Normalize

Once the wave has been compressed, it's possible to increase the volume of the entire file. This process is known as normalizing. The goal of normalizing is to obtain the highest volume possible without clipping the waveform. In most editors, this is done linearly (i.e., multiplies all samples by the same amount).

Select Process | Normalize.

Normalize the sound up to 90%. Values much higher than 90% of max will cause playback clipping on many sound cards and/or PC speakers.

Listen to the sample sound after Normalization

Once the wave is normalized, an optional final step is to use the smoothing filter again. This will effectively increase the dynamic range of the file once it is compressed, although it probably will be undetectable in the source file. The process is analagous to "smooth" or "blur" filters in image editors in that it evens out waveforms that have been "jagged" by normalization.

When you are satisfied with the results of these optimizations, save your file by selecting File | Save from the menu bar. Save the file in .wav format. You are now ready to compress your file to Real media or QuickTime format.