Pitfalls of normalization?

[Conrad Josepi]

Hi there,

Well, Im well on my way into my first PC recording project. Everything is working great. I am through with the capturing process, and now ready to get into the audio processing realm.

My question is this. I used preamps on just about every audio signal I recorded. The results are fantastic, I really couldnt be much happier. I am toying with the idea of normalizing all of my audio tracks in order to have the hottest signal possible for each track. Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of when doing this? I am in danger of adding noise? Or would I simply be amplifying any noise already present? Would it be better to run them through any necessary gating or noise reduction first?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Conrad Josepi

 

[drstawl]

Sounds like a lot of work for nothing. Adjust the relative volumes of each track to obtain a hot final mixdown, but leave some headroom (I like to use -3dB) to offset the increased possibbility for occasional "additive" clipping. Then normalize the final stereo .wav file. If individual tracks weren't recorded hot enough, I think it would sound better rerecording them than adding too much digital boost.

 

[Peter Ochello]

You don't want to normalize before processing. Normalizing the wave will put it at
its maximimum allowable amplitue prior to clipping. This leaves no
headroom for your processing. Drstawl has listed a good level. Between -3 and
-6 dB is a great average level for signal that is not plump full of dynamics.
This level will give you some room to work with when processing. Then, just
before you go to disk with your song, normalize it. This function ensures that all
the tracks on the CD remain relatively at the same level......good luck!

 

[S8-N]

What software are you using? I use Cool Edit Pro and haven't had much luck with any kind of noise reduction...