Topic: Audacity Amplify Setting?

[dave570]

I was going to normalize a file of music when I realized it says the max is -3. I read previous posts here that said to use amplify instead of normalizing. When I do that it is prompting me for the amp in dbs. My levels on the recording ranged from -12 to -6 at some peaks. What do I type into this db field on the amplify screen that will also allow for some growth when I dither it from 24 bit to 16 bit?

[db]

0.0 dB. you should not worry about "growth" (not sure what you mean) as the levels of your resultant 16/44 files should be the same.  one method that is a time saver is to find an area with your highest and lowest amplitude (hopefully they're within a few mins of each other), select that area, and amplify @ -1.0 or 0.0, etc and see what that section looks like after the processing. ctrl z/undo and then apply the setting to the whole file that worked best in your test.

[notlance]

When using amplify, Audacity will tell you how much you can amplify without exceeding 0dBFS.  To amplify to a level greater than 0dBFS (I don't know why you would, unless the peaks in your file are applause perhaps) you have to check the "allow clipping" box.  That's how it works in my version of Audacity at least.

If I'm going to burn a CD for distribution, my last editing step is to amplify to a peak level of -0.5 dBFS.  I do this to allow some margin for the playback equipment.  The -0.5 dBFS level is arbitrary; I've heard of people using anything from -1.0 dBFS to 0 dBFS.

I don't know why you would allow more "growth" for 24 bit to 16 bit dither, but I'm willing to learn if you can explain.