Subject:Normalizing Entire CD

Posted by: IguanaBob

Date:11/11/2010 7:52:33 AM

I'm using Audio Studio 9.0 and want to normalize tracks and burn them to a CD. I have two questions: (1) Do I "normalize" each track prior to burning my CD using the "normalization" feature found under the "Process" tab? And (2) Audio Studio 9.0 doesn't appear to have a Normalization feature for normalizing the entire CD ( i.e., when using Track-At-Once Audio CD) which I've found on other CD burning software. So how can I insure all my tracks (12 total) are properly normalized -- individually and collectively when burning my CD? Thanks!

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:11/11/2010 12:54:46 PM

What is 'properly normalised' ? There is no rule that says every track must hit 0dBFS (or whatever level) , and it may in fact make an ablum run very poorly together.

It depends entirely on what you want. If you normalise a whole single-file CD then the whole CD will be normalised to the single highest level.

If you do want each track normalised, then you need to split off each track and normalise it separately, or select 'regions' for each track in a larger file and normalise those individually.

Best answer is to use CD Architect and do it all 'properly' ;-) But sadly that doesn't come attached to SFAS, only SF Pro....

geoff

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: rraud

Date:11/11/2010 2:53:27 PM

Apparent loudness can be different from what RMS or VU meters tell you. IMO, the best way to adjust song transition levels is manually, using one's ears, preferably with good monitor speakers.
Then, 'Peak' normalize the entire project to 0.0dBFS. (or whatever)

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: IguanaBob

Date:11/11/2010 3:30:43 PM

Thanks, Geoff, for the quick reply. Probably will need to pony up for the SF Pro 10 version, which according to SF includes CD Architect. In the meantime, a follow-up question: If I normalize each track individually as you mention, will the tracks still sound good when I go to burn them on a CD -- or do I still have another step to normalize the entire CD "properly"? If the latter, is there any way to do that with SFAS? BTW, since I now have Audition 3.0, could I import the normalized SFAS tracks into Audition and use its CD burning protocol to normalize the entire CD (Obviously, I didn't have 3.0 when I started with SFAS). Thanks for all your help on this!

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: IguanaBob

Date:11/11/2010 3:42:16 PM

Cool. Thank you, rraud, for the input. I'm using KRK Rokit 5 monitors - which have exceeded my expectations so far. As I'm still a bit new to Sound Forge Audio Studio (SFAS), I couldn't find any SFAS "how to" procedure to gang the tracks to a single project as you suggest. How do you/can you do that with SFAS? Any other suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance for all your help -- and Geoff Wood's, too!

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: Steven Myers

Date:11/11/2010 4:06:05 PM

If you normalize each track individually, you will have ruined the relationship between one track and the next.

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:11/11/2010 6:18:13 PM

This is just me talking about my own preferences of course, but for me having each track be at a comfortable and convenient volume is much more important than preserving the relationship between tracks.

At the concert hall one song may have peaked 20dB lower than the average of the next and that's fine in a live performance. Listening to it at home is another matter. The one song would require turning up the volume to enjoy it, which would then result in the next one blasting uncomfortably loud. I've experienced this much more dramatically in musical theatre where i've seen a 40dB difference between a large production number and a slow emotional scene. It works ok live, but the recording is horrible without some compensation.

I would try to maintain volume integrity within a song, within reason (compression definitely saves some pieces that would otherwise be rendered unlistenable), but leveling differences between songs is quite useful.

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: roblesinge

Date:11/12/2010 6:24:50 AM

If you're interested in normalizing them individually AND together. Audition has a group normalize function that should do what you want. It can be both useful and horrible, depending on how used/overused it is. You just have to be careful that you don't kill your dynamics, unless that's what you're going for.

Load all of your tracks into Auditions sidebar, highlight them all and right click. Select "Group Waveform Normalize" and have at it.

Rob

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: rraud

Date:11/12/2010 9:27:57 AM

"how to procedure to gang the tracks to a single project"
- I'm not familiar with AS, but logic suggests you highlight the entire timeline, (Ctrl+A .. or triple-click) then peak normalize.

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: IguanaBob

Date:11/12/2010 3:22:36 PM

I couldn't find a way on this forum to respond/ thank people individually for all the good input I received for my question on normalizing tracks for an entire CD. So, this is the best I could do: Thanks again to each of you: Geoff Wood, rraud, Steven Myers, Chienworks and roblesinge. Much appreciated and very helpful!

Subject:RE: Normalizing Entire CD

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:11/12/2010 3:35:52 PM

The track should each sound just fine, normalised or not (unless they were very low level to start with).

However how the tracks sound in relation to each other cannot easily be estimated other than by ear, due to the differing nature of each song's content.

In SFAS I woiuld split every track off to a separate file, normalised the overall loiudest song, then adjust other's level in relation to that.

Simply normalising each probably won't work.

IN CDA you could normalise each track, then 'pull down' the level on ones that turn out too loud in comparison to the others - all on the same timeline, which is very convenient.

geoff