Normalize Vs Volume increase Options

[tinpanalley]

I'm having trouble figuring out which of the two is better for me to create a vinyl recording at the highest volume without clipping.

I capture a record via my preamp into Audacity, and I get what seem to be relatively low levels even though I make sure the levels are right when I record (Peak: -6.4db, RMS -24.6db). Am I doing something wrong? Or are those levels right? These recordings don't seem as loud as mastered CDs.

Anyway, to get the most accurate sound possible, should I use normalize or just increase the volume? If normalizing makes everything sound the same at a peak level, doesn't that completely screw with the dynamic range of the music?

Thanks!

[DVDdoug]

- 32-bit IEEE Float?
- 32-bit PCM?

Floating point has an exponent, so it can hold very-small fractional numbers and very-large values. PCM can actually be integer floating point.

ANY of these formats are fine. With floating point you can go above 0dB, but de-clicking should only reduce peaks, not increase them. Use any format that your de-clipping software supports.

Don't worry so much!!!! Unless you're doing something that might cause clipping, the differences are completely meaningless. It's like the difference in a car that has 10,000 horsepower and 1 million horsepower... It's all overkill and you're never going to notice the difference driving to work.

(my set up won't allow IEEE float, Sound Forge just says my USB device can't do it).

I think your hardware is 16-bits... There are NO 32-bit or floating-point ADCs or DACs. When the software & drivers allow recording in 32-bit floating point or 32-bit integer, its just a convenience to convert the data on-the-fly during recording. If you record to 24 bits with 16-bit hardware, that's just a format conversion too... You can't get more than 16-bits of resolution from 16-bit hardware.

It's not as convenient, but you can convert to IEEE 32-bit floating point later as a separate step, if you want/need that format for some reason.

This post has been edited by DVDdoug: Jul 7 2011, 02:05

[tinpanalley]

[b]Don't worry so much!!!!

But...but... what if my computer blows up and my vinyl starts to melt and leak and causes death and mayhem and destruction and death again all because of the wrong settings!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

No, I know. It's just that when you've been sitting in front of the computer for 30 minutes reading and rereading all about settings and bit-rates and so on, you start to worry more than necessary. It's just capturing audio, but ideally one doesn't want to have to do it more than once. It's awesome though that you guys have been able to give me pointers from the most practical all the way to the most minutely accurate and technical. So for that and for making me even more of an audiophile than before, I thank you all whole-heartedly.

I'll post an image of the waveform I got.

Thanks!