Normalizing

[Farva]

I was wondering if anyone knew of a program that would normalize audio from a file/microphone/tap/etc. I need to make sure the audio isn't too loud and when it is too soft, to boost that sound up so it can be heard at the same (or roughly the same) volume.

 

[phide]

In most cases, normalization won't do much for you. What you really should use is a compressor/limiter. I'm told that it's possible to output files from foobar2000 with the plug-ins it has available (it comes default with two fairly basic, but functional, limiters). This is the free-and-easy approach. More elaborate and controllable means of accomplishing this are not cheap and not so easy.

The goal is not to raise the overall level by a minute degree, but to boost the lower-level sounds so that they fall more closely in amplitude to the higher-level sounds. A limiter accomplishes this task without requiring complex settings, though it will also raise low-level noise.