Waveform Questions ::: -Sound Forge - PC - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:Waveform Questions ::: Posted by: TheDeanster Date:10/22/2008 3:40:09 PM Hi guys, couple of questions about waveforms. Is it our goal when normalizing and compressing to crank out as much volume without clipping the waveform? When normalizing and/or compressing, how do you know how much is enough? Do you look at the waveform and keep pumping up the volume until your peaks are almost clipped and then back off a little? Secondly, if I "extract audio from CD" within SF...am I seeing the waveform exactly how the engineer saw it when he mastered the CD? I extracted some audio from a few of my favorite CDs just to see what the waveform looked like. I was amazed at what I saw. Some of the waveforms from some recent releases are so compressed and maxed out that the peaks of the waveforms are clipped. While some of my older music from the late 70's and early 80's look completely different. Way less compression and lots and lots of room between the highest peak and clipping. Is this what they mean by the "loudness wars"?
Subject:RE: Waveform Questions ::: Reply by: Chienworks Date:10/22/2008 6:02:46 PM Your goal is to make the music sound good. Use your ears. Ignore the wave form except as an aid to make sure you don't clip. Back in the analog days clipping was fuzz and used artistically sometimes. In these digital daze clipping is death. All i can say to your second paragraph is, "yes".
Subject:RE: Waveform Questions ::: Reply by: rraud Date:10/23/2008 7:42:33 AM Google search: Audio Mastering, Volume Wars.
Subject:RE: Waveform Questions ::: Reply by: Geoff_Wood Date:10/23/2008 12:48:31 PM No need to nudge anythng anywhere. Usual thing is to simply set the peak level to a tad under 0dBFS; -0.3dBFS seems a popular choice. This is purely because the behaviour of some DACs can be nasty if 0dBFS is reached. Current mastering does tend to squash peaks to arttempt to attain 'ever louder tracks'. It is horrible nd to be resisted. Do not confuse these horribly squashed (and yes, possibly even 'clipped') peaks with 'digital clipping', becase they ain't (necessarily) the same thing ! However it's not impossible that some releases do contain digital clipping, even possibly introduced at the production mastering phase due to incompetence. geoff Message last edited on10/23/2008 12:50:47 PM byGeoff_Wood.
Subject:RE: Waveform Questions ::: Reply by: jumbuk Date:10/23/2008 4:00:36 PM Also worth considering what kind of music you are making and how it gets listened to. If you are recording jazz, folk, world or classical odds are you won't want to damage the dynamic range too much. Same goes for much ambient electronica (the kind designed for listening rather than chillout lounges). On the other hand, if it's full on dance or radio rock, you may find it difficult to compete without joining the loudness wars.
Subject:RE: Waveform Questions ::: Reply by: TheDeanster Date:10/23/2008 7:42:23 PM Thanks for all the feedback guys - much appreciated!

Subject:Waveform Questions :::

Posted by: TheDeanster

Date:10/22/2008 3:40:09 PM

Hi guys, couple of questions about waveforms. Is it our goal when normalizing and compressing to crank out as much volume without clipping the waveform? When normalizing and/or compressing, how do you know how much is enough? Do you look at the waveform and keep pumping up the volume until your peaks are almost clipped and then back off a little?

Secondly, if I "extract audio from CD" within SF...am I seeing the waveform exactly how the engineer saw it when he mastered the CD? I extracted some audio from a few of my favorite CDs just to see what the waveform looked like. I was amazed at what I saw. Some of the waveforms from some recent releases are so compressed and maxed out that the peaks of the waveforms are clipped. While some of my older music from the late 70's and early 80's look completely different. Way less compression and lots and lots of room between the highest peak and clipping. Is this what they mean by the "loudness wars"?