iPod MP3Gain - More distortion than before?

[Perky McGiggles]

Well, I remember reading a thread awhile ago about MP3Gain and how it can help improve the bass distortion on the iPod (I had been suffering from some minor distortion in some songs). Well, I gave it a shot. I took everything down to 85.0db, and used the iTunes volume booster to 70-80% depending on the album. While the bass quality shot way up while using it, some songs got even worse, and became nothing but static when the bass hit, instead of just little distortion sounds. Is it because of the volume booster that it is doing this?

Another thing, the rest of the songs I have that are fine will only gain volume to a certain point, then stop, even though I'm still using the click wheel to level the volume. So when the volume bar is at the half-way point, the songs stop leveling in volume, after that point i can go up and down and hear no difference in loudness. Kind of a bummer.

Is there a fix, or even a better way of using MP3 Gain? Have you guys found a better way to get the most out of your music? I'm thinking of just wiping, then restarting my music collection back to the way it was, since I'd rather have some distortion than a lot of distortion, even if I have to sacrafice the bass. (The headphones I'm using are PX-100s, if that helps.)

 

[Skylab]

I hope you won't take offense to this, but that's just more monkeying around with music than I think is smart. I'd suggest putting everything back the way it was, and using the iPod without EQ (which is the cause of the distortion). If the sound of the PX100 without EQ doesn't float your boat, find a headphone that does. Plenty of people here can make suggestions if you say what you're looking for

 

[Perky McGiggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab I hope you won't take offense to this, but that's just more monkeying around with music than I think is smart. I'd suggest putting everything back the way it was, and using the iPod without EQ (which is the cause of the distortion). If the sound of the PX100 without EQ doesn't float your boat, find a headphone that does. Plenty of people here can make suggestions if you say what you're looking for

I'm totally offended.

Just kidding, but yeah, that's pretty much what I'm going to do. I have some HD-25-1s coming in the mail here in a couple of days, so I'll see how it sounds on those without bass booster, but, it would be nice if there was this sure-fire way that could get rid of all the distortion, while preserving the bass that I love.

 

[South_Korean]

Perky, i found the same results as well, it took me 7 tries to get my files to original formatt. than, i started to listen to music without EQ, MP3Gain is just to set all songs at the same volume anyways.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perky McGiggles I'm totally offended. Just kidding, but yeah, that's pretty much what I'm going to do. I have some HD-25-1s coming in the mail here in a couple of days, so I'll see how it sounds on those without bass booster, but, it would be nice if there was this sure-fire way that could get rid of all the distortion, while preserving the bass that I love.

It is certainly too bad that Apple's EQ is so prone to creating distortion. But I use Beyer DT770s with my iPod at home because I, too, really dig bass. They give plenty of bass without the need for EQ.

 

[Jmmmmm]

the problem may be in using the itunes volume booster. i only used mp3 gain (didn't increase the volume again) and I have no distortion.

You also don't need to delete any of your songs, since the music part of the files are not affected by using mp3gain. You can change them back and forth all day without hurting the sq.

 

[KenB]

I'll add a third corroboration of the last two posts. I have also used MP3Gain to excellent effect -- no distortion after reducing the album or track gain to 85.0 and applying Bass Booster on the iPOD. I DID NOT use the iTunes Volume Booster which, I believe, is the cause of your new distortion. Perhaps your earphones are relatively inefficient which is why you felt the need to raise volume. With my Shure E4C's, even after MP3Gain at 85.0, I have no need to increase loudness beyond what the iPOD provides. My iPOD volume bar sits at around 75-90% depending on the album selection and is plenty LOUD.

KenB

 

[DobsOnly]

How about adding an amp and leaving the music alone as mentioned by Skylab? Maybe a CMoy or something along those lines. Since I don't use an IPOD I don't know how that combination would workout. But works well with my Karma. Seems to make for a nice improvement in Bass response in my PX100's.

 

[ZackT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenB I'll add a third corroboration of the last two posts. I have

I'll fourth MP3 gain. It's completely eliminated distortion using the iPod's equaliser. I was finding bass rich songs couldn't cope at all when equalised. Horrible distortion all over the place. Afrer gaining my AAC and MP3 files the same songs have great bass extention when equalised. How liberating having a usable eq at last!

ZT

 

[Perky McGiggles]

Sorry for no response, I get busy and psytracted. (sp?)

Anyways, my HD-25-1s finally came in about a week ago, and I've only listened to them a couple times after a 40 hour burn in. There is still distortion on some songs with bass booster enabled (this being without MP3Gain). So I'm thinking about MP3Gaining my songs _again_. Before I do, what do you guys think about track gain and album gain? At first I wasn't sure which one, so I did track gain, but even though a lot of my CDs are just rock and classic rock cds, half of them are classical and movie soundtracks (road to perdition, a beautiful mind, cinderella man, etc etc...) so does track gain level all of sound in the song the same? I wasn't able to tell, because some songs were designed to be soft while others louder than the rest of the album, if that's the case, is album the best way to go for me?

I think you guys may be onto something about itunes volume booster, that could very well be the source of my troubles, but I need the songs to be loud! Even if I don't listen to them at full volume, I need to know its there. Before I could turn my volume bar all the way up and still feel theres room for more loudness, I dislike that feeling. So is there a good safe way to boost volume after MP3 Gain??

 

[bigshot]

If you have classical pieces that span multiple files, use album gain.

Don't go over 80-85%.

Using the volume booster totally cancels out any benefit of using MP3gain. If it's too quiet, get more efficient headphones or a headphone amp. Pushing the gain up into the red will just cause distortion.

See ya
Steve

 

[Skylab]

If you need your songs to be loud, buy an amp!

Actually, I ordered a Xenos 3HA headphone amp today, which has tone controls. I have only listened to a few songs, but so far I like it. It's a bit too big for me to really use as a portable, and it's no match for my Headroon Maxed Out Home, so I am not sure it will stay. But I do like having tone controls, so I can easily juice the bass for songs that need it, without needing to use the iPod's EQ.

 

[Perky McGiggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab If you need your songs to be loud, buy an amp! Actually, I ordered a Xenos 3HA headphone amp today, which has tone controls. I have only listened to a few songs, but so far I like it. It's a bit too big for me to really use as a portable, and it's no match for my Headroon Maxed Out Home, so I am not sure it will stay. But I do like having tone controls, so I can easily juice the bass for songs that need it, without needing to use the iPod's EQ.

Thing about amps is it kind of takes away the portablity of my ipod. But if there is a small, compact one that will give me the loudness, and bass, then I'm all ear.

 

[Ziddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perky McGiggles Thing about amps is it kind of takes away the portablity of my ipod. But if there is a small, compact one that will give me the loudness, and bass, then I'm all ear.

The PA2 is about half the length of the iPod, and twice the thickness. It makes a bigger bulge in a pocket, but it's well worth the enhanced sound quality to me (especially with a line-out).

http://electric-avenues.com

If you find it to be too large, then you can always put it in a smaller case.