Topic: normalizing to 0db vs -0.1db

[newplanet7]

Normalize peak not rms.

[easy jim]

Ya I have met a few folks who use that RMS normalize thing that jacks up the whole waveform to 0.  Looks and sounds like crud.  I normalize to -0.02 dB. Meaning the highest point of my recording wherever it is in the show is
-0.02 dB.  I do each pair... meaning mics and board in most cases..and then I mix. 

But a question for you all that neither normalize or apply gain in post.  Aren't your recordings quiet?  I hate having to crank up the volume.  I run my 744 so that the levels are around the second red on the meters.  Whenever I get home however the levels need gain or normalization.  They are low in the spectrum.  That's why I do it.

I have never normalized a recording...

ditto. i do, however, raise gain sometimes.

I think that they're talking about raisng the gain and not raising the level of all the inherent frequencies in the recording to the same level, thus destroying the dynamics. 

There is mucho confusion out there on this issue and for that reason I have NEVER normalized a recording either...

 

I (peak) normalize in post by raising the gain to -0.2 dBFS, generally on the master bus/fader unless it is a single stereo to which I am doing no additional processing (i.e., EQ/HPF, etc.).  When I'm mixing from more than one stereo feed in post, I (peak) normalize the final mix by raising the gain to -0.2 dBFS as the final step with a 'trim' plug-in at the end of the chain on the master bus/fader track. 

When it is a 'post-matrix' mix, I like to use some light dynamic compression and EQ to sculpt and carve a bit on the raw resultant mix which is often really raw to my ears; extra dynamic by comparison to the mic source from the summing of all the tracks, and often less frequency balanced as well due to the summing of particular frequencies that might be emphasized in one or both sources due to the room or the engineer's mix.  For post-matrix recordings, I almost always like the mix better - and find it more car stereo/ipod-friendly - when it has undergone some light dynamic compression and a high pass filter to cut out excessive low end typical of live shows. 

That being said, however, I view my goals in creating a post-matrix a lot differently than optimizing the headroom for playback of an ambient stereo recording.

[su6oxone]

This has been a very interesting read.  I usually amplify (not normalize) in post, but always went to the 0.0 dB benchmark.  From now on it will be to -.02 dB.

Sounds like people are normalizing to a peak of anywhere from -0.02dB to -2dB... wish there was a consensus on a safe level to normalize to.