re-compress or leave normalized?

[CrAkD]

i used to compress all my vocal tracks then normalize them to get the best volume out of them i stopped normalizing vocal tracks cause i realized how bad it was was making them sound but now i have all these old sessions with normalized vocal tracks should i just mix em like they are or would compressing them again make them sound any better?

[tele_player]

YOU have your tracks - why not try it and see what sounds better or worse?

Normalizing (the usual way, peak normalizing), shouldn't have any negative effect on the sound. If it does, it's a small effect.

[Chris Cavell]

from now on, instead of normalizing, increase your output level at the compressor. If you don't do this and normalize instead after compression, you will lose several of the lower bits by comparison. Increasing the output at the compressor itself preserves these lower bits.

[CrAkD]

from now on, instead of normalizing, increase your output level at the compressor. If you don't do this and normalize instead after compression, you will lose several of the lower bits by comparison. Increasing the output at the compressor itself preserves these lower bits.

yes i do that now i have an outboard compressor i track with I use that for a very little compression like 2:1 then compress with the waves Audio track after recording....but i have like 2 songs im using for an album and they were all recorded compressed then normalized...i guess it would be a good experiment to save a copy of the session compress everything again and remix it might come out sounding alot better.

[marcusb]

Watch out recompressing because compression ratios are multiplicative. Say you originally compressed the vocals 4:1, then compress them again at 4:1 the result is the equivalent of applying a 16:1 ratio.

Why not just use automation to balance out your vocals rather than re-compress. Given what you've done so far restricting the dynamic range even more doesn't really seem appropriate unless you are doing it for a sound effect.

Cheers,
marcus