A question about normalization in Soundforge

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clubzero

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Which one do you people use, RMS or peak level? I use RMS first and then peak level after this.

Pro people tell me what's the difference/ advantage of those options?

Club Zero
 
Hi clubzero :)
using the RMS level, it calculates the normalisation from an "overall picture" of the file. Using peak level it calculates from the highest peak.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong :)
I'm using peak
bizz
 
Yes I think I should start using compressors because, like you said, I can't get the overall volume to the max level since only one or two intruments "hit the top".. :)

Club Zero
 
Yep, RMS is root mean square, which is essentially a measure of the average level. When you normalize to peak, your are just raising the volume of the track until the highest peak is at 0 dB (or whatever you set it to). If you use a high RMS value, you will just clip off (hard limit) everything above 0 dB which will likely sound like crap. So, you're right, if you really want to increase the volume of a track, apply some compression first, then normalize the peak to 0 dB (actually I use -0.1 just to be safe).
 
You should try to avoid normalization. When you normalize, you are also raising the noise floor the same amount!! Try adjusting your recording technique to get a hotter signal.

Queue
 
That's a good tip, but I get the danger of distortion, and the songs would end up at different velocity level.. :(

Club Zero
 
Normalization

If you have Sound Forge 5.0, you should consider using Wave Hammer instead of just normalizing. If you don't have 5.0, get it! Wave Hammer alone justifies the cost. It also allows you to process at 24-bit.
 
the normalize function in SF5.0 has an option to normalize to RMS with dynamic compression if clipping occurs. It amounts to a maximizing of the overall volume, and sounds quite natural, too.
 
Thanks. Yes I've got SF 5.0, actually I've been using Sound Forge for years... I just haven't given much though to EQ and compression before. But now I do since I made a friends with a pro sound engineer. Thanks for the replies. :) Do you have specific suggestions? See one of my tracks at www.mp3.com/clubzero and give me something to work on...

Club Zero
 
You should try to avoid normalization. When you normalize, you are also raising the noise floor the same amount!! Try adjusting your recording technique to get a hotter signal.

Queue


I couldnt have said it any better!
 
Yes, but then the song volumes end up at different level...

Club Zero
 
clubzero,
I guess what you are trying to do here is use normalization to "master" songs for a cd? ...Making all the songs come out to the same volume level?

If that is the case, then my comment is not quite as relevant, as you may not be responsible for the original recording...

---But--- The part about the noise floor still applies. You will be raising the noise the same amount.

Queue
 
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