When to normalize?
- Thread starter 5stringer
- Start date
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
Nope. There is almost zero reason to peak normalize in music production. That function is mostly meant for broadcast or laboratory-type purposes.
G.
G.
Ethan Winer
Acoustics Expert
^^^ Right, the only time to normalize is when preparing the final mix Wave file.
--Ethan
--Ethan
Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
Adding to SSG, normalizing individual elements before mixdown guarantees clipping. Off all the possible places for normalization (again, basically worthless throughout the entire process in the first place), that would be the absolute worst possible place to do so.
Best to just ignore the function altogether.
Best to just ignore the function altogether.
Dogbreath
Im an ex-spurt
Not to be argumentative but I wouldn't normalize then either. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've even used normalize.
Ethan Winer
Acoustics Expert
Not to be argumentative but I wouldn't normalize then either. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've even used normalize.
Sure, you could play the song all the way through in real time to note the highest level ever reached on the output bus, then adjust the master fader so peaks just hit -1 or whatever. In theory that's better (lower distortion) than rendering and normalizing. But I'm pretty sure the difference in quality would not be audible.
--Ethan
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
It's not a question of whether the difference would be audible or not, it would not be because there is no difference. It's just that peak normalizing - whether done manually or by program is irrelevant - serves almost no useful purpose.
G.
R
RAMI
Guest
But why would you even want to do THAT?
Supercreep
Lizard People
What about as a last-ditch effort to bring a track that is too quiet, but otherwise good, up to a useable level?
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
Because if a mixdown track is considered "too quiet", it can only be so when compared to another track, and the chances of just boosting the overall gain without altering the crest factor being of much help on that ladder is close to nil.
That's the thing about peak normalization: there's very little relation between what it does and how it sounds. Normalizing the peak value only helps level the perceived volume by the rarely occasional sheer luck.
G.
PDP
There once was a note
Usually my final stereo mix track is -4 to as much as -6db peak level. I normalize it to bring the highest peak to 0db before it gets mastered because I thought it sounded better than turning up the output on the limiter (or another plug-in) so much to bring up the volume. Is there a better way? I dont notice any loss from normalizing, is there?
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
Peak normalization is nothing but an overall gain in volume. There's no difference between peak "normalizing" and raising the volume yourself. All the "normalize" button does is look at the entire track, find the highest peak and raise (or lower) the entire track by the number of dB required to bring the highest peak up (or down) to the normalizer setting. If it sounds "better" to you, that's only because it's being played back louder and you're being fooled by the extra volume; it doesn't actually sound any different, it's just a little louder. You could do the same thing by turning up the volume on your monitors.
If you're still going to master it or have it mastered, normalizing first only leaves no headroom for the mastering job, should it need it.
G.
If you're still going to master it or have it mastered, normalizing first only leaves no headroom for the mastering job, should it need it.
G.
Ethan Winer
Acoustics Expert
To maximize the volume capacity of the CD (or MP3 file) your music will eventually be written to. This is pretty basic stuff. Would you release music that peaked at, say, -10 dB?
--Ethan
Ethan Winer
Acoustics Expert
There could be a tiny difference in distortion. If you set the output bus in a 32-bit DAW so the highest peak hits -1 dB, that math is done at 32 bits. But if you export to a 16 bit Wave file and then normalize before going to CD, I think the math would be done at 16 bits. If you export at 24 bits, normalize to -1, then save as 16 bits for the CD, that will likely be no different than were the math done at 32 bits on the DAW bus.
Of course, all of this is minutiae that takes time away from considering real problems that are far more important.
--Ethan
R
RAMI
Guest
No, I wouldn't. But I would never use normalization or the master fader to get the peak up to zero. If one wanted "To maximize the volume capacity of the CD", I think the more important thing to look at is average, not peak volume, no? You could bring that one peak that happens to be above the rest to 0, but your average level might still be -30db.
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
That's comparing apples and oranges. If you want to choose between using the normalize function or boosting the gain by boosting the DAW fader manually at the same point in the process, there is zero difference.
And if one is mastering for CD, that means one is setting perceived volume of a track as appropriate within the context of the album. In such a case there is not only no guarantee that any specific peak normalization level will be correct, but also even if it is, it will most likely need to be acheived with a corresponding change in crest factor, as with the use of some sort of compression or leveling, not just for volume, but also for tonal shaping.
Not only can that kind of mastering control not usually be accomplished via peak normalization, but peak normalization can often just get in the way of doing so.
G.
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PoorBoyRecordings
New member
Hmmmm. Just wondering. Anyone have a button that could normalize me ? I have never been normal !