sound level

[barisinger]

How can I have each song at the same sound level at playback?

[admin]

Currently, Microstudio does not offer any Normalization processing on imported files. There is no way currently to do this for a .cdg file. You are stuck with the original maker's levels.

If you are talking about an audio CD, there are a number of audio editor programs that can normalize .wav files.

Do this:
1. Use the Microstudio Import Tracks tab and store each track as a .wav file (again, no Karaoke cdg songs can be processed)

2. Run an audio editor program you have obtained elsewhere.

3. Open the first .wav file, find the Normalize operation in the audio editor program and set the level you want to normalize all files to. I would suggest you go to -0.01dB which is just below digital maximum. This will prevent hitting dig max, which can cause some audio programs to malfunction. This is the LOUDEST you can adjust to digitally, so you wll be lowering their amplitude when you play them.

4. Use the same -0.01dB normalize setting on each .wav file.

5. When done with all the .wav files, run Microstudio again and go to the Custom Assembly Tab.

6. Add each .wav file that you have normalized into the Song List.

7. When all are in the list that can fit on the disc, then write them to a CDR disc.

This disc should have all the songs playing at near the same peak amplitude.

NOTE: The IDEAL way to do all this is to run each song through a Compressor/Limitor before normalizing. Then, the RMS amplitude of the song will be louder. Normalizing only looks for the single loudest peak value in the whole song. Thus, a cymbol crash or trumpet blast can have a high peak, while the rest of the music may be very low amplitude. Since you asked this question, I assume you are not familiar with Compressor, Limitor or Normalilze operations. This is getting a bit deep for a casual audio user.

We are developing our Hoster software. It includes a Compressor/Limitor and Normalize operation that will process CDG songs when importing to the hard drive. Once we release Hoster, we will add these features into a new Microstudio 2.4xx version. This is expected to be available for an upgrade cost to cover the new feature additions, and the support this will generate. The price of 2.4xx will go up probably to $69.95 from the current $50.

[George]

Barisinger,
Since it is not in competition with MTU, there's a good audio processor available from http://www.goldwave.com

Think you'll be pleased with it's capabilities for the money

George