What is normalizing?
Normalizing means bringing a digital audio signal up in level such that the highest peak in the recording is at full scale. As we saw in Q5.4, 0 dB represents the highest level that our digital system can produce. If our highest level is, for instance, -6 dB, then the absolute signal level produced by the player will be 6 dB lower than it could have been. Normalizing just maximizes the output so that the signal appears louder. Contrary to many frequently-held opinions, normalizing does NOT improve the dynamic range of the recording in any way, since as you bring up the signal, you also bring up the noise. The signal-to-noise ratio is a function of the original recording level. If you have a peak at -6 dB, that’s 6 dB of dynamic range you didn’t use, and when you normalize it to 0 dB, your noise floor will rise an equivalent amount. Normalizing may help optimize the gain structure on playback, however. Since the resultant signal will be hotter, you’ll hear less noise from your playback
