Can i normalize twice?

Errefae

New member
I have recorded a 2 hour dj set i have normalized it to -1.0dB and saved the project, now i want to normalize to -0.5dB or 0dB is this possible? will normalizing twice affect the audio quality?

original tracks are all 16/24bit flac files recorded in 32bit PCM wave on audacity.


Thanks :)
 
Normalizing only adjusts gain equally to the set point. So no, it will not affect the audio quality. Just the level. Watch out for clipping if you get close to 0dB.
 
Im sorry but I disagree. You’ll get some weirdness around the zero line if you start from the fixed point file. Whether it’s enough for anybody to ever notice is a big question, but it will be measurable. Ideally you’d want to start from the floating point source both times just to be sure.
 
I have recorded a 2 hour dj set i have normalized it to -1.0dB and saved the project, now i want to normalize to -0.5dB or 0dB is this possible? will normalizing twice affect the audio quality?

original tracks are all 16/24bit flac files recorded in 32bit PCM wave on audacity.
If you are just trying for a half dB I would just "Amplify" (+0.5dB) in Audacity and not Normalize. It should preserve the "reconstructed peaks" and should not clip, but you can always run the entire output through the Orban Loudness Meter (app) and confirm that.

I'm curious why you'd want to do this. You can always just bump the fader when playing, and not risk having clipping in the set's audio.

P.S. that bolded text really doesn't make sense to me. Do you mean you just pasted together FLAC files, i.e., not "recorded" them?
 
Im sorry but I disagree. You’ll get some weirdness around the zero line if you start from the fixed point file. Whether it’s enough for anybody to ever notice is a big question, but it will be measurable. Ideally you’d want to start from the floating point source both times just to be sure.

That is what I meant to imply... Thank you for clarifying.

In the end, I am not sure what the OP want's to do anyway. I have never 'normalized' anything ever...
 
With the way most DAWs work, being "non destructive", you should be able to normalize and unnormalize a hundred times without changing anything in the original file.

I've used the normalize function often, especially if I'm having to make edits in the wave file. It helps to be able to see the waveform full scale to make the cuts. Of course you can zoom in but in Reaper, zooming in on the wave file does ALL tracks, not just one. If one track is significantly lower than the others, its easy to pop it up 15dB or so.
 
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