How to use it
- Open the audio and read the Peak and Loudness meters under the waveform.
- In Effects, set Gain in dB. +6 dB is roughly twice the amplitude; −6 dB is half.
- If the clipping indicator turns on, lower the gain or enable the limiter with a ceiling like −1 dBFS.
- To change only part of the audio, select it and use Gain −3 / +3 dB in the toolbar.
- Export.
Clipping and how to avoid it
Digital audio cannot go above 0 dBFS. When gain pushes samples past it, they are flattened, which sounds harsh. The editor counts samples at or above full scale after every change and marks them in red on the waveform, so you see clipping before exporting.
The limiter looks 5 ms ahead and smoothly turns down peaks that would exceed the ceiling. It guarantees the sample peak stays at or below the ceiling. Inter-sample (true) peaks can still be slightly higher after MP3 encoding, which is why −1 dBFS is a safer ceiling than 0.
Questions
How many dB should I add?
Look at the peak meter: if the peak reads −12 dBFS, you can add up to about 11 dB before reaching −1 dBFS. Or use Normalize to do it automatically.
Can I export 32-bit float to avoid clipping?
Yes. WAV 32-bit float keeps values above 0 dBFS, so you can fix the level later in another editor. Other formats clip.
Is gain the same as loudness?
No. Gain scales the waveform. Perceived loudness depends on frequency content and dynamics, which LUFS normalization measures.