Can Audio Channels Be Normalized?

Question

What can be done in a situation where left/right channel sounds louder then opposite channel? I know that songs' volume can be normalized, but can normalization also be performed on channel/s?

Answer 1

You can use Audacity to normalise channel volumes. I'm using an old copy of Audacity 1.3.13, which is a beta version, but just about any version should have these options - some plugins may have to be installed, but they're easy enough to find.

1. Load/Open the audio file. You should see two channels, since it should be a stereo file. There may not be a visible difference in volume (amplitude); I took a stereo audio file, split it and amplified both tracks in opposite directions (one louder, one softer) to obtain an example.

   
   ^{Click for full size}

2. In the menu, click Effect > Normalize.... You may or may not need to select the track beforehand; I did not but a Ctrl + A should do.

   
   ^{Click for full size}

3. I just left the options at the defaults, providing the following results:

   
   ^{Click for full size}

   
   ^{Click for full size}

4. Export your file as your favourite audio format using the File > Export option. You may need to install additional codecs to export as some formats.

Note that this reduces the volume of the louder channel and increases the volume of the quieter channel.