Topic: WaveLab 5.01a Question

[Dutchman1101]

Is there a way in WaveLab 5.01a when adding gain to make it so it never goes over 0db or would I have to normalize to do that?

Harrison

[sygdwm]

isnt that the exact definition of what normalizing does? you could just raise the gain in pieces instead of the whole file/song/set. but that would sound funny and be a pita. whats wrong w/ normalizing?

[Sebastian]

You could apply a limiter before the gain boost...

[T.J.]

whenever i add gain in wavelab, i just get the peak level first and add gain close to zero.

[Dutchman1101]

Normalizing is the same as adding gain but normalizing wont go past 0db, correct? Essentially doing exactly what I asked in my first post?

[sygdwm]

whenever i add gain in wavelab, i just get the peak level first and add gain close to zero.

i do this ^^ versus normalizing. but i dont know why.

[Dutchman1101]

Does normilizing degrade the quality at all? From the research I have done since I started this thread it looks like it is the same as adding gain but it just wont let you go past 0db.

[sygdwm]

i really dont know. my gut tells me (w/o any research) that adding gain across the whole file seems to make more sense than just raising it in certain areas. could it also lower some louder sections?

[JasonSobel]

typically, Normalizing does the exact same thing as adding gain, but doesn't allow any peaks to go over 0dB.  Normalizing will find the highest peak in the file, and make that 0dB (or -.5dB, or whatever you set it to), and will raise the gain of the entire file by the same amount.  This should sound the same as if you did the process yourself (by determining the what the highest peak it, and then adding gain manually to the whole file).

The confusion comes in here.  In some software programs (I'm at work, so I don't have WaveLab open in front of me), there is an option to Normalize based on average RMS value.  What that does is it'll raise the average RMS value of the whole file to a specific point.  The problem with this is that it doesn't look at the peak values at all, so if you raise the average RMS level by too much, it could push the peaks beyond 0dBfs and create clipping.  You don't want to normalize with this method.  But if you stick to the first method (Normalize based on peak values), you'll be all set.

[sygdwm]

great explanation. +t

[Dutchman1101]

typically, Normalizing does the exact same thing as adding gain, but doesn't allow any peaks to go over 0dB.  Normalizing will find the highest peak in the file, and make that 0dB (or -.5dB, or whatever you set it to), and will raise the gain of the entire file by the same amount.  This should sound the same as if you did the process yourself (by determining the what the highest peak it, and then adding gain manually to the whole file).

The confusion comes in here.  In some software programs (I'm at work, so I don't have WaveLab open in front of me), there is an option to Normalize based on average RMS value.  What that does is it'll raise the average RMS value of the whole file to a specific point.  The problem with this is that it doesn't look at the peak values at all, so if you raise the average RMS level by too much, it could push the peaks beyond 0dBfs and create clipping.  You don't want to normalize with this method.  But if you stick to the first method (Normalize based on peak values), you'll be all set.

Thanks! +T