I am new to digital audio recording. I just purchased an Edirol
R-1 recorder. It works well, and I can make good speech recordings that
play at ample volume directly through headphones.

However, when I download the mp3 file (64 kbs) to my computer and then
play the file in the Windows media player, it plays at extremely low
volume. The same thing happens when I play the file through CoolEdit
2000.

In CoolEdit 2000, I can amplify or normalize the file so that it then
plays at a normal volume. But is this the correct thing to do? Does
amplification also introduce distortion or subsequent amplification of
background noise too?

Am I doing something wrong? Should I be able to download the R1's mp3
file and play it at a normal volume? And how is volume or loudness
encoded in a digital file, anyway?

Thank you.