How can I make my recording sound louder in Audacity?

Question

I record how-to videos and I get a pretty decent, loud sound. But I'd like to make it a bit louder without clipping. Anyway to do this?

MY SETUP Analog mixer Behringer XM8500 dynamic mic I use Audacity to tweak and clean up my audio.

Answer 1

Try the Effect->Compressor.

The Compressor effect reduces the dynamic range of audio. One of the main purposes of reducing dynamic range is to permit the audio to be amplified further (without clipping) than would be otherwise possible,

as stated here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Compressor

Answer 2

the other thing is to get a mic with a DB meter, so you can choose to record louder for example the SE Electronics condenser mic