# What does "Normalize" mean?



## cg1349 (Aug 16, 2006)

My CD burning software has a slider from 0% to 100% and it  has something to do with normalizing music when creating an audio CD.  I'm confused on what the spectrum of the slider means.  Does 0%  mean no normalizing, and 100% full normalizing, or vice versa?  Thanks.


----------



## gamerman4 (Aug 16, 2006)

Well normalizing is when it tries to match the volume of each mp3 to eachother, this prevents some songs being really loud while the others are quiet. I've never heard of one using a slider but im guessing its just to what extent to you want to limit the volume of each track, some songs are made to be louder than others so that can give it some room for change.


----------



## cg1349 (Aug 16, 2006)

gamerman4 said:


> Well normalizing is when it tries to match the volume of each mp3 to eachother, this prevents some songs being really loud while the others are quiet. I've never heard of one using a slider but im guessing its just to what extent to you want to limit the volume of each track, some songs are made to be louder than others so that can give it some room for change.



So if I set it to 100%, then it will completely normalize all the songs to the same volume level?  If it's set to 0%, then no normalization occurs?  Is that right?


----------



## gamerman4 (Aug 16, 2006)

cg1349 said:


> So if I set it to 100%, then it will completely normalize all the songs to the same volume level?  If it's set to 0%, then no normalization occurs?  Is that right?



Since I'm not familiar with a program using a percentage for normalization, I assume its a pretty safe bet that you are correct.


----------



## pcmagic (Aug 16, 2006)

To normalize a file means to raise its volume so that the highest level sample in the file reaches a user defined level. Use this function to make sure you are fully utilizing the dynamic range available to you. Sound Forge also allows normalization to RMS power. This means that a scan will be done on the sound file and it will be raised in level so its RMS power will be equal to the normalization level. This is helpful for making multiple files perceptually as loud as each other.


----------



## gamerman4 (Aug 16, 2006)

pcmagic said:


> To normalize a file means to raise its volume so that the highest level sample in the file reaches a user defined level. Use this function to make sure you are fully utilizing the dynamic range available to you. Sound Forge also allows normalization to RMS power. This means that a scan will be done on the sound file and it will be raised in level so its RMS power will be equal to the normalization level. This is helpful for making multiple files perceptually as loud as each other.



Well sure, you could have just copied the definition but I was trying to explain it in easier terms.


----------

