How do I equalize sound levels?

[Constantinos Maltezos]

On Sun February 22 2009 2:42:30 pm Steven Vollom wrote:
> >Sometimes audio players will have plugins that
> > "normalize" the levels of the audio they play, but I don't believe
> > there's one that works system-wide.
>
> Thanks Constantinos, I have wondered about that for a long time.  One short
> video file that I play just blasts when I turn it on.  There are others
> that require adjustment, but that one almost makes you crack a tooth.

I'm betting it's recorded in mono.  I'm not sure what will happen if you re-
encode it for stereo.  I'm imagining that it should divide the audio into two 
channels, the result being quieter (though not necessarily better).  Does 
anyone else know if I'm right?