# Are there any good, ideally free, batch peak normalization programs?



## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Whenever I look up "peak normalization" most of what I see is people saying that peak normalization is bad and normalization based on average volume is better, and I completely disagree. That would make a grindcore song sound very quiet and a Feldman piece sound very loud. I'd like some software that amplifies to just under peak level (ideally an adjustable level). I've been using MP3Gain which I don't like, because it only adjusts volume in increments of 1.5dB, meaning that a file that peaks at 1.4dB will be considered fully amplified, and a file that clips +0.0001dB will be lowered by 1.5dB. I am not satisfied with that. Does anyone know any software that is better for batch peak normalization? Of course I'd like it to be free, but I'd be willing to part with some money to get some actual good software.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2018)

There is a program called sox that might fit the bill. I use it to apply de-emphasis to audio I extract from CDs that have "pre-emphasis." It can also apply many other sorts of transformations. There are gain and normalize functions with many options I do not understand which might suit your purpose. It is free.


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

Baron Scarpia said:


> There is a program called sox that might fit the bill. I use it to apply de-emphasis to audio I extract from CDs that have "pre-emphasis." It can also apply many other sorts of transformations. There are gain and normalize functions with many options I do not understand which might suit your purpose. It is free.


I downloaded this but I can't understand how it works. It seems like it requires coding knowledge or something. Could you walk me through how I would use it to amplify multiple files to a certain peak volume, say, -0.1dB?


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2018)

I have very little experience. As far as I know it is a command line program. Typically I open a command window and run something like "sox infile.wav outfile.wav deemph" to create a processed file with pre-emphasis removed. Sometimes I get a warning that de-emphasis caused saturation and I run something like "sox infile.wav outfile.wav deemph -v 0.98" which also reduces volume to 98% of the nominal level. From a cursory reading of the sox documentation there is a "norm" function which might do what you want. I've never used it.

As I mentioned, my use of the program is minimal, so there is not much I can do besides point out that it exists.


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