After recording a podcast or speech audio, it is usually necessary to modify the recorded levels. This post illustrates how to normalize the subjective loudness and how to compress the dynamic range (= difference between the loudest and softest sounds) of an audio file.

Loudness normalization is one of the most common misunderstandings in audio post production. Many people use peak normalization, which ensures that the maximum peak (= the maximum value of the audio data) reaches a specific level. However, the human perception of loudness does NOT depend on peak levels, therefore peak normalization is mostly useless. Recordings should ...

Many different audio file formats exist for storing recorded audio data on a computer system. This post compares multiple file types and gives suggestions on which formats and bitrates one should use, especially when producing podcasts or other online audio.

We also added two listening examples to compare MP3, AAC and Opus files at various bitrates.

If you just want to see some practical tips, skip the description and read the conclusion.

UPDATE 2017:
The original article was updated to include the new Opus audio codec, concrete bitrate suggestions, audio examples at various bitrates and other recent developments!

Types ...