Just as a side note, John, as long as the normalize function works correctly, it's a good thing to do to ANY recording. All it is supposed to do is find the highest peak in the piece, and then turn everything up until that JUST hits 0db (or on some software, any level below zero as well). So, in theory, you are not altering the file at all other than mere gain.

But it helps to take a look at the waveform in an editor (Audacity is a good free one) to make sure the process is not clipping anywhere. This will look like someone took a knife and sliced off the top of the waveform somewhere (you may have to zoom in a bit to see some). I never trust a function until I have double checked it...

Take a look at the un-normalized file too. Make sure that there is no clipping BEFORE the normalization process. How could this happen, you ask? Possible causes could be internal DSP effects being overloaded, and overall level higher than the D/A's can handle (though this should not happen in a good design, but massive EQ boosts might be able to make it happen).

Clipping doesn't ALWAYS happen at the main outs!

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 01-07-2009).]