How to amplify without clipping

[njitram2000]

Ok, I think I understand it a bit better now

[waxcylinder]

How loud is a cassette tape? It's completely silent until you play it.

Yes and no ...
The taped recording does have greater or lesser energy levels recoded into it - which affects the "loudness" - not visible on a tape.

Similarly with a vinyl record - but here you can actually see the loud bits if you know what you are looking for (very useful when it come sto trying to set a sensible input recording level to maximize the amplitude while still avoiding clipping.

And similarly with a digital recording ...

The volume that your hear as Steve rightly points out is largely controlled by the volume control on your amp or portable player - BUT if you have a"quiet" recording to start with and then turn up the volume on playback you are also likey to amplify any "noise" that is present in the recording.

So your objective when recording with Audacity is to set the recording level so you get a nice big signal showing on the record level meter BUT without it ever getting to the far right hand end - if you do the recording will clip and Audacity will show you a red bar at the end of the meter. Then you will have to start all over again (if possible) and re-record with a slightly lower amplitude.

So, back to your original question: if you have recorded a nicely saturated signal as abiove, then you shouldn't need any further amplification prior to exporting the music file. If you still feel the need to amplify then Effect > Amplify helps you out here, as when you invoke it it suggests the highest level possible to avoid digital clipping. You might want to choke it back a little a bit as some portable players apparently can't cope with such a fully saturated signal.

WC

[waxcylinder]

And from re-reading your thread - I'm pretty sure that you want Effect > Amplify and not any type of compressor.

You would typically use a compressor where you are recording for playback in a noisy environment like a car - it makes the quiet bits louder and the loud bits quieter, so you don't have to keep adjusting the volume control (apparently).

Personally I like my loud bits loud and my quiet bits quiet (even in the car) - compression trashes the dynamic range of a lot of classical music ....

WC

[steve]

Personally I like my loud bits loud and my quiet bits quiet (even in the car) - compression trashes the dynamic range of a lot of classical music ....

When the new Bentley is delivered I'll happily go back to the original uncompressed recordings, but while I'm still tootling around in the old Morgan Aero I do rather appreciate the benefits of a little subtle dynamic compression.

[waxcylinder]

When the new Bentley is delivered I'll happily go back to the original uncompressed recordings, but while I'm still tootling around in the old Morgan Aero I do rather appreciate the benefits of a little subtle dynamic compression.

With a Lotus Elise it's hardly worth turning on the radio at all - unless you are doing 25mph or less ....

WC