Hi Folks,
 
I  usually gain stage my audio tracks by going through each track individually and using the gain control at the top of each track to set it to peak at -16 dB or so.. So I read somewhere that you could use the normalize function to do this and it's a lot faster; just set the max level for the track and you're good to go. So I thought I would give it a shot. It was faster, but upon listening to the song after normalizing each track, the tracks were totally out of sync with each other. They were all over the place, time wise and totally unusable. So, I used my friend, ctrl-z, and proceeded to use the method that I know works. 
 
So, do you think the normalize function is not working right or is this just not the right scenario to use it in? I didn't think it was supposed to screw up the timing like that.
 
Thanks for any input!
 
Mike

Normalizing tracks should never affect timing. I don't know how that would have happened. 
 
FYI... I usually use the GAIN knob to gain stage. I have used Normalize when sent files that are too quiet though and it's worked fine. Peaking at -16 seems a bit low to me. 
 
I usually have percussive parts peaking between -12 and -6, and smoother parts RMSing around -18.
 

I normalize quite a bit and don't encounter timing shifts.

Thanks for responding, Gavin. Yeah, I don't know what's up with that timing issue. 
 
Yes, as I stated, I use the gain knob also for gain staging. I've found over time, that -16 dB works well for me for gain staging. If I have trouble hearing a track, I may adjust the gain knob slightly during the rough or static mix stage. So, a percussive part may end up peaking higher than -16. Also, when I start the static mix I bring all the faders down to around -6 dB or so and start from there. I just turn up the monitors if the mix seems to quiet. 
 
Does anybody else have that timing problem with the Normalize function?
 
Thanks,
Mike

Only thing I've ever seen normalise do is what it's supposed to. I can't even begin to imagine how it might affect anything other than clip gain.

If you try it again in the same project does it happen again? Is it happening in just the one project or others?

IIRC, when you normalize more than one selected clip at a time, SONAR merges the new audio from all clips into a single new file and references the audio for each clip from that file henceforth. I would not be greatly surprised if there are situations in which the way a project is structured or was recorded over time, possibly with different record latency compensation factors in place in different sessions, could clash with the way multi-clip normalizing works to cause sync issues.
 
SONAR offers so many options for managing gain non-destructively, I can't imagine why anyone would want to destructively normalize files as a matter of course - with the the possible exception of building sample libraries,which I suspect is Craig's use case.

I really appreciate the responses. Go figure, I cannot reproduce the problem since it happened earlier today. But I know I've encountered it in the past too. What brundlefly said is very interesting and, with that scenario, I can see perhaps this time shifting happening on a non-regular basis, which seems to jive with my experience. 
 
All this said, I will stay the course and use the gain knob for gain staging and leave the normalize feature for that rare occasion where it may prove useful for me. Thanks again for your replies.
 
Mike

I normalize virtually everything,  but always on the last recorded clip only. I've never had any issues. 

I don't normalize anything. unless there is a rare instance im working with small clips within a track that might be from different sources. normalizing is destructive. to me its almost like printing FX to a track.
 
 
IN Normalizing, if the selection contains any loud signals, Normalize may not seem to have any effect. This is because the volume increase is determined by the loudest audio in the selection. If an audio clip contains segments that are too quiet and others that are loud, you should probably split off the quiet segments into separate clips and then normalize those.
if you don't, your just wasting your time.
 
I find a better method is using automation.
 

I also never normalise. As Chuck says, all it does is to raise the entire level of the clip with reference to the loudest peak. 
 
If you have everything properly gain staged to start with there is no benefit whatsoever, and if it isn't, there are other, more appropriate tools than the blunt axe of normalising.