Audio Normalization Techniques: Peak vs. Loudness


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Audio Normalization Techniques: Peak vs. Loudness

Audio Normalization Techniques
Audio Normalization Techniques
Audio Normalization Techniques
Audio Normalization Techniques

As an audio optimization expert, I’m often asked about the best techniques for normalizing audio levels. In this article, I will explore two popular approaches: peak normalization and loudness normalization. These techniques, peak vs. loudness normalization, have their own unique advantages and considerations. Let’s dive in and uncover the secrets of achieving balanced and consistent audio!

Peak Normalization: Unleashing the Power of Dynamics

When it comes to peak normalization, it’s all about preserving the dynamics of your audio. Imagine a breathtaking symphony where the crescendos and diminuendos transport you to a different realm. With peak normalization, you ensure that the highest peaks of your audio reach their full potential without clipping or distortion. It’s like giving your audio the freedom to express itself with intensity and impact.

Loudness Normalization: The Harmony of Consistency

Now, let’s turn our attention to the world of loudness normalization. Have you ever experienced the frustration of constantly adjusting the volume while switching between songs or TV shows? Loudness normalization comes to the rescue! By analyzing the perceived loudness of your audio, it ensures a consistent listening experience across different tracks. Say goodbye to sudden volume jumps and immerse yourself in a harmonious soundscape.

Dynamic Range: The Dance of Soft and Loud

In the realm of audio normalization, we encounter the concept of dynamic range. Dynamic range represents the difference between the softest and loudest parts of an audio signal. Peak normalization respects the natural dynamic range, allowing the delicate whispers and thunderous roars to coexist in perfect balance. On the other hand, loudness normalization aims to reduce the dynamic range, providing a more even playing field for all elements of your audio.

Audio Clipping: Taming the Wild Peaks

Audio clipping is a notorious villain that can ruin your audio experience. Picture this: a sudden burst of sound that distorts and crackles, disrupting your enjoyment. Peak normalization acts as the hero in this story, taming those wild peaks and ensuring that your audio stays within safe limits. With peak normalization, your audio remains clean and free from the dreaded clipping monster.

LUFS: The Measure of Perceived Loudness

In the realm of loudness normalization, we encounter the term LUFS, which stands for Loudness Units Full Scale. LUFS provides a standardized measure of the perceived loudness of your audio. Loudness normalization algorithms analyze the integrated LUFS value and adjust the overall volume to match a specific target level. It’s like having a universal translator that ensures consistent loudness across different tracks and platforms.

Listening Environment: From Living Rooms to Concert Halls

Let’s talk about the listening environment and its impact on audio normalization. Every space has its unique characteristics, from the cozy intimacy of a living room to the grandeur of a concert hall. Loudness normalization takes into account these variations, delivering a consistent listening experience regardless of the environment. So whether you’re enjoying your favorite tunes at home or attending a live performance, the magic of normalization will make every moment memorable.

Personal Preference: Customizing Your Audio Journey

We all have our individual tastes and preferences when it comes to audio. Some crave the raw power of peak normalization, while others seek the comfort of consistent loudness through loudness normalization. The beauty of audio normalization techniques is that they allow you to customize your audio journey according to your personal taste. It’s like having a tailor-made suit that perfectly fits your unique style.

Metadata and Replay Gain: Enhancing the User Experience

Metadata and Replay Gain are powerful allies in the realm of audio normalization. Metadata provides valuable information about your audio, guiding normalization algorithms to make the right adjustments. Replay Gain takes it a step further by applying metadata tags to your audio files, ensuring consistent playback volume across different tracks. Together, they create a seamless and enhanced user experience, elevating your audio enjoyment to new heights.

Compression: Controlling the Sonic Landscape

Dynamic audio content, such as movies or live performances, often presents challenges for normalization. This is where compression enters the scene. Compression techniques allow you to shape the sonic landscape, reducing the dynamic range while maintaining audio quality. It’s like having a skilled conductor who ensures that every instrument is heard clearly, regardless of its volume.

Audio Editing and Mastering: Polishing the Gems

Lastly, let’s not forget the crucial role of audio editing and mastering in the pursuit of sonic perfection. Audio professionals meticulously fine-tune various parameters during the editing and mastering process. Audio normalization techniques become valuable tools in their arsenal, ensuring that the final product shines with balanced and consistent audio. It’s like adding the final touch of brilliance to your audio gems.

In conclusion, the choice between peak normalization and loudness normalization depends on your desired audio outcome. Whether you embrace the dynamic range or seek consistent loudness, these techniques empower you to create an audio experience that resonates with your vision. So go forth, unleash the power of normalization, and let your audio journey be a harmonious symphony of sound!


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Understanding Audio Normalization

Understanding Audio Normalization

Audio Normalization
Audio Normalization

Audio normalization is the process of adjusting the loudness of an audio recording to a standard level. The goal is to ensure that all audio files have a consistent volume, making them easier to listen to and preventing ear fatigue. In this article, we will explore the different types of audio normalization and how they work.

Audio Normalization
Audio Normalization

Peak Normalization

Peak normalization is the process of adjusting the peak amplitude of an audio recording to a certain level. The peak amplitude is the highest point in the audio signal, and it is measured in decibels (dB). The goal of peak normalization is to ensure that all audio files have the same peak amplitude, making them easier to listen to and preventing ear fatigue.

Peak normalization is typically used for digital audio files, such as MP3 and WAV files. These files are usually stored in a digital format that allows for easy manipulation of the audio data. However, peak normalization can also be applied to analog audio recordings, such as cassette tapes or vinyl records.

RMS Normalization

RMS normalization is the process of adjusting the root mean square (RMS) level of an audio recording to a certain level. The RMS level is a measure of the average power of an audio signal, and it is measured in decibels (dB). The goal of RMS normalization is to ensure that all audio files have the same RMS level, making them easier to listen to and preventing ear fatigue.

RMS normalization is typically used for digital audio files, such as MP3 and WAV files. However, it can also be applied to analog audio recordings, such as cassette tapes or vinyl records.

RMS normalization is often considered to be a more accurate method of normalizing audio than peak normalization because it takes into account the average power of the audio signal, rather than just the peak amplitude.

Loudness Normalization

Loudness normalization is the process of adjusting the loudness of an audio recording to a certain level. The loudness of an audio recording is measured in loudness units (LU). The goal of loudness normalization is to ensure that all audio files have the same loudness, making them easier to listen to and preventing ear fatigue.

Loudness normalization is typically used for broadcast audio, such as television and radio. Loudness normalization is required by many countries to ensure that the audio levels of all broadcast programs are consistent, making them easier to listen to and preventing ear fatigue.

Loudness normalization is often considered to be a more accurate method of normalizing audio than peak or RMS normalization because it takes into account the perceived loudness of the audio signal, rather than just the peak amplitude or RMS level.

Conclusion

Normalizing audio is an important process for ensuring that all audio files have a consistent volume, making them easier to listen to and preventing ear fatigue. There are several different types of audio normalization, including peak normalization, RMS normalization, and loudness normalization. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages and is best suited for different types of audio.

When it comes to audio normalization, one solution that stands out is Mp4Gain. It is a software that allows you to normalize your audio files in a quick and efficient way. It can be used to normalize a single audio file or multiple files at once. It also supports a wide range of audio file formats, including MP3, WAV, and more. Furthermore, Mp4Gain is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it a great option for both professional and casual users.

In conclusion, audio normalization is a crucial process for ensuring that all audio files have a consistent volume, making them easier to listen to and preventing ear fatigue. There are several different types of audio normalization, including peak normalization, RMS normalization, and loudness normalization. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages and is best suited for different types of audio. Mp4Gain is a powerful and easy-to-use software that can help you normalize your audio files quickly and efficiently.

Loudness Normalization: Why is it necessary to Normalize the loudness of an audio or a video?

Loudness Normalization: Why is it necessary to Normalize the loudness of an audio or a video?

Loudness

The war of volume or loudness war.

Already in the 1940s and in later decades, in the middle of the vinyl record era, a volume war was experienced.

The goal was to make a song sound louder on the radio, louder than other songs and louder than advertising.

Sure, the limitations of vinyl didn’t allow the ability to indiscriminately increase volume to be possible.

Loudness normalization

But with the advent of CDs and digital music it was possible to push the loudness of a song to the max. The situation is that the digitization of the audio allowed it to be manipulated quite precisely, achieving dynamic normalizations that actually ended the dynamics of the music and then played all the time at maximum volume.

By the 90s, groups like Red Hot Chilli Peppersm and their album Californication took this war of loudness to levels rarely seen.

But why did they do that?

Some research on human hearing showed that people did not find that a song sounded better if it had louder loudness.

Every artist, every producer, and every hardware manufacturer has figured out a way to make their production sound louder, louder.

Digitally many limiters and compressors pointed in that direction and made a lot of music sound almost to the point of distortion.

Each one wanted their music to stand out, among other things for being louder and having a greater sound, a higher volume level.

If to this recipe we add the appearance of the mp3 and a great variety of encoders, and also that ordinary people did not understand the effect that the bit rate could produce, then many mp3s with different qualities were generated.

The possibility of sharing these mp3s filled people with mp3s that each had very different sounds. Both for its production and for its coding.

Then a new need appeared: normalize the music to avoid these disparities in loudness, in the volume of the songs.

The holy grail of normalization had to be found.

Many ideas were found, many experiments. The situation matured and certain products like Mp3Doctor and Mp4Gain matured to the point where they actually managed to find the solution: a dynamic standardization that will work well with today’s advanced player equipment.

Then Mp4Gain made the leap, achieving that even videos could not be normalized.

Audio could already be normalized in its main formats (mp34, aac, ogg, floac, etc) with Mp3Doctor, but Mp4Gain added the possibility of these dynamic normalization to video in its main formats (mp4, 3gp, flv, avi, etc. )

Audio Level normalization

The audio levels of the material produced in a radio station
In general, in radio they do not tend to stay within standardized levels for their audio editions (spots), it is not necessary to know much about levels, since an audio processor compresses and limits everything on air.

Radio Studio Compressor

The console operator does not understand anything about dynamic range, something that has no practical use in the air. And this is how many radios work with adjustments that “work” in the air by trial and error, and not always with the most demanding criteria. successful.

Dynamic range compression

Level normalization

In radio, an editor does not know or manage any level convention, so it could be said that level normalization is not widely used. However, a good professional practice would be that all the material generated by a station “sounds” at the same level. Not to the air, because to the air if it is transmitted normalized or compressed and limited, but inside the station. And for this, there are two ways:

The material is processed “by ear” by comparison.
An RMS value is defined and all publishers normalize their mixes to that average level.

Regarding the first point, differences of up to +/- 2 dB will be absolutely acceptable. But a very common vice is to overcompress the edits, or sometimes the voices, seeking to hear the compact and aggressive sound of the FM on studio monitoring. That sound should be determined on-air by the streaming processor, not the publisher. Editors generally abuse processes like Normalize RMS (Sound Forge) and “maximizers”; Wave Hammer (Sound Forge / Vegas) Ultramaximizer and L1 (Waves). Ideally, how much to “squeeze” the dynamics of the edited material should be a function of the type of processor the radio has. At this point it is possible to clarify a fairly common confusion: STANDARDIZATION has nothing to do with making an audio sound “strong” or “powerful”. Using normalization for that purpose is a beginner’s mistake.

The second option is the most accurate way of working -although this precision is not necessary- normalizing all the editions to a given RMS value. This does not impact the sound in the air but it does the internal prolixity of the station. RMS is not an accurate measurement of loudness or “volume”, but for what you need in radio it is enough.

The streaming audio processor knows nothing about the level of the audio file. The processor receives an audio level from the console and works accordingly. What affects the behavior of the processor is the dynamics of the material, if it has dynamics or is super-compressed / limited.

Normal working values

The level at which operator-editors generate material has two well-defined extremes to avoid: very high levels of compression / cliping and excessively low material (less than 24 dB RMS). When we talk about level, we must be clear about the differences between peak level and average level.

PEAK level

Regarding the peak level, the logical maximum limit is digital cliping. Needless to say, a cliping mix is ​​unacceptable.
It is advisable that the maximum peak level is not 0 dBfs, as this will generate overshoot cliping in the D / A converters and especially if the compressed material (MP3) is exported.
An appropriate value for the material on a radio is maximum peak – 1dBfs (the recommendation if using mp3 compression is -3 dBfs). But this does not mean that it should be -1 dB. If no peak reaches the established maximum it is not a problem as long as the material complies with the appropriate working level. The peak level does not matter, but in general the signal will always reach the maximum peak level.

Listening level (RMS)

The “listening level” or mix level is determined by the RMS or “average” value of the material. This is true even if the publisher has never measured the RMS value of their audios. In general the radio editor “compresses”, “maximizes” or -conception error by- “normalizes” your edits “so that they sound”. And in that “so that they sound”, it is taking the cuts to a certain value.

The question that arises is what should that value be? How much should the final mix “squeeze”? The final value should not be a value that generates excessive compression, as this is the task of the transmission processor. How to compress is a topic of discussion for another article, since it is fine spinning and the radios in general do not take into account these aspects. In general lines we will say:

If the radio has a simple analog processor, type M31 or Solidyne 362, they will perform better with material that has a more compact sound (more compression).
If the station has a high-end digital processor, and especially if it works with a highly processed sound in the air, it is not recommended or necessary to excessively maximize the material generated by the station, because these audio equipment respond better when the material is origin is not over compressed.

 

But what if the file level is very low? It depends. Depending on the PC-Console connection, the operator typically has at least 15 dB of gain range for level correction from the PC. In turn, if the level is low with the fader on, the AGC of the processor has between 10 and 20 dB more correction to compensate the level in the air. But if the file were generated too low, it could fall outside the operator / processor correction range and go low on air.

GENERAL AND ELEMENTARY CONCLUSIONS:

Different materials generated in the radio must sound at the same level, either by ear or measured RMS.
It should not be overcompressed, much less cliping.
The peak level should not exceed -1 dB.
It should not be too low as it may fall outside the processor’s AGC / operator correction ranges.

Put in values:

RMS values ​​between -16 to -13 dB RMS are acceptable.
Values ​​between -13 and -10 dB RMS generally indicate strong compression.
Values ​​less than -10 dB RMS indicate excessive compression, not recommended as it generates a very loud but “muffled” sound that cannot be “improved” by the air processor.

Normalization of an audio file.

Normalization of an audio file.

Normalization is used to increase or decrease the level of the song as a whole, so that its maximum volume peaks assume the indicated level.

Loudness Normalization

For example, if the maximum intensity points of the song are -3 dB (therefore well below 0, which should represent the maximum before distortion), normalizing to 0 dB means increasing the level of the entire song so that these peaks reach 0 dB.

This is the typical normalization of the peaks.

There is also RMS normalization (which takes into account not the peaks but the actual average level of the song).

Audio Normalization

AUDIO CDs, which have good dynamic possibilities (various intensity tones, from pianissimo to fortissimo), are generally recorded so that the maximum volume points are at 0 dB.

Normalizing your WAV recordings can be helpful in adjusting them to the average level of a CD in case they are too low (because you had been careful in level during recording) but one important thing to note:

Normalization of this type alters the original dynamics, that is, the reciprocal relationships between weak and strong sounds.

Although all levels are raised by the same amount, the relationship between 2 levels changes (small mathematical example:
2/5 = 0.4 ma (2 + 1) / (5 + 1) = 0.5 …

The result is that the weaker sounds, after abrupt normalization, sound much louder and those that were already playing only sound a little louder … altering the dynamic relationships that had been envisioned by those who originally recorded the music and making the sound output to lose depth.

Some types of music, generally already deficient dynamics (rock, metal, etc.) since the excursions between the minimum and maximum volume are almost never very consistent, are more “normalizable” without problems, while the genres in which there may be Large Dynamic excursions (classical music or music with passages from pianissimi to fortissimi) are more problematic.

In addition, it is necessary to take into account that if you normalize a large wav file that contains many songs (not yet divided) there can still be, even in genres with little dynamics, substantial differences, in this case between one song and another and not between different points of the same song.

So a light normalization can do and is actually used (to raise the level of the part), but it would be better to make sure you don’t need it (recording from the beginning with a good level) or at least not have too much. remember, however, that the dynamics are somewhat flattened.

Normalize with Mp4Gain

This software is capable (it is the only one that can do this) of normalizing the main audio and video formats and its standardization algorithm is by far the most efficient and the one that produces the best results.
For this reason it is used by musicians, radio broadcasters, universities, television stations, producers, etc.

Audio normalization explained

Audio normalization – Audio normalization

Audio normalization is the application of a constant amount of amplification of a sound recording to bring the amplitude of a target level (standard). Because the same amount of gain over the entire recording, the signal-to-noise ratio and relative dynamics are unchanged.

Two basic types of audio normalization exist. Peak normalization adjusts the recording based on the highest signal level present in the recording. Loudness normalization adjusts the recording based on perceived loudness.

Normalization differs from dynamics compression, which applies varying levels of gain across a recording to fit the level within a minimum and maximum range. Normalization adjusts the gain with a constant value over the entire recording.

Normalization is one of the functions usually provided by a digital audio workstation.

Peak normalization

One type of normalization is peak normalization, where the gain is changed to bring the highest PCM sample value or analog signal peak to a certain level – usually 0 dBFS the loudest level allowed in a digital system.

Peak normalization

Since it only goes to the highest level, only peak normalization does not take into account the apparent loudness of the content. As such, peak normalization is commonly used to change the volume so as to ensure optimal use of the available dynamic range during the mastering phase of a digital recording. In combination with compression / restriction, however, peak normalization becomes a feature that can provide a volume advantage over off-peak normalized material. This feature of digital recording systems, compression and limiting followed by peak normalization, sets contemporary trends in program loudness.

Loudness normalization

Another type of normalization is based on a measurement of loudness, where the gain is changed to bring the average amplitude to a target level. This average can be a simple measurement of average power, such as the RMS value, or it can be a measure of human perceived loudness, such as that offered by ReplayGain, Soundcheck and EBU R128.

Loudness Normalization

For example, YouTube reference level -14 LUFS, so if a program analyzed at -10 LUFS, YouTube will decrease the level 4 dB to the reference of -14 LUFS.

Loudness normalization was made in different volume combat when listening to different music in a series. Before loudness normalization, one song in a playlist would be quieter than the rest, so the end listener would have to put a volume knob to adjust the playback volume.

Depending on the dynamic range of the content and the target level, loudness normalization may result in peaks that exceed the storage medium. Software offering such normalization usually offers the option of using dynamic range compression to avoid clipping when this happens. In this situation, signal-to-noise ratio and relative dynamics changed.

Volume normalization, an explanation

Audio Normalization: Make Your Audio & Video Consistently Loud

Audio normalization is a process in which the amplitude (volume) of an audio recording is increased or decreased in a constant relationship over time, so that the maximum amplitude or the maximum effective value or the perceived volume (volume) reaches a predetermined level, the standard. If the signal has multiple tracks, they all undergo the same correction.

Normalize Audio

Example: normalization of peaks to -3 dB:
A collection of digital recordings is made with a peak modulation standard of -3dB FS.
A new stereo recording is measured. The highest maximum level is -5.5 dB FS on the left track, -5.7 dB FS on the right track.
Normalization consists of applying a constant gain of 5.5 – 3 = 2.5 dB.
Standardization requires two passes. The first determines the maximum level, the second applies the correction to the entire recording.

Audio Normalization

Maximum normalization changes the level, but not the dynamics of the sound.
Volume normalization or perception of loudness often includes compression that changes the dynamics of sound.

Peak normalization

Peak normalization applies a constant gain to a recording to bring the highest peak to a target level, 89% professional audio (-1 dBFS true peak (True Peak)).

The sound dynamics of the recording are more or less preserved, except that maintaining a low distortion level after multiplication of all samples may involve the application of a known quantization error decorrelation noise. under the name redithering (tingling of the least significant bit) 2, which slightly increases the background noise level.

Volume normalization

The purpose of volume normalization is to bring all sound elements in a collection to the same sound volume level, so you can hear them without having to adjust the volume. In fact, the normalization of the maximum level in no way guarantees a homogeneity of the perceived sound volume (Loudness).

A simple approach to volume normalization, which is provided by various software programs, is to normalize the RMS value of the integrated signal within a few tenths of a second. The most advanced machines use extensive algorithms for more accurate evaluation of the perceived noise level. The European Broadcasting Union published a recommendation 1 in 2011, which provides a relatively simple method for this evaluation.

If the standard is not low enough, volume normalization involves compression for recordings whose sound dynamics would be higher than implied when setting the standard from the maximum level. If not, the signal peaks would exceed the quantization limits.

In the simplest implementation, volume normalization collects volume data during the first pass, determines the gain or attenuation necessary for the maximum volume to reach the norm, and applies this correction to the second pass. If the elements of the collection have the same characteristics, from form factor to top factor and dynamics, as is the case with popular music collections or recorded speech, this approach produces satisfactory results.

Extensive implementations use a standard that includes not only the volume of the sound, but also the maximum maximum values ​​and dynamics of the sound. They collect loudness levels and maximum values

VOLUME NORMALIZATION: WHAT IS THE VOLUME NORMALIZATION FUNCTION?

Audio Normalization

HOW IS THE VOLUME BETWEEN TITLES NORMALIZES?

WHAT ARE the benefits of activating the normalization feature?

The “NORMALIZE VOLUME” volume normalization feature allows you to achieve a volume of the same level, music title after music title, regardless of which one succeeds during playback.

How Audio Normalization Works

This provides undeniable listening comfort rather than having to, as before, sometimes turn the volume up or down depending on certain pieces of music.

Note that this difference between a high volume and a low volume sound is called dynamic. If this sound is short or long (1 second or 3 minutes …), be it music, voice or noise.

WHY IS THE SOUND MUSIC OR LETTERS STRONG, SOME TIME?

We must not forget that music, recorded or not, as well as everyday acoustic sounds (those that surround us) are something “alive” which, like during a human discussion, necessarily contains volume passages. weaker sound and others that are louder.

The human ear is by definition used to these differences in sound levels. If these sound differences between the low and high levels did not exist, it could end up giving us a headache because the sound heard would not be natural. The ear needs moments of rest, even if only for a moment, and stronger moments for words to remain audible (and to work the ear again!). The human ear needs this natural “breath”.

Today’s music is very “compressed” (constant sound level, few low levels) when recording (mixing), that is, there are few passages with a big difference between the lowest and highest passage of the song. The STANDARDIZE feature can even be activated and not work much if all the titles of an album are very “compressed”.

Finally, the sound world is like the aquatic world: there are high and low waves. Some tracks are not recorded (mixed) like others. They leave a big difference between low and high noise levels. The NORMALIZE VOLUME feature allows you to level up and try to get everything back to the same level.

WHEN SHOULD I USE THE STANDARDIZATION FUNCTION?

Eg. On the street or in the subway, standardization plays an additional role in making your music more audible. And of course, first and foremost to get a comfortable listening when listening to different music titles with as much sound as possible.

WHY disable the standardization feature?

When the need arises, you can turn this feature off at any time when you want to find this “breathing sound”, titles read (play), with multiple moments that contain smoother (weaker sounds) and higher variations (it’s loud).

Especially if all the titles in your album or playlist are compressed at source, disabling the NORMALIZER feature will help your ear rest, at the end of the day you will be less tired.

Deezer’s NORMALIZE feature does not compress sound and fatigue, it only reduces the major differences between high-level and low-level titles.

Digital audio normalization

Digital audio normalization

In the last decade the term digital audio normalization has become popular. You could say that most people have a vague idea of ​​what they mean. However, it is important to understand some concepts that relate very closely to the issue of the volume gain of an audio file.

One of these issues is audio quality, so we think it is very important to start by explaining what kilobytes per second means.

It is not difficult to understand this concept, however very few people understand it and much less people manage to understand

So let’s try to understand what the subject of kilobytes per second means and how it impacts the quality of an audio file of any format.

This will allow us to have a greater vision to understand the issue of volume, digital audio normalization and loudness given that all this is closely related to audio quality.

So let’s begin to understand why at higher kilobytes per second we will usually have better audio quality.

For this it is necessary to use some examples. But first we need to understand that the greater amount of kilo bytes per second means a greater amount of information per second.

Many will ask And why more information per second synonymous with better audio or video quality?

For that it is important to keep in mind that audio or video files are capturing information and this information is usually very rich in data. For example, the amount of data per second in the performance of a musical group with five or six instruments is quite a lot. Or say the information per second in an image What is very many. So if we lower the number of bytes per second we are reducing the amount of information which impoverish our audio or video file.

The war of volume

For some years now, music recording companies have detected that people listen as a synonym for quality if there is a greater volume And then they have opted for the strategy of increasing the volume of the music they record a little more and produce.

If we had a graphic that will show us the volume and loudness that music used to have in the 70s and we were comparing by decade we could see that the loudness and volume level and volume gain have been increasing decade after decade.

This as I mentioned produces a deceptive effect of perception in the human being that confuses an increase in volume with an increase in audio quality.

And this has been called the war of volume because as we mentioned they have gradually increased the volume level of musical productions to make it appear that they have a higher sound quality.

And how does this compare to bytes per second? As it happens that the amount of information per second does really determine a higher quality and does not need an artificial increase in volume to appear to have a higher quality of digital audio.

So a modern digital audio normalization like the one offered by mp4gain is not misleading, but tries to ensure that each musical passage and each instrument have their optimum volume so that the loudness is constant and so that the quality is the best possible.

Audio normalization

Audio normalization

The concern to achieve an adequate sound in the music and a correct balance of the volume levels is something that actually takes centuries.

As soon as the first string quartets or the first symphony orchestras were formed, it was detected that there was a need to maintain an adequate balance of the volumes of each instrument section.
In fact, it is not accidental with a symphony orchestra to have a certain amount of each of the instruments, nor is it accidental that they are accommodated in the way they are accommodated when they are going to play a symphonic concert.

The reason for this is to achieve an adequate balance to the sound of the complete musical piece and it is something that has been thoroughly studied for many centuries.
That is, the human being many years ago of text, what was important to take care of the loudness of each part of a musical piece And of course the global musical work.

Hence we have become accustomed to musical dynamics, What is it that music has more intense moments and softer moments but must be audible all the time, it must be something that is not taken lightly.

Great masters of classical music paid a lot of attention and that is how it was achieved that symphonic orchestras were formed from the amount of instruments that are formed and that were accommodated in a specific way in order to achieve adequate volume management.

This has generated that our ear is used to hearing an adequate musical balance with the correct audio levels and when that is not so we detect that there is a problem and we seek to solve it.

With modern technology and the emergence of digitized music it has been very noticeable for all people that it has become an almost indispensable necessity to normalize the audio.

Normalizing the audio means achieving a standardization where the highest and lowest levels are maintained within a certain standard or certain limits so that it is audible and pleasant for us to listen to all the musical parts that make up a song.

The normalization of the audio has evolved since the music that at first was simply looking for the highest volume peaks was digitized and now in programs such as mp4gain it has achieved very important sophistication that resembles a compression mix, with the use of limiters, and an adequate management of the volume gain of each of the instruments and sounds that form a song.

In other words, we are facing much more modern and advanced algorithms that manage to normalize the audio of music files and videos, even being able to convert from one format to another without problem and normalizing it at the same time. Even The Advance are modern What can perfectly modify the speed of the audio without affecting the Pitch and vice versa.

If you need to achieve the normalization of the audio of a video in the most popular formats of an audio file in the most popular formats the solution is mp4gain which will allow you to easily convert to the format you want and normalize in the most efficient way that exists in the moment your audio or your favorite video.