I'm normalizing all 4,000 of mine right now with a program called SuperMP3Normalizer. I'll still have the originals if this turns out bad.
Just wondering if anyone has normalized theirs, and how they turned out?
I was using the iTunes/ iPod "Sound Check" feature, but it's got a little annoyance, which I didn't think was a big deal but now it really bothers me: When you're listening to a loudly recorded song, which iTunes will probably have turned down some as part of its volume normalizing process, and you skip ahead during that song, right after you hit skip you get a little blast of loud @ss music for just a split second before the iPod actually skips to the next song. Not the end of the world, but irritating ... and the louder you were listening, the worse the effect.
I also use an audio program called Sonar by Cakewalk, where I can load song files and see the waveform; Below is a sample showing three versions of 38 Special's "Back to Paradise" (hey don't judge my music; I'm old!):
1: Original
2: Original increased by 3 dB using Sonar's "3 dB Louder" function. You can see that the entire song had at least 3 dB of headroom that its volume could be increased without clipping. That's 3 free dB your system doesn't have to come up with.
3. Version normalized by SuperMP3Normalizer. As you can the song's volume is now pretty much totally maxed out across the song.
I don't want you all to think I'm selling this program; I actually just paid the $25 for it (sucker??) ... I just think it works very well: Equals out the volume of your songs from one song to the next, maximizes your stereo equipment's capability, and makes setting your amp's gain with a DMM make more sense to me (rather than just setting it by ear).
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Finally, here's a waveform look at why a modern, hotly-recorded track is a lot louder than an older, attenuated-to-a-safe-volume track; 38 Special's "Back to Paradise" (1987) vs Trapt's "Who's Going Home With You Tonight" (2008):
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Please respond back if you think there's any downsides to normalizing like this ...
