Final CD levels Too Low

[lbcsteve]

Hi All,

I posted this same issue a year or so ago, I was never able to correct the issue.

When I create my final CD (wave files) and listen to the playback, the level is way too low.
I take 8 channels from my ADAT through my mixer down to stereo (balanced +4dB), this goes to another mixer that has a USB out, which goes into my PC. I keep the levels as hot as possible on both mixers (0dB to +3dB) and the levels in Audacity are -2dB to -3dB peak.
Recordings sound fine, but not loud enough. I have to raise the gain on whatever I'm using for playback to higher than normal levels for comfortable listening.

I just read a couple of posts with similar problems and I think I may try normalize on a couple of tracks. I just tried this with a short section and it seemed to raise the playback levels by a coupl dB.

Any thoughts

[bgravato]

Use the amplify effect as the last step and amplify to a peak value of 0dB or slightly below 0dB if you want to play on the safe side to avoid any possible clipping.

Also sometimes peak value might not be the best way measure the "loudness" of the audio. In audio tracks with lots of dynamics (some very quiet parts and some loud parts), limiting by the loudest part can make the quieter parts sound too quiet. This is where dynamic compression gets in play. Read this wiki topic for a better insight on this subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

[waxcylinder]

I would use the amplify rther than the normalize (unless your recording chain is unbalanced L-R) - see http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Amplify_and_Normalize.

I amplify to -2.0dB as my final production step prior to exporting.

WC

[lbcsteve]

Thanks for the info,

I will try your suggestions!

[kozikowski]

And not once in there did you tell us what the show was.

That's important. Live performances captured with aggressive high quality are too low. Nobody ever issues a music CD without serious loudness processing and management, so if you're comparing a Nine Inch Nails CD to your live capture of the same or similar band, there will be no comparison.

The tools have changed a bit, but I think you can still use Chris's Compressor to achieve what you want.

Chris's Compressor
http://pdf23ds.net/software/dynamic-compressor/

That will increase the loudness of the show and at the default values, affect the quality of the music almost not at all. For a little more serious compression, I use a compression value of 7 instead of 5 and the show will approximate that of the local FM station. Higher compression values will make the show more dense and loud and have remarkably little affect on the musical quality.

Koz

[lbcsteve]

All,

In this case, I'm using Audacity as a 2 track final mixdown of my blues band demo CD. Full band with 2 guitars, bass, drums and a harp player.
I did some experimenting with the "Amplify" feature and this may be the fix!
I am also going to use my Symetrix 525 (2) channel comp to raise the average levels a bit. The Symetrix has a Stereo setting which links the 2 channels.
It's the weekend, so I'll try some more mixes this evening and report back.

Thanks everyone!

[kozikowski]

"Normalize" and "Amplify" are cousins. They both look at the whole show, find the one highest peak and change the overall show volume until that one peaks reaches a set point. The major difference is Normalize is unlinked -- it does left and right independently and can cause stereo direction problems.

If you run these tools and there's not enough boost, then you need to change the character or density of the sound with one of the volume compression tools (different from digital compression).

Koz