Windows Media Player?

If this is a commercially released song, most commercial releases are already normalized (maximized) and there is little or no headroom for boosting the volume (or for boosting the bass unless you reduce the overall volume at the same time). This is true for quiet-sounding songs as well as louder-sounding songs. (The peaks limit how loud you can go without clipping/distorting, but the peaks don't correlate well with perceived loudness.)

What format are you exporting to? What format is the original? If you are exporting to a lossy format (MP3, etc.) try WAV.

Are you clipping? Attempting to go over 0dB? If you click "Allow Clipping", Audacity itself won't clip, but your exported file may be distorted.

Are you boosting the bass with the equalizer or bass & treble controls? If so, it's best to use Amplify after these kinds of adjustments because they can cause clipping.

[Trebor]

... However when I export the song from Audacity to Windows Media Player (Windows 7) the sound is not as "crisp" as it sounded in Audacity ...

If you exported from Audacity as mp3 then filters can be applied by LAME depending on the kbps rate, which can cut the high frequencies : high [crisp] frequencies are sacrificed when making mp3 with low kbps.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... rt_Options

[davidrbroder]

The song is one of mine recorded on a Tascam DP-03 I have several songs and am trying to put them on an album but some songs recorded earlier are at a lower volume. They have been converted to MP3 files. Audacity exports them to my music files as WAV files and I intend to make them MP3 files again so they can be listened to on an MP3 player or cell phone. The track in Audacity sounds exactly like I want it to sound. The WAV file that gets exported doesn't sound the way I want it to.

In addition, for some reason when I set the DB level, Audacity changes it on me. for instance when I get the level I want and increase bass just a bit the db seems to get lowered. That is the 'Picture" of the wave file is thinner. If I have put the file at two high a db and want to lower it, Audacity then makes the "picture" of the wave file thicker. I really am having trouble with this. I don't want to do anything other than make sure all my songs are at the same volume and tweak the bass or treble as necessary and Audacity just doesn't seem to want to do what I would like it to do. Any suggestions other than trash Audacity.

[davidrbroder]

What is LAME. I'm a guitar player not a recording engineer so I'm not familiar with the techno jargon. Oh, and here's another cool thing Audacity does. I go to Amplify, set the db level at 2.0 and allow clipping because in my recording there seems to be enough room to allow that db. but when I go back to amplify it shows the db level at -2.8. Why does it do this. And funny enough when changing db levels I don't hear that much difference in volume. I'm having trouble understanding why Audacity is said to be so great.

[davidrbroder]

So I just went back into Amplify and reset at 2 db. when I went back into Amplify it showed -4.8! It's got to be me, right? The software can't be that bad, can it? Why won't it just stay set where I want it?

[steve]

The track in Audacity sounds exactly like I want it to sound. The WAV file that gets exported doesn't sound the way I want it to.

As DVDdoug asked: "If you re-open the file in Audacity, does it sound OK or does it sound the same as Windows Media Player?"

[Trebor]

What is LAME...

If you are exporting the files in WAV format forget about LAME : it's an mp3 format thing.

I go to Amplify, set the db level at 2.0 and allow clipping because in my recording there seems to be enough room to allow that db. but when I go back to amplify it shows the db level at -2.8. Why does it do this.

It sounds like you have occasional loud peaks in your recording which are making the rest of the performance sound too quiet in comparison. When you "allow clipping" the loud peaks permitted to go beyond the normal +/-1 range , Amplify [to 0dB] will then show a negative value.

My suggestion is download a tool called a limiter into Audacity ,
e.g. http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Nyqui ... ns#Limiter
The increase in loudness achieved with a limiter is achieved without going beyond +/-1 range, i.e. without clipping.