Master Volume doesn't effect export volume

What are you using to listen to the exported songs with, is the volume turned up? Do you have Auto Normalize turned on?

Well - if you have the Auto-Normalization turned on, that's what it does: It normalizes your song, so your master volume doesn't really matter (other than if you set it too high, your song will clip).

But normalization only means that the peak of your song is maxed in volume - this can be one "p" sound in a vocal line. If you want to get more loudness out of your song, you'll have to look into things like compression.

I'm having the same problem but I'm listening back with Quicktime. I've tried different ways to export, some as aac some as mp3 and some going to itunes and the volume level is always the same and lower than garageband. I even cranked the volume level on GB and it was exactly the same level as before when the volume was lower.

is auto normalize turned on in GB's prefs?

Yeah, I just figured that out. I turned it off and now I can crank it up. Was there a normalize on the GB before version 08?
I even let it hit the red in the meter and I don't hear any clipping. I should be able to get some good volume now.

Was there a normalize on the GB before version 08?

no.

That's what screwed me up. When I installed GB08 I never checked the preferences. I just assumed they would all be set up the same. Thanks for the info.