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

• Preview before importing: what i really miss is that i can't preview sounds when i browse my files like in Reason
  • StveTF adds: I think that "previewing audio files" before importing would be a nice feature.

 

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.

• 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.
    Not treating as a feature request at the moment, but as a documentation/interface description issue. If requests to call the "Amplify" effect "Normalize" and vice-versa persist after we've tried to improve the descriptions, then we'd consider it as a Feature Request - Gale