10 years on and this video is still incredible! I keep coming back everytime i make a mix ! great stuff

You just saved my life man, and my inspiration. You taught me in 4 minuted what nobody here irl has been able to teach me in 3 YEARS. Thank you so much for this amazing information bro! I hope that you get this comment, and I'll be sure to post my mix up, i hope you can give me just a bit of professional feedback sometime. You're the best man, and who knows, you may have just saved everything for me and even be the reason i make it big someday soon! Much appreciated bro

lol awesome couch mate

Man its 2019 and I still come to this video every time I record to follow this method best video on youtube!

The issue I have with this method is that you lost the dynamic shift where the mix got louder in the middle, and you lost those lovely spikes, which are actually drum beats - the essence of vinyl is that it preserves the transients at drum hits. Hard limiting just flattens it all out. Often when people say, I prefer vinyl, or, I don't like CD/downloads, they really mean, I don't like hard limiting. Try this instead. Record at a lowest level, as you said. Do, Select All/ Effects/Normalise/OK. This will lift the volume of everything to a point where the loudest peaks touch 0dB. You'll still have preserved dynamic shifts, and also those all important drum and bass transients that hard limiting flattens. It makes for a much livelier mix.

"you dont need any of that shit" hahahaha funny. nice sofa son!

2023 and I still come back to this video every 3 months. Been that way since 2012!

@thaister88 Hi there, yeah you can but if your using this for single instruments or vocals than turn the "Residue level" up a bit, this will preserve some of the dynamic range and prevent distortion. in this way it is acting more like a compressor than a limiter, which is better for vocals. Hope this helped, and thanks for your comment. nice one!!!

Thanks man! Finally found a video where someone actually helped improve my audio quality :)

Very helpful, and great tip about the -0.1 db max. This solved any pops etc. Thanks!

@MrHarryt8 Thank you I'm glad you like the video. Thank you for your comment and kind words. Nice One ; )

@Volfmech thank you I'M glad you like the video, I'M going to try to do loads more videos on audacity. thank you for your comment. nice one!!!

Here I am watching this 10yrs later in 2020

Thanks As a music producer I need this to take me to the next level

@NitishakaSwiftz Thank you, I'm glad you like the video, I will hopefully be doing some more video on audacity, so I hope they will be just as useful. Thanks again. Nice One ; )

@gilboogie yeah I miss my MD recorder as well, I had a nice SONY one and I sold it a while ago, the funny thing is I'M finding more uses for it now I got rid of it than when still had it. as for the video request its in the list ill hopefully be doing it in a couple of videos time. thanks for your comment. nice one!!!

This was EXTREMELY helpful!!! I always use WavePad Sound Editor but it's just not doing it for me....it doesn't have as many effects, as many options, or just as many anything as Audacity. I've heard so much about Audacity, I've heard wonderful things about it and I finally got it. I haven't used it yet (no privacy to sing covers) but I subscribed to your channel, when I use it, I will definitely upload a cover song to prove that it works!!! I believe it does, because I've heard amazing songs done through Audacity. I actually never knew that mp3 decreases sound quality either, so that was very VERY helpful! Thank you so SO much!

1:18 the cat hahahah

@RayLyrical Thank you for your support and your kind words, I'm glad you like the videos. Hopefully more videos coming soon. Thanks again. Nice One ; )

@wenshadow1 No problem, thank you for your comment and feed back, I'm glad you like the video. nice one!!!

Learnt plenty today. Good place to visit before bed time in Sri Lanka.

OVERCOMPRESSION CAN ALSO RUIN A MIX...MUSIC IS DYNAMICS AND TEXTURE

@Stixx447 You can do but for vocals you may get clipping because vocals have more dynamic range, you will get a better result if you use compression instead. I will be doing a video on this one. Thanks for your comment and your kind words. Nice One ; )

@NakedJKid thank you, I'M going to try to do loads more videos on audacity. I think you can do that with audacity, I will look into it for you and possibly do a video for you, there are probably a lot of others confused about this. thank you for your comment. nice one!!!

on the version I got Audacity Meter Toolbar is not in the view menu???

Nice sofa

@97ickis Ah actually a few other people have asked the same question about recording at gigs and live events, so I think I might as well do a video on it, I'm sure there are lots more needing this video, at least then I can add a lot more details in there. as soon as I can I will have a video up for that. Thanks for your comment and your feed back. Nice One ; )

@StephenSuttieHouse that's cool so your mix will not be sounding compresses and generally poor. I'M glad you like the video and thank you for your comment and your feed back. nice one!!!

His accent is so cute,omg

Why not just use Normalize instead of Amplify?

@MichaelDonnerMusic thank you very much fro your kind words, I'M glad you like the video. thank you for your comment. nice one!!!

@gussy24 sure as soon as I get 5 minutes ill do that one for you. thanks for your comment. nice one!!!

Ummm mine dont have the hard limiter i dont know why...help(T ^ T)

This is very far from professional. Having your mix always at unity is just shoving every note of the song in your face. What you achieve by shoving everything in your listeners face is.... (wait for it) they turn it off! Your ears like dynamics and fatigue when everything is constantly at the same level. This technique is helpful your your doing bites for TV or radio commercials.

@HardstyleMusicEmpire thank you I'M glad you like the video. thank you for your comment. nice one!!!

Thank you, I'm glad you like the video, sure leave the video response, i welcome other peoples mixes. Thanks for your comment. Nice One ; )

I stopped once Audacity was brought up, Reaper is free to use that not Aucrapity

Hard limiter will distort the sound...

@djhuggy your welcome, I'M glad you like the video, thank you for your comment. nice one!!!

@LittleTank2011 Yeah you do, but you don't need to go crazy on the price. the mic I used in the video was only about £15 (about 20 dollars US) and it sound great. you can get them for as low as 10 dollars and for most uses at home that will be fine. Hope this helped and thank you for your comment. Nice One ; )

You licking your lips throughout the entire video sure could use some NOISE REMOVAL. CHRIST..

What a gift! A clear, concise, introduction into making one's own tracks and sound files. Thank you for getting me off to a start. I'll be coming back often, I'm sure.

I come back to this video after every mix I record. I have been doing this for years. Thank you for uploading this.

I use this tutorial over & over. I'll go months w/o mixing & then all the sudden get froggy & want to throw something down. I've usually forgotten how to use this software by then & just come & watch this vid again for a quick refresher. Cheers again, very helpful stuff!

What an amazing tutorial. You make it sound easy at the beginning and then go on to explain it in such a way as to prove that it is! I'm using audacity to record an audiobook, so just my plain old boring voice, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't sound as perfect as I can make it so this kind of thing is great.

No problem, I'm glad you like the video, hopefully more on the way soon. Thank you for you comment. Nice One ; )

I was spending too much time trying to figure out how to do this on my phone. This was a big help. Thanks!

@jojotomaz russel brand? well that's a first. I'm glad you like the video. thanks for your comment. Nice One ; )

@djhabibi04 no problem, thank you for your comment. nice one!!!

I watch this video every single time for a mix :D haha. Still havent managed to remember by heart... also because this video is just too good. Makes my day everytime I finish of recording and watch this

Thank you! this literally changed the way my mixes sound. I knew something was missing and it was this tip. Again, Thank you.

This is by far one of the best tutorials I've seen.... great job !!!!!!!

Thanks for putting this video together. It was very helpful. I'm a beginner so the negative talk about the -db's had no barring on me understanding how to produce a more quality mix to upload.

Thanks for posting this. Despite it being nearly 10 years old it has just helped me boost the volume of some music my wife uses for her ringtone! She'd been finding it to be too quiet even though it was peaking at 0dB. Thanks to you, and to some judicious use of Audacity's hard limiter, it is now much more audible for her. Good job viperfrank! Also, I do like your presentational style. Informal but to-the-point without too much faffing about. Kudos! 👍😎👍

@Black9571 Yeah you can, but you have to be more careful if it recording from a mic, don't hard limit as much as you would for music. Thanks for your comment. Nice One ; )

MATE!!!! i saw this vid the other day and thought now that is just what i need...i'll come back to that......and DAMN!! ive been looking for you for about 2 hours clicking on all other stuff...but hey..ive found you again........THANKS...GREAT TUTORIAL..

mate i seen this so long ago and never commented but this is so helpful. i used it for some mixes to give to friends and the quality was excellent.Thanks heaps!! DNB4life :)

Viper Frank saves the day again. Thanks for the input. You tell it like it is without getting too technical.

great video james! was looking for something like this keep these audacity videos coming bruva!

This was helpful. I was using an older version and this Hard Limiter to flatten out the jagged peaks is a great new feature in Audacity. Thank you for the tips!

Really helpful Thanks! I always come back to this video - super straight forward.

You're an amazing guy for doing this. Big thank you from myself, and the others that passed by your video without commenting. :)

I'm just getting into using Audacity,and this was really helpful.Thanks,and I hope you keep uploading stuff like this!

Thank you so much for this video. I've watched a lot of them and this is by far the best one I've ever seen. My recordings sound so much better now. Thanks!

Great information. worked it step-by-step for my DJ Mix from a Reloop Recorder. Still working on creating/separating tracks for when I upload to Beatport, Mixcloud, Mixcrate, etc.

Thanks M8, been having a few issues with my music production and your video has been a great help, thanks

wow, this is exactly what I needed to do audio repair on independent films cheap and easy. great video! thank you.

Viper frank .do more videos please... I still watch this one continuously, much love for this video, it's one of the consistent KZfaq videos I watch as I have an awful memory and need to remind myself :)

Kick ass video, please add more, love this app and the cool people supporting it...and using it. Rock on!!!!!!

This guy knows. Thanks for your tips, mate. Helped a lot with my general Audacity meanderings.

Have even taken to going back through all my old mixes thanks to this vid. Thanks bro!

Nice one thanks James. Clear and to the point.

Thanks Frank, your videos are always well presented and so helpful ! :)

i 1st watched this video in 2012 and have been using your advice since, thank you for a great tutorial

thanks alot mate, been wrestling around with mastering for long, this helped alot Merry christmas ! x

great video clear and to the point far better than some of these americans who spend 5 minutes showing you how to plug in a cable thanks from gordon in scotland

Just learning the Audacity basics for editing my vocal audio for my channel. Most helpful video I've watch yet....cheers bro.

cheers for the video. i used to just keep my levels down when I recorded mixes. Never bothered with tweaking the peaks because I never knew how until now! top one nice one get sorted

watched this vid loooong time ago and only just got round to using the info provided... thanks frank.... quality

Remember those 'back in the day,' thanks for your video, and it's true about the equipment, lots of people spend thousands & don't know how to use it, or get the best sound! Hope more videos! Thanks for your video!

I do tutorials, game commentary, and SFX Makeup How to DVD's and this really helped. Thanks for putting this up on youtube and taking the time to do so. You da man!

Thank you so much! I've been trying to figure this out for so long.

This was so great, I love Audacity. I've been trying to find this information for a while. Thank you!

Thanks for the help. Very useful. I'm new to audacity and this clears up allot of my questions.

Brilliant mate, was looking for the simple answer to this for a wee while. Very Handy indeed.....

Best video on this topic I have seen - many thanks :)

Thanks for the video man. It helped me out alot. My sound quality improved so much because of this video.

Looking at your vid 7 years after you made it. I'm a novice. These were useful tips, thanks.

I just wanted to say thanks so much for this informative video, I got my DJ mixes sounding real good.

dude thank you so much for making this video, i always wondered how people get mixes sounding so loud on soundcloud

another great vid james. Needed this aswell because all my mixes are really quiet and ive been using the gain to make them louder which ruins the sound quality, so cheers for this !

Lovely, very laid back. but excellent information. Thank you. Tim

SO helpful for my (beginner) DJ mix, thank you! And I'm going to use this to mix my own tracks, that always sound waaay too low when I bounce them from Logic. Cheers! :)

Excellent video man. I really appreciate this professional video it's helped me a lot!

Thanks to you I just uploaded my first mix ! Respect goes out to you friend !! It finally sounds decent ..Cheers !!

thank you so much dude! this helped me so much with my vocal recording!!

ty for taking your time out to make such a awesome vid dude

Thank you so much, Frank! It helped me a lot. In my infinite ignorance, regarding audio editing, it works for me much more like Levelator. This is one of those tips that makes audacity worth a try, specially por podcasting (in my case). Sorry for my bad english

Superb vid dude ..first geezer i saw showing that way to improve the sound..thumbs n joined..

Low quality video with good audio editing. He knows his area.