naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Head room and amplification after recording

Subject: Head room and amplification after recording
From: Syd Curtis <>
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:34:35 +1000
I don't read all of the technical discussions on naturerecordists.  (I know
when I'm out if my depth!)  But I did read Walter Knapp's posting (Feb 16)
in which he wrote: 

>
> There is a big difference between a very weak recording being amplified,
> and a recording that contains a range of sound levels and was recorded
> with normal headroom. You won't be amplifying a recording made right
> much, or you will clip.
>

May I pose a question Walter?  PEAK software has a facility for what it
calls "normalising".  It scans a recording, finds the loudest sound in it
and then (if set to 100%) amplifies the whole recording so that that loudest
sound is as loud as possible without clipping.

But you can also set it to less than 100%.  And with PEAK's excellent
facility for allowing you to undo any editing you have done (up to the point
where you do a 'save') you can try as many levels of normalising as you
like, until satisfied you have the best for your requirements/taste.

(I imagine that there are other software packages that do something similar,
but PEAK is what runs on my Apple Mac.)

And as you haven't mentioned PEAK and normalisation, Walter, I wonder if
this is because the results aren't as good as I imagine them to be, or
whether it is just that you prefer a more hands-on approach, and to control
any amplification yourself.

Any comment?

Cheers

Syd



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU