[pennylane]

If you listen to MP3s, do you use Replaygain ?

I don't know much about it but I'm thinking about it. Is it the best way to adjust volume automatically?

*EDIT* Okay I mean Replaygain exclusively... not MP3Gain.

 

[Skarecrow]

Replaygain does not modify the actual music, while mp3gain does, if memory serves correctly. I would go with replaygain if you're using foobar. winamp does not support replaygained mp3 files... unless some custom mpeg decoder plugin i do not know of enables that feature.

I don't know how I used to listen to music without replaygain honestly. take away for a sec all the wonders it does fighting off clipping... I'm in love with how It makes a lot of my older CDs sound amazing. AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Kiss, Aerosmith, etc. you'll be amazed at how much better old CDs sound than most new stuff, once you're actually able to hear them.

That is of course assuming you've got enough amp to account for bringing everything up from about 9 to 11 dbl below the current volume level of today's stuff.

 

[KyPeN]

ReplayGain is quite simple.

It simply loudens/softens (usually softens) the song until the average sound is 89dB. This way, when you listen to an entire playlist that has RG info AND the player is able to read the RG info, then the average SPL of the whole playlist is 89dB. It really does help with the clipping. But, there is only so much that you can do with albums by The Red Hot Chili Peppers and others that are so rediculously loud that it clips left and right. For instance, many RHCP songs have a -11 or more dB RG info.

 

[Mr.Radar]

I've use RG since I switched over to Foobar2000 and noticed that it came with a RG scanner (now about 90% of my music collection has been RG'd). I use Album mode if I don't have shuffle/random on and Track mode if I'm using shuffle/random.

Also, the latest version of MP3Gain uses the standard ReplayGain tags and doesn't touch the audio data unless you use some flag.

 

[averydonovan]

I've used ReplayGain for a while and it is extremely handy since my music collection varies so much in volume. It also helps reveal just how badly some albums clip.

 

[minya]

For users of ReplayGain w/ foobar2k: if you have a bunch of RG'd files, do you find that you don't need to use volume control (in foobar)? To prevent clipping, I reduce foobar's global volume to about -6.00dB. And I adjust with my amplifier if something is too loud / soft. This seems to work pretty well for me. Is Replaygain a better solution?

- Chris

 

[averydonovan]

I rarely have to fiddle with the volume control when playing back ReplayGain'd files. I have never used the built-in foobar2000 volume control, I generally only use my amp's volume control. ReplayGain will help prevent clipping especially on over-compressed modern tracks, although it will help show you how some albums clip on the source CD.

 

[pennylane]

Where did you get ReplayGain? The website I see hasn't been updated in awhile (since 2001). It also gives a link to MP3Gain.

*EDIT* Nevermind. It seems like MP3Gain is still suspect and ReplayGain is the best way to do things...

 

[commando]

I have a volume control knob... I turn it until the music's the volume I like....

 

[MTRH]

The thing is that when you compress audio like with MP3, MPC, Vorbis etc. scalefactors should be taken in consideration. It's not the same thing as playing the PCM data file prior to the compression - to amplitude is higher in the new material - hence clipping without the source clipping.

This is why you want to use MP3Gain/WAVGain/ReplayGain (Latter being the best option).

On material that clips in source it goes without saying - there's nothing to be done since the samples are missing.

You can lower volumeknob as far down as you want with clipping material, but the distortion stays, it's only less apparent since you're playing it back at a very low SPL

 

[John Reeves]

Hi,

I use MP3 gain and the only problem I have is the minimum of 1.5db increments. Does replay Gain overcome this?

Regards

John

 

[Kikkoman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Reeves Hi, I use MP3 gain and the only problem I have is the minimum of 1.5db increments. Does replay Gain overcome this? Regards John

I use the foobar replaygain scanner and its goes to two decimal places. For instance the album gain of one album I have is -7.61 dB.

EDIT: Forgot to add that I use replaygain on almost everything, and I have the preamp in foobar set to -7 dB for files without RG info so if a file doesn't have RG info it doesnt blast my ears when i play it without turning my amp volume down before hand.

 

[sygyzy]

I have ReplayGain on in foobar. How do I add replaygain info to each file? Does it do it automatically or do I have to use some tool to add the info?

Thank you.

 

[Mr.Radar]

You add the files you want to add the ReplayGain info into the playlist, select them, right click on them, and then select the scanning method you want under the ReplayGain submenu.

 

[pennylane]

Looking at the ReplayGain settings you recommended... do you use the peak info to scale down tracks that still clip after applying replaygain?