Levelator

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The Levelator

Levelator 1.1.0 screenshot on Windows XP
Developed by	GigaVox Media, Inc.
Latest release	1.3.0 / September 2007
OS	Cross-platform
Genre	Audio Editing Software
License	Freeware
Website	Levelator Homepage

The Levelator is a free application developed by GigaVox Media, Inc. in 2005 (unveiled to the public at the first Podcast and New Media Expo). Developed by Bruce Sharpe and his son Malcolm, the Levelator adjusts the audio levels within an audio segment as opposed to traditional compression, normalization and limiting. It creates a new copy of the audio sample which has balanced levels and a standard overall volume. By taking a global view of the data in various time segments (both long and short), the Levelator automatically balance various audio levels such as multiple microphone levels in an interview or panel discussion. The software was originally used only for GigaVox podcasts, but was then released to the public, free for commercial and non-commercial use. The adjustments and Drag-And-Drop workflow of the program has made it a great boon for professional and non-professional podcasts.

The program only supports PCM audio (WAV or AIFF files) since the ultimate goal of the program is to “improve audio,” and not sustain the audio sample to multiple lossy compressions (a 64Kbs mp3 exported again as a 64Kbs mp3 sounds similar to a 32Kbs mp3). Each processed audio file is exported in the same format as the original, but with ".output " inserted into the filename.

In late 2007, the program was turned over to developers at the non-profit company, The Conversations Network by GigaVox Media, Inc.