Exactly...

The wave I export from my DAW is close to being finished but I drop it into an editor and use a process called normalize to get a few extra db out of it but stop short of going 100%.

You mention being as loud as commercial CD's. Most of those are burned to Red Book specs. You might want to do some research on that.

However, if you take rharv's advice and get a copy of Ozone... that will get you there without the "requirement" of learning about Red Book specs. Be advised... if you get the demo version and run it... you WILL spend the money to buy the unlock key. So be prepared for that eventuality.

I use it on my DAW as part of my "mastering" process to get the file ready to export and use. It's at THIS point that I drop it into my wave editor and run the normalize function to get a few more db without clipping. Some times it make a fairly noticeable difference in levels and sometimes it's actually really close to being ready to go.

Also be aware that abuse of Ozone can ruin a song file quickly, easier in fact, than the improvements and tweeks. In other words.... don't crank the knobs to full and call it done.

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.