So the micspam tests went pretty well tonight. The conversions sound much better using Goldwave. However much like with HLDJ, I had to normalize the volume to much lower levels than the guide recommended. They said the final peak should be between 0.7 and 0.9dB, and that worked for mild parts of music, but anything more intense was just ear rape. I've taken it down to 0.25 to 0.19dB just to make it tolerable and I may have to go lower still. It seems as though something in TF2 is maximizing the micspam volume all over again but none of the in-game settings seem to have any effect. Maybe I'm tweaking the wrong setting in the editor, maybe it's something else, and the fact that I have zero sound editing skills and am basically learning as I go isn't helping. But damn it, I will continue experimenting til I get it right!