Volume control for burned CD

[Cinde]

I've just burned a CD to listen to on my trip this week. It's about 30 minutes long. Some are songs I purchased online, some from of my original CDs, and some old clips from my PirCH chat days.

The volume on some songs is so low I can hardly hear them, and some sound as if I'm in the front row at a rock concert. A couple are "just right". (Does that sound like a modern day twist on "The Three Bears"?)

Is there a quick and easy way to fix it so the songs on the finished CD will have the same volume?

Edited to add:

I think I might be able to do this using PrE 3. I can drop everything on audio 1 and adjust volume with keyframes. Then play it and capture with Roxio Easy Audio Capture, save the Roxio file and burn to CD. But then I wouldn’t have a track for each song, just one track that is 30 minute long.

I have tried using Roxio Sound Editor but I’m really struggling trying to insert nodes on the volume area. I need to be able to listen to the song consecutively without having to close one song, open the next, etc. Otherwise I won't be able to listen to the volume continuously.

I have downloaded audacity but have never used it, so if that’s an option, please give detailed instructions.

I have until Tuesday afternoon to get it finished.

[RJ Johnston]

What application are you using to burn the CD? If I were trying to control the volume in Premiere Elements I would use the compressor of the Dynamics filter. I used to use MusicMatch to burn CD's. That had a nice feature for adjusting the volume.

[RJ Johnston]

Here is a link regarding the Dynamics audio filter. Adobe Audition has a similar filter.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1059&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=dynamics#p7736

[Cinde]

RJ, thanks for the quick reply.

Now I gotta ask... the WHAT? I haven't graduated to that portion of PrE yet.

Gee... the instantaneousness of this forum. While I was replying to your first reply. I saw the second reply. I'll have a look at the link. thanks

[Don Whitten]

Thanks RJ! I have been striggling a little but getting my head wrapped around that one. Helped me alot. Thanks!

[Chuck Engels]

Cinde, What program are you using to burn the CDs? Every program has a different way of controlling the volume over the entire CD.

[Cinde]

Chuck, I’m using Roxio Sound Editor.

RJ, when I looked at Audio Effects > Dynamics > Custom Setup > I was intimidated by just looking at the interface. However, I was able to do the custom setup per your instructions. But I got lost trying to follow the rest of your instructions about copying the effect and selecting clips… way too much for me to comprehend at this time.

What I finally did was drop all the clips on the timeline and manually adjust the ones that I thought needed higher/lower volume. Then I exported the audio as a single wav (20 minutes) and opened it in Roxio Sound Editor. There I added track separators (which I didn’t know I could do until tonight.)

Then I clicked Burn Audio CD, In project settings I checked Maximize volume for each track. So for the moment it all sounds okay as far as volume but…. Now I have a problem with too much bass from the instruments on a couple of the tracks. It isn’t overpowering on my original but on the burned one the instrumental part is louder than the vocal part. I went back to PrE 3 and it was there also. I wasn’t able to do any correction in PrE that satisfied my ear.

So I’m gonna quit for the night and think of ways to do an “arts and craft” project from the few coasters I burned tonight.

[Gooder]

Is there a quick and easy way to fix it so the songs on the finished CD will have the same volume?

Hi Cinde

You could also try the Normalize feature. I use this within Premiere pro, it's a right click on your audio file and then select Audio gain and you will then see Normalize. This will bring your audio file up to it's highest point without distorting! Once you have done that on all of your clips you could export the audio file and bring it in to Roxio!

I do not have roxio but maybe there is a feature in that software which works the same way as Normalize?

Hope it helps,
Lee

[Cinde]

I fixed it.

I started from scratch with only Roxio Sound Editor. I imported the individual clips and simply clicked "Burn Audio CD" then clicked "Maximize Volume of each track". The whole process was so simple and quick.

Since I didn't play the first burned CD on the computer I had nothing to compare it to when I played it on the portable DVD player. I think the portable player was a major part of the first problem.

Tonight when I burned the second CD I listened to it first on the computer and was pleased with the final results. When I put it in the portable DVD player the quality was less, but at least the sound volume is level and the bass is tolerable. I'm not totally satisfied but it's acceptable. The true test will be tomorrow in car's CD player.

Thanks for your help!

[Chuck Engels]

Glad you got it worked out Cinde