I try not to normalize at all. For the most part the exported BIAB tracks have decent levels and work well in Reaper. For my own tracking I try to max around the sweet spot for Reaper again, (-12 on the indicator), so have no problems "gain staging" in the box. I used to normalize stuff in the DAW before mixing but found that, on occasion, the increased noise floor was a problem and it was an unnecessary step. I suppose it also depends on whether it's a revisable process in your DAW.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
I don't normalize in BB but I probably have the "Normalize Tracks" turned on by default. Generally if the track is well recorded, normalizing it in not required.
After I have mixed and exported my track, I always open it in a Wave Editor and trim the silence from the start and end and.... I will run the normalize function on it at this point. The amount of normalization used varies depending on the level of the file. The goal is to not need to use normalize but I have no problems with using it.
If you have an anemic looking wave, you did something wrong and rather than fixing it with Normalize, you should go back to your process and see what you're not doing correctly.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
You may find the issue is not that you need to normalize an audio file, which changes the file's volume level, but instead need to make the waveform height bigger so the waveform display occupies more of the track height.
Some DAWs have a feature that allows a user to change the apparent displayed waveform height in a track without changing any waveform values. Both Audacity and Cakewalk by Bandlab make the display change by allowing the user to change a track's volume scale. Cakewalk also has a maximize waveform height command.
I try not to normalize at all. For the most part the exported BIAB tracks have decent levels and work well in Reaper. For my own tracking I try to max around the sweet spot for Reaper again, (-12 on the indicator), so have no problems "gain staging" in the box. I used to normalize stuff in the DAW before mixing but found that, on occasion, the increased noise floor was a problem and it was an unnecessary step. I suppose it also depends on whether it's a revisable process in your DAW.
If I use the Biab Trak Injector it will use the source files direct without any processing or added fx, these can be instantly changed to Direct Input or with the amp fx keeping the same riffs.
Disclaimer: I don't normalize during BIAB export because I try to get the individual levels as close as possible to what I want in BIAB to save some work in my DAW.
However, if you REALLY want the mathematically best audio quality, it's best to normalize during the BIAB export so as not to lose any digital information. Not that anyone could actually hear the difference (...if you had somehow reasonable levels in BIAB).
I try to get the individual levels as close as possible to what I want in BIAB to save some work in my DAW.
Interesting but I'm a fan of exporting with no EQ, No Reverb, No panning & NO level change so that I have all options available in REAPER which is easier to use as well.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
I try to get the individual levels as close as possible to what I want in BIAB to save some work in my DAW.
Interesting but I'm a fan of exporting with no EQ, No Reverb, No panning & NO level change so that I have all options available in REAPER which is easier to use as well.
Of course, this is the best option in terms of sound quality.
But I'm a lazy person as long as it doesn't affect the sound too much. But I'm only talking about the levels, reverb, EQ and other processing I do only in my DAW. There are so many inexpensive and good plug-ins on the market that it would be stupid to rely only on BIAB.
And IF the levels are too low, I sometimes normalize in BIAB.
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