[rspencer]

Originally Posted by AAR.oner

i usually select random spikes and manually decrease their amplitude down to a dB level similar to the rest of the show...be sure to zoom in when you do this, & listen closely afterward to make sure the change isn't audibly noticeable

then do yer peak normalization -- do NOT use RMS normalization unless you really know what yer doing...it can completely kill the recording's dynamic range

I use SF6, so you should be able to do it similarly to the way I do.

Highlight a large section, not including the aberrant peak. Select Process > Normalize > Scan Levels. Make a note of the peak.

Do the same again, only highlighting the extreme peak. Subtract your extreme peak from your "normal" peak. This will be the amount of gain you'll want to apply (e.g., -5.6dB).

Highlight just the extreme peak. Process > Volume > adjust the slider to your desired gain adjustment (-5.6dB). Then hit OK to apply.

That should place the extreme peak back into range with your top peak otherwise. Then just normalize the entire file (peak normalization).

There are other ways (compression, limiting, even using RMS), but this is the easiest, most straight-forward way I know. The other methods often end up trial & error in an attempt to find the optimum settings.