Pending Feature Requests

This locked page is for the use of sysops to transfer feature requests from the Audacity Forum and other sources. They will be reviewed and where appropriate transferred to the Wiki Feature Requests page. For this page, it is best not to summarise, but paste in verbatim, so the context of the suggestion can be understood.

Not yet reviewed

• Update Notification: It could be useful to put a simple notification functionality into Audacity which checks for a new version of Audacity and informs the user in case it finds any program updates.
  • SteveTF comments: Auto-update and other "phone home" features can be a real nuisance for audio recording. You are an hour into a recording, then suddenly Windows update, your anti-virus, or some other program clicks in with a "phone home" and you get a drop-out in your recording.
  • Original poster JD9 responds: I understand your objection, but if the program would inform the user not until the next start of the program by a little window with a short information and a website link which can simply be dropped with a "don't show this message again"-checkbox, I think nobody would be really annoyed about it. You understand what I mean? The prgoram would check in a set interval for an update and only inform the user at the next start, so that you don't would be annoyed while you are working with the program. Also this is meant to be an optional feature which should be deactivatable from the options menu.

• Normalize issues: Someone pointed out that Normalize works on Left and Right differently. It's true and in both 1.2 and 1.3. It should only do that after you split the tracks. Koz
  • SteveTF comments: With the current behaviour, you can choose to normalise both channels independently using the "Normalize" effect, or amplify both channels by the same amount by using the "Amplify" effect. If "Normalize" applied the same amount of amplification to both channels and the peak amplitude of one channel was greater than the other, then only the channel with the highest peak would be normalised, the other channel would not. I agree that such a behaviour will be required quite frequently, and it is provided by the "Amplify" effect. I think that it is quite simple really, but different from the behaviour (more logical?) than in some other audio editors. If you want to normalise both channels to the same peak value, then use the Normalize effect. If you want to bring the channel with the highest peak up to a particular level, and amplify the other channel by the same amount, then use the "Amplify" effect.
  • Ral-Clan comments: I do see StevetheFiddle's point. It's unfortunate that so many audio processing applications use Normalize differently. Audacity's approach is logical, but unfortunately different enough that it will lead to some confusion for people migrating from other applications
  • Koz adds: I was digging in the 1.3 Compression tool and I noticed a check box for "Normalize to 0dB after compressing." Is it really going to do that? Is this another place where my stereo image is going to be compromised? Neither Normalize nor Amplify should ever act on each channel independently unless specifically told by some method. Damaging the stereo image isn't in the contract for increasing the level of the show by a fixed amount (Amplify) or a relative amount (Normalize). [Normalize Independent] is an effect separate from [Normalize]. I'm going back over all the times I told people to Normalize unaware of what was going to happen...
  • STF adds: In the case of the compressor effect, the normalization is applied to the tracks as a stereo pair (when applied to a stereo track). When applied to a group of tracks, the amount of amplification that is applied to each track is the same, and is of the degree that will normalize the track with the highest peak. In other words, the "normalization" effect that is applied (when selected) after compression, is the same as the Audacity "Amplify" effect, not the same as the Audacity "Normalize" effect. There are two possible methods: a) Apply equal amplification to both tracks so as to normalize the track with the highest peak. Or b) Apply the necessary amplification to each channel to normalize every channel. Audacity provides both of these option. Option A) is provided by the "Amplify" effect, and option B) is provided by the "Normalize" effect. Since you have both options available, you can choose whichever you prefer, or is appropriate to the task in hand. The stereo image IS NOT damaged. The "Amplify" effect maintains exactly the same stereo balance and the "Normalize" effect just shifts the stereo balance to a more central position (which could be argued makes it more "normal"). The balance of the stereo image can be panned as far left or as far right as you like - that's what the "pan" control is for.

 

Reviewed but not added - discussing internally

• Improving the Noise Removal effect in Audacity by adding the "threshold" control that was used in Audacity 1.2.x and offering both a full version (with the additional slider) and a simplified interface that used a single slider for more/less noise reduction. I think that in the simplified interface, could combine both the "threshold", and the "amount by which the noise should be reduced" in a single slider, and fixed values for "attack/decay" and "smoothing" (probably fixed at the current default values that are used in Audacity 1.3.x). At low amounts of noise removal, the effect would be more like the 1.3.x effect, then as the slider was increased it would become more like the 1.2.x effect. Plus 1 vote
  • SteveTF adds: The upshot of all this, is that it would be good to have the threshold slider back, but in addition to the refinements that we currently have in 1.3.x - If the developers think that this makes the effect too complicated, perhaps with the categorisation of the effects menu, there could be two versions, a simple, and an advanced interface.
  • See this Forum topic.

Reviewed but not added - intending to delete

These pending FRs were posted here but on review, appear to be inappropriate for the reasons stated (for example, the Beta already supports this feature). Unless reasons for adding them/more explanations of usefulness/purpose are given, they will be deleted.