Well you have normalization for recording a signal and for burning the disk.

Each one looks at the peaks and adjusts the volume as its software algorythms sees fit--and sometimes with really odd sounding effects.

I am not familiar with John's recording rig but I know the varieties of capture cards and software I have used on my PC. I am not sure if his deck based recorder and my PC based set up are remotely similar. I am basically running the digital recording levels straight out from 0 to 100 percent and setting volumes by looking for the high peaks.

I am recording as I type and this Duke Ellington's 50th Birthday Concert is some fine music. My copy has lots of scratches so I have it set so that the music highlights hit 98 to 99 and the ticks and pops hit 100.

So I get no distortion and maximum volume. Maybe this is what John is doing too, setting normalization at maximum. Perhaps not. Maybe his software sets a decent recording level that he can rely upon.

There is also burning normalization and this is whole different set of issues. I fell that if recording levels are set appropriately, there is no reason at all to normalize the burn.

Sounds like you and I are doing about the same thing when it comes to recording. Thanks for illustrating the technical side of the issue.

For anyone interested in digital recording it is important to remember that the normalization settings you sellect tells the software whether to leave your recording levels intact or determine its own recording levels for your files.

So much of what we enjoy in vinyl was due to an engineer that set levels as the music was recorded. The best engineers seemed to be those that could read or follow the scores well and set the levels to produce the best sound.

I guess there will now be arguments about whether software or humans should set the recording levels....This can go on ad nausium....

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Problem recording with Masterlink 9600 - ptruce 13:44:06 07/17/06 (12)

Maybe it's an impedance matching issue. - Quiet Earth 08:25:45 07/18/06 (0)

Ist suggestion NEVER normalize. You are in effect making the loud and quiet passages all the same volume .... - tubesforever 19:03:45 07/17/06 (6)

FYI, normalization is *completely* different from dynamic compression - Bersani 22:33:46 07/17/06 (1)

Well you have normalization for recording a signal and for burning the disk. - tubesforever 23:50:26 07/17/06 (0)

Re: Ist suggestion NEVER normalize. You are in effect making the loud and quiet passages all the same volume .... - ptruce 19:46:36 07/17/06 (0)

Tubes, Tubes, Tubes.... How did you ever survive in this world??? - John Elison 19:10:06 07/17/06 (2)

Except when you forget. - mosin 20:01:48 07/17/06 (1)

Re: Except when you forget. - John Elison 05:17:20 07/18/06 (0)

Re: Problem recording with Masterlink 9600 - John Elison 14:29:07 07/17/06 (3)

I think it is the normalization step. His computer is analyzing quiet to loud and readjusting its range. - tubesforever 19:05:48 07/17/06 (0)

Re: Problem recording with Masterlink 9600 - ptruce 14:59:22 07/17/06 (1)

You should also post over in the digital asylum. - tubesforever 19:10:24 07/17/06 (0)

Follow Ups

Well you have normalization for recording a signal and for burning the disk. - tubesforever 23:50:26 07/17/06 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.