I do the same as Herb, but I use Diamond Cut DC8 to do the same thing. I use it to cut off the front and tail. I use it to normalize the wave, as well as apply any mastering effects. DC8 has a lot of filters and effects, mainly designed for cleaning up records and tapes that have been digitized, but works just as well on audio files I create. And DC8 lets me rip to MP3 (or use a host of other CODECS). We're going to start beta testing DC10 pretty soon, so I'm looking forward to that (I help beta test). They also have a very friendly forum (like here) where you get to interact directly with Craig and Rick (the founders of Diamond Cut).

John

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