Normalization, Compression in Audacity

This thread may be similar to my last one but anyways, I have now recorded a DJ mix through Traktor and would like to "master" it in Audacity. Can anyone give me some tips about using normalization and compression on the mix? What is a good compression threshold, ratio, and attack time to use? Do mixes need to be normalized and compressed, or is it one or the other? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out...

 

No, they don't need to be, and shouldn't be, compressed. Regular Normalization to around -0,5 is fine, but stay away from RMS normalization as that's something completely different.

 

if all the songs are mastered and 320kbs quality you should not need to master anything as long as there are no high spikes that distort quality.

i found just using amplify is all i need in some parts where transitions may not be the same volume.

 

Compression is used to reduce the dynamic range and normalisation is used to increase or set the peak volume of a track.

Mixing predominantly pre-recording music is not likely to need much if any compression as previously stated, but if you have created original recordings with loops, scratches hits etc,some may be needed.

I would suggest you start by normalising to something like -1dB and review the results.. if the perceived average gain/loudness is low relative to the peaks, then apply some small amount of compression to raise it...

 

Thank you for all the replies, they have been most helpful.