Best tool to beef up sound?

[manthing]

hiya fellow toonies,

some the shows i've been recording have low sound/volume.
so i would like to boost the audio before authoring.

i know how to separate the audio & video. so when i get my hands on the audio file, do i use something like besweet to boost the audio? or is there a better/easier application to the job?

will i run into synch issues when messing around with the audio?

thanking in advance.

[wheezer210]

goldwave is good and easy

synch should not be a problem, just run goldwave>open>{audio file}>effect>volume and change the volume level to what you want.

It also has an eq so you can play with the sound and make adjustments if you wish.

[lordsmurf]

I would use SoundForge, and never adjust volume. You want to increase the normalization curve up to around 50-60% of the waveform area.

Messing with "volume" can cause distortion, and it is REALLY easy to screw up. Not to mention what sounds correct on a surround sound computer system can sound really bad on normal tv sets without all the fancy speaker setup.

Depends on your source, and the volume and normalize curve (maybe send me a sample up to 5MB big?) of the source. Usually, you'd do better to just turn up the tv set or sound system, rather than potentially screw it up playing with the audio file. Trust me, been there, made that mistake, hell to fix (re-capture show).

[manthing]

thank you guys.

oooh ... do i go with wheezer210's volume adjustment ... or lordsmurf's normalization? decisions decisions ...

eureka, i guess i'll do both!

and yes lordsmurf, right now i'm turning the volume on my pc all the way up, but then other ms windows sounds are causing ringing in my ears!

let me test things out before i try uploading a sample to you lordy.

taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[cp32]

Sound forge all the way.
Import your audio> it will convert it wave.

Adjust audio down till your level is not above peak levels.

Add " Noise gate" filter. This will eliminate abrupt noises. Too much bass, distortion, etc.
Then Normalize the track,

EQ how you like it. Save it as wave .Or whatever format you want.

Turning the volume up or down on your pc speakers has nothing to do with it. The noise is on the audio track itself. Adjust it at normal levels on your speakers. Unless you like the kicker effect lmao! OR plan to get new ones

[lordsmurf]

I would seriously advise against altering EQ unless you are restoring. Distortion is too easy to add. Same for adjusting volume, totally advise against it.

I would just up the normalize a bit, and leave it at that. Only have it occupy 50-60% of the waveform space, do not go 80% or more, serious distortion starts to acrue at that level.