Audacity Normalize: A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Volume Control

Have you ever tried to edit audio for a soundtrack or podcast to make changes or add effects? In this post, we will analyze Audacity Normalize, its primary usage, and how it can smooth your audio. Whether you are a podcaster, musician, or video creator, fully understanding loudness normalization is vital, as this will allow the industry to deliver constant and good experiences to your audience. So, let's dive in and discover the power of Audacity Normalize!

What is Audacity loudness normalization

Imagine listening to a playlist with songs at massively different volumes. One second, you find yourself straining to hear a soft-spoken podcast, and the following, your eardrums are blasted through a noisy track tune. Frustrating, right? That's where loudness normalization comes in.

Audacity offers rich audio-modification features. Whether you want to amplify a low-volume recording or cut off excessively loud music, Audacity's Normalize function will cater to all such computing needs.

To better understand loudness normalization, let's examine a few key concepts: RMS, LUFS, and peak levels.

• RMS (Root Mean Square): measures the standard loudness of an audio signal over time. It offers a more accurate representation of perceived loudness than height levels.
• LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale): LUFS is a measurement unit used to quantify loudness levels. It guarantees consistency throughout different audio platforms and helps maintain a balanced audio experience.
• Peak Levels: Peak measures the degree to which the audio waveform is at its highest point. While peak levels are important to prevent distortion, loudness normalization focuses on the general perceived loudness.

Now that we understand loudness normalization and its importance, let's explore when and how to use Audacity Normalize correctly.

How to use Audacity to normalize volume

Step
1. Upload track
2. First, you need the desktop app. You can download it from the Audacity website if you don't have one. Open the application, and in the top left corner, click on "File." This will give you a drop-down list; select "Open" on that list. This will open a window to let you upload the audio you want to normalize.
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Step
4. Select the audio you want to normalize

Now that you have managed to upload the audio, click to have it normalized which would optimize its sound. If you are using a MacBook, just press "Cmd+A", otherwise on Windows, you should press "Ctrl+A".



Next, go to the "Effect" tab on the top of your screen. This will give you a dropdown list. On that list, select "Volume and Compression" then select "Normalize".



After clicking on "Normalize," a window will pop up and give you three options. The first option is to Remove the DC offset and center on 0.0 vertically. Moving the DC means making sure your waveform is on the 0.0 line. If the DC offset isn't on 0.0, it can distort your audio and not leave enough space for other effects.

The second way to normalize audio levels

The second option is to normalize your peak amplitude to -1 dB or whatever value you choose. The abbreviation dB measures audio signals and is short for decibels. You don't want your track's peak volume to be so loud that it extends beyond this peak value. Extending the maximum volume past this boundary results in distortion and clipping. We chose the best normalized settings audacity level of -1 dB to stay below the maximum amplitude and leave headroom for other effects.

Let's say you use a Behringer mixer with one mic recorded on the left side of the stereo mix and one on the right side. In this case, you'd want to analyze both of these channels separately because you might be speaking in a different volume than your co-host or your guest throughout the dialog. To normalize audio with Audacity in this situation, select the checkbox to Normalize Stereo Channels Independently and adjust the amplitude separately for each channel. If you aren't mixing two microphones, you can leave this box unchecked.



You may use the Preview feature instead of the Play button, which plays six seconds of audio while you have the track selected before you make a final decision.

If you like the way a track sounds, you can press the OK button to adjust the levels to the Normalize effect on the entire track.

How to use Audacity to batch normalize volume

Step
1. Upload tracks
2. Open the application, and in the top left corner, click on "File." It will bring forth a drop-down list. Selecting “Open” from the list would be what you are required. The interface will present a list and within that window will be an option to upload the audio files to be normalized.
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Step
4. Select the audio files you want to normalize

Now, when you have your audio files uploaded, you choose the audio processing function as normalization. Just utilize the keyboard shortcut "Cmd+A" if you are using a Macbook or "Ctrl+A" if you are using a Windows laptop.



Next, go to the "Effect" tab on the top of your screen. This will give you a dropdown list. On that list, select "Volume and Compression" then select "Normalize".



If you select multiple tracks and apply the Normalize effect, all audio tracks will be independently normalized to the same peak level. For example, if you set "Normalize Maximum Amplitude to:" 0.0 dB, every selected audio track will be normalized to 0.0 dB, irrespective of its original level. Whatever peak volume differences there were between the tracks will be removed.



The best alternative to loudness normalization in Audacity: CapCut

While Audacity is undoubtedly a fantastic tool for audio editing, it's worth mentioning an alternative that offers even more advanced loudness normalization features. CapCut desktop video editor is a powerful multimedia editor specially designed to meet professional and intricate editing needs. With CapCut desktop, you can take your audio editing to the next level with its loudness normalization feature. Here are CapCut's key features:

• Extensive audio editing tools: Get access to a comprehensive suite of audio editing tools, such as voice isolation, noise reduction, voice changer, and speed adjustment.
• All-in-one video editor: If your audio comes with a video, you can utilize CapCut's rich video editing tools like split scene, transcript-based editing, AI characters, cutouts, transitions, texts, effects, stickers, and filters to help you edit your projects very easily.
• Rich media resources: Add some pizzazz to your audio by applying various sound effects and filters. You can also select from CapCut PC's large collection of sound clips to enrich your audio.
• Share instantly: Share your projects easily to TikTok and Youtube without necessarily leaving the CapCut editor.

With all these amazing features in mind, let's look into the steps you need to follow to normalize audio on CapCut and how you can use the features.

Step
1. Import the audio
2. First, you must ensure you have the CapCut desktop app on your laptop. Open the software and select "New Project" to start working on the audio.
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4. Once you have created a new project, you will be directed to the editing window. On the left panel of the window, click on "Import" then upload the audio that you wish to normalize. CapCut supports different audio formats, including MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, and others.
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Step
6. Normalize audio
7. Once you have imported the audio, drag it to the timeline for editing. Click on the "Loudness normalization" feature located in the upper right section of the interface. Turn it on to enable the feature, which will normalize your audio to the target loudness of -23 LUFS. Once you've equalized the audio levels, you can proceed with further modifications such as removing unwanted parts, adjusting volume levels, applying smooth fade-in and fade-out effects, and removing distracting background noise from audio.
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Step
9. Export

Once you are done, it's time to export the audio. On the upper right corner of the screen, click on "Export". The CapCut desktop video editor offers the flexibility to export your audio in 4 different formats, including MP3, WAV, AAC, and FLAC. Select your desired format, click on the Export option, and your audio will be downloaded to your desktop in no time.



Conclusion

In summary, Audacity Normalize is a great tool for bringing the loudness of your audio files to the perfect level. Normalizing the audio removes the deviation in sound levels whenever it is played to your audience, thereby creating a pleasant experience for everyone. Additionally, if you are looking for an Audacity alternative, the CapCut desktop video editor provides you with powerful tools like loudness normalization, noise reduction, and an audio enhancer to advance your audio projects to professional standards. Try it today!

FAQs

1. What are the best normalization settings in Audacity?
2. The recommended loudness should be around -16 LUFS for spoken word content and -14 LUFS for music. Alternatively, you can use CapCut desktop, with its various features like audio normalization, sound enhancement, voice changer, and noise reduction, to further enhance your audio quality.
3. How to normalize multiple audio files in Audacity?
4. For Audacity, it is possible to Normalize multiple audio files with its Batch Processing option. Simply upload the files you want to normalize, set the normalization parameters to the prescribed value and save the output. Additionally, you can use CapCut desktop, which is also easy to use and has more features like noise reduction and sound enhancement among others.
5. Can I normalize MP3 volume in Audacity?
6. Yes, you can normalize an MP3 through Audacity. All you need is to add your MP3 file to Audacity and implement the normalization effect. Then, adjust the settings to the level of loudness you want. Alternatively, you can use the CapCut desktop editor to normalize your audio using its loudness normalization feature.