some type of sound normalizer to increase quiet whispers

Our ears tend to perceive on the basis of an average level, not its peak. Volume meters represent an average signal level, so some shock sounds often do not record such a high meter reading, even if the signal is distorted. Shure drew a remarkable analogy: the average height of the Himalayan mountains is 5400m, but the peak of Everest is 8848m. What is the difference between the average and peak levels? Average normalization determines the average level of the audio file and likewise raises or lowers it to the target. This target peak level is often 0 dBFS (maximum available value), but may have a different level, for example, 6 dB below the maximum value. Peak determines the maximum (peak) level of the audio file, and then increases (or lowers) it to the target. There are two types of normalization – peak and average. What is sound normalization and how to apply it? What is this? So who is right? Let’s break down the myths that surround this terminology.

Others will tell you that this is a useful feature. It’s simply an automatic gain control for the whole song.Mention the word “normalization” in the group focused on sound recording and processing, and some “experts” will say that normalization is an amateur way and it should never be done. That means that in and of itself, it’s not changing the sound of your master with any dynamic range compression. There’s an important feature in there though that could be easy to overlook, so I want to be sure to point it out: normalization just applies a static gain change. Normalization is just subtracting your measured value from your target value and applying the result as gain! Use the value you got from step 2 to apply gain to your file.You would subtract -10 from -14-remember, subtracting a negative value is like adding the corresponding positive value-to get -4. For example, say your file measures an integrated loudness of -10 LUFS, and your target is -14 LUFS. Subtract your measured value from your target value.This could mean finding the maximum true peak level, the integrated loudness, etc. Scan the file to determine the value of the level you’re interested in.

The process to achieve audio normalization-whether peak or loudness based-is essentially a three-step process using little more than elementary school arithmetic. They can all be effective and subtly different. These days, integrated LUFS measurements are the most common, but you can also use RMS, maximum short-term or momentary loudness, or even something like the top of the LRA value. Loudness normalization is effective-and useful-because it uses some form of loudness measurement to make disparate audio files have a similar perceived loudness. The problem is that peak levels have very little bearing on how loud we perceive a sound as being. This type of normalization used to be very common for sample libraries, and is still frequently available in many audio workstations. Practically, though, normalization is almost always applied to either peak level or some type of loudness measurement.įor peak normalization, you can use either sample peak or true peak measurements. As mentioned above, in principle, audio normalization could be applied to any aspect of an audio file that you can measure and adjust.

Some type of sound normalizer to increase quiet whispers