Recording levels on CD-R/Distortion

Use the digital level control to stabalize volumes. This will not hurt the recording as long as you don't oversaturate it into the red zone. That is what the control is for - the music comes through just fine, I have two Pioneer units and one has this feature and one doesn't except in analog. I no longer make digital recordings on it because it makes me dizzy hearing the songs come out in different volume levels,

Barrelchief; Ligi is right on. I have a Pioneer 739 that has pretty much the same features as the Elite W37 model. Both include volume level control in the digital (or analog) domain. This is a bit tedious to use, but it works pretty well. You have to play the track you want to record, watch the level control meters and adjust the level accordingly (I wrote it down), then when you do the recording, just set the pre-determined level for that track.

I recorded a set of 4 compilation CDs with 15-17 tracks on each-- from 12-15 different blues and soul CDs per CD-- it was quite a project, but the volume level control was VERY USEFUL in getting the recordings to have reasonably close final volume levels-- and it's a dynamite set of CD-Rs:>). I discovered a range of volume levels of as much as about 12 dB (worst cases). With these consumer grade machines you will never achieve perfection because of other factors involved in the big variation(s) in CD recordings, ie some are bright, some are dull, dynamic vs soft etc. Still, the record level control helps a lot, but DON'T go into the red-- the instruction manual covers this. Good Luck and Cheers. Craig

FTM, the program that you suggest COULD compromise sound quality depending on how they arrive at an average level. Short of using some type of companding circuitry, there is NO way to get around this other than riding the recording levels. One can "somewhat" average out the levels from track to track on various discs, but there is no guarantee that some will not be louder or quieter than others. Sean
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Thanks for your input...I'll give it a whirl.