6.4 - What is normalizing?
Description
This article is from the Audio Professional FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Gabe M. Wiener others.
6.4 - What is normalizing?
Normalizing means bringing a digital audio signal up in level such
that the highest peak in the recording is at full scale. As we saw in
Q5.4, 0 dB represents the highest level that our digital system can
produce. If our highest level is, for instance, -6 dB, then the
absolute signal level produced by the player will be 6 dB lower than
it could have been. Normalizing just maximizes the output so that the
signal appears louder.
Contrary to many frequently-held opinions, normalizing does NOT
improve the dynamic range of the recording in any way, since as you
bring up the signal, you also bring up the noise. The signal-to-noise
ratio is a function of the original recording level. If you have a
peak at -6 dB, that's 6 dB of dynamic range you didn't use, and when
you normalize it to 0 dB, your noise floor will rise an equivalent
amount.
Normalizing may help optimize the gain structure on playback, however.
Since the resultant signal will be hotter, you'll hear less noise from
your playback system.
But the most common reason for normalizing is to make one's recordings
sound, LOUDER, BRIGHTER, and have more PUNCH, since we all know that
louder recordings are better, right? :-) [Gabe]
Q6.5 - I have a fully edited DAT that sounds just like I want it to sound on
the CD. Is it okay to send it to the factory?
This is a highly case-specific question. Some people truly have the
experience to produce DATs on mixdown or editing that are ready to go
in every conceivable way. Often these people can send their tapes out
for pressing without the added expense of a mastering house.
However, if you do not have this sort of expertise, and if your only
reason for wanting to send it out immediately is because you know that
it is technically possible to press from what you have, then you would
be advised to let a mastering engineer listen to and work on your
material. A good mastering engineer will often turn up problems and
debatable issues that you didn't even know were there. Also, any
decent mastering house will provide you with a master on a format
significantly more robust than DAT.
DAT is a fine reference tape format, but it simply is not the sort of
thing you want to be sending to a pressing plant. [Gabe]
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