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Fixing the iPod's EQ

post #1 of 19
11/5/09 at 6:37pm
Thread Starter 
I don't know if this has been posted before, but I read this somewhere on the internet and decided to try it out for myself.

Apparently, the main problem with the iPod's EQ is that it boosts the target frequency past the maximum listenable level for MP3 files. For example when the Bass Booster EQ setting is used, the EQ actually boosts the bass too much, which results in highly distorted bass.

However, if you bring the gain of the MP3 file down using software like MP3Gain, the boosting will not exceed the max level.

I've tried this and it works quite well. Bring every MP3 file's gain down to 89 dB (the default setting) using MP3Gain, and the EQ is actually excellent.

Just a tip.

Leon
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post #2 of 19
11/5/09 at 10:37pm
Depends on your music. I have Techmaster PEB's "Bassgasm" at 85dB, and the bass boost clips like ***t.
Hyper-bassy songs might need to be gained down below 80dB.
Some of my songs were at 102dB...sheesh. Thanks mp3gain. EQ does really work now, except some isolated cases (Techmaster PEB, again).
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post #3 of 19
11/5/09 at 10:53pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, also another side benefit is that all your songs is now at the same "perceived" noise level, so you don't have to change the volume for each song.
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post #4 of 19
11/6/09 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeonWho View Post
Yeah, also another side benefit is that all your songs is now at the same "perceived" noise level, so you don't have to change the volume for each song.
That is not necesarily a benefit as it totally ruins the dynamic range variation through a whole cd. Try to do that on a classical symphony or the like and get the same loudness from both piano and forte, not good. So I only use album gain. But otherwise yes, gain adjusting the tunes does suddenly make the iPod eq useable.
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post #5 of 19
11/6/09 at 2:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nc8000 View Post
That is not necesarily a benefit as it totally ruins the dynamic range variation through a whole cd. Try to do that on a classical symphony or the like and get the same loudness from both piano and forte, not good.
Um...please explain why? Aren't all songs supposed to sound the "same"?
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post #6 of 19
11/6/09 at 9:07pm
Thread Starter 
Um, it lowers the gain of the entire song itself by analyzing the loudest point. And I have tried it on a classical symphony, and it doesn't do what you described.
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post #7 of 19
11/7/09 at 12:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nc8000 View Post
That is not necesarily a benefit as it totally ruins the dynamic range variation through a whole cd. Try to do that on a classical symphony or the like and get the same loudness from both piano and forte, not good. So I only use album gain. But otherwise yes, gain adjusting the tunes does suddenly make the iPod eq useable.
mp3gain does not compress the dynamic range, only the loudness..not the same thing. it decrease the loudness in the mp3 tag..it does not re-encode, it's like turning the gain down on your home theater sub. It's not a normalizer, like the one found on sony's walkmans, which actually does compress the dynamic range, hence making the whole song louder.
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post #8 of 19
11/7/09 at 1:14am
I know what it does and have been using it for years but many classical recordings are split into many single tracks and if you do track gain the loudness of all tracks will be adjusted to say 89 dB both the one that originally had 80 dB and the one that had 100 dB and that is not right as they shouldn't be equally loud. Using album gain the 100 dB track will be lowered by 11 to 89 and the 80 dB track will also be lowered by 11 to 69 thus maintaining the relative loudness difference of 20 dB. Now on a compilation of tracks from many cd's track gain might be better suited to get equal loudness but I always listen to my music on a full cd by cd basis so album gain works best for me.
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post #9 of 19
11/7/09 at 3:44am
OK...maybe I just don't listen to classic enough.
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post #10 of 19
11/7/09 at 7:49am
Well the same would apply for any cd really. In compilations or in shuffle mode it can be convenient to have the same loudness of all songs so you don't get blasted or have to constantly fiddle with the volume control. I however don't do that but always listen to complete albums in track order like I would with the original cd and in that case I like to maintain the relative loudness between tracks like the composer/performer/producer intended it. Both approaches are equally valid. Hence the brilliance of mp3gain/aacgain to allow both track and album modes to suit both approaches.
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post #11 of 19
11/7/09 at 8:02am
Use smart gain, when you play a album it uses album gain, and when shuffling entire lib or multiple albums/artsts/genres etc it uses track gain. Reason why I prefer SB over winamp, foobar as those two apps have fixed option rather than changing on the fly with no user intervention.
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post #12 of 19
11/7/09 at 8:57am
Unfurtunately not an option with iTunes/iPods. Btw. what is SB ?
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post #13 of 19
11/7/09 at 7:42pm
Thread Starter 
Song Bird.
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post #14 of 19
11/8/09 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nc8000 View Post
I know what it does and have been using it for years but many classical recordings are split into many single tracks and if you do track gain the loudness of all tracks will be adjusted to say 89 dB both the one that originally had 80 dB and the one that had 100 dB and that is not right as they shouldn't be equally loud. Using album gain the 100 dB track will be lowered by 11 to 89 and the 80 dB track will also be lowered by 11 to 69 thus maintaining the relative loudness difference of 20 dB. Now on a compilation of tracks from many cd's track gain might be better suited to get equal loudness but I always listen to my music on a full cd by cd basis so album gain works best for me.
If you set MP3Gain to 'album gain' instead of 'track gain' then only a single adjustment will be used for all tracks on the album, as you described. Given this, what is the problem? Related tracks (i.e. multiple tracks on a single CD) will all receive the same relative adjustment (regardless of the variation in individual tracks) so the dynamic range will not be affected.

.
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post #15 of 19
11/8/09 at 10:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ILikeMusic View Post
If you set MP3Gain to 'album gain' instead of 'track gain' then only a single adjustment will be used for all tracks on the album, as you described. Given this, what is the problem? Related tracks (i.e. multiple tracks on a single CD) will all receive the same relative adjustment (regardless of the variation in individual tracks) so the dynamic range will not be affected.

.
Because you're stuck with either or, meaning that then if you played all your music, it would adjust different albums, but then if you listened to an album it would be like he described. Most people aren't going to notice. Also, apparently with the right software you can get it to do both. Is this possible on the DAP itself, or just your computer software? I haven't used the "leveler" stuff in years since the last time I tried, it seemed like I could tell a noticeable dynamic range compression, but I can't remember what I was using at the time, so it could likely have just been the implementation I was using (it might have even been that I was listening to the original CD versus an MP3 version, been too long for me to recall).

Its been so long, but wouldn't songs that have completely silent parts then have the dynamic range compressed if the loudest part is lowered?

I really need to go and research this.
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