#Should i use loudness equalization how to#
#Should i use loudness equalization full#
#Should i use loudness equalization software#

Also consider saving them in this format if you are going to do further processing.

#Should i use loudness equalization software#

To take advantage of the high quality of high bit depth inside audio editing software make sure all your temporary files are stored as 32-bit floating point. This is only the case if we keep the file at the higher resolution once it has been processed! This means that calculations are done much more accurately, and therefore affect the sound quality far less. Nowadays audio editing software works internally at a much higher bit depth (often 32-bit floating point). Even turning it up with peak normalization caused damage. Your CD-quality 16-bit file could end up 12-bit or less. If you turned the volume down you effectively reduced the bit depth. Its bad reputation was mainly earned back in the days when digital files were all stored as 16 bit. Performing any digital processing to a file is going to change it. This subject comes under вЂњgain stagingвЂќ, a big subject to cover in the future. It may not clip by itself, but as soon as you add any extra processing or play tracks simultaneously your DAW or plugins may overload.

Peak normalization to 0 dBFS is a very bad idea for any parts to be used in a multi-track recording.

Inside a multi-track DAW project, when you are not exporting the normalized files individually, you probably wonвЂ™t suffer from the problems we now mention. For the sake of this section we are assuming you are using an audio editor. Normalization can be performed in a standalone program, usually an audio editor (like Sound Forge), or also inside your DAW.

We still have the same 0 dBFS problem mentioned for RMS, but now the different normalized audio files should sound much more consistent in volume. It understands that we hear frequencies between 1000 вЂ“ 6000 Hz as louder and takes that into account. It listens to the volume intelligently and thinks how we will hear it. This is a similar way to measure volume as RMS, but can be thought of as emulating a human ear. Luckily there is a recent solution, the new standard in broadcast audio, the catchily titled EBU R 128 EBU R 128 volume detection If one sound file has many frequencies between 1000 вЂ“ 6000 Hz as shown in the diagram, it will sound louder. This is shown on the Fletcher-Munson curve below.

Humans perceive different frequencies at different volumes. This may not be desirable, an example would be in mastering.ДЄnother problem is that RMS volume detection is not really like human hearing. This means that to make a group of audio files the same volume we may need to turn them all down so that none of their peaks clip (goes over 0 dBFS). We are still limited to the fact that digital audio canвЂ™t go above 0 dBFS. This method is closer to how the human ear works and will create more natural results across varying audio files. It takes an average and calls that the volume. There may be large peaks, but also softer sections. This considers the вЂњoverallвЂќ loudness of a file. In digital audio you canвЂ™t get any louder than the highest peak at 0 dBFS, so normalizing to this value will create the loudest file you can. This is the best method if you want to make the audio as loud as possible. This only considers how loud the peaks of the waveform are for deciding the overall volume of the file.

#Should i use loudness equalization how to#

We must first decide how we are going to measure the volume in the first place before we can calculate how to alter it, the results will be very different depending on what method we use. There are different ways of measuring the volume of audio. What is the best method to normalize audio? Often normalizing audio just wonвЂ™t work for matching volume levels, mastering engineers need not loose any sleep. While this is a huge advantage, it canвЂ™t replace compression as it canвЂ™t affect the peaks in relation to the bulk of the sound. Normalization can be done automatically without changing the sound as compression does.

#Should i use loudness equalization full#

It may be individual snare hits or even full mixes. If you have a group of audio files at different volumes you may want to make them all as close as possible to the same volume.