Measure dBs on various tracks? Rip variance. Mp3gain good or bad?

[Abouna]

I was tempted to run mp3Gain but have read mixed comments.

My problem is that some of my tracks are noticeably much louder than others. I'm hesitant to do volume leveling of any kind as I'm not sure if it's reversible (Music Match)?

I's like to run something that tests a track for it's average dBs to access why I have such a variance in my rips.

 

[Help]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr. John /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was tempted to run mp3Gain but have read mixed comments. My problem is that some of my tracks are noticeably much louder than others. I'm hesitant to do volume leveling of any kind as I'm not sure if it's reversible (Music Match)? I's like to run something that tests a track for it's average dBs to access why I have such a variance in my rips.

Try the Replaygain implementation used in Foobar2000, it doesn't modify your MP3 file, it just adds Metadata. It's pretty good in my opinion. When you are installing Foobar2000, you have to check the Replaygain component.

 

[Abouna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Help /img/forum/go_quote.gif Try the Replaygain implementation used in Foobar2000, it doesn't modify your MP3 file, it just adds Metadata. It's pretty good in my opinion. When you are installing Foobar2000, you have to check the Replaygain component.

I know I'm asking for it for saying this but I really am not a foobar fan. As someone else on the forum commented in a different thread, seems like complicating something that should be very simple. Geeky as I am, I'm not interested in tweaking my players or writing code just to get a basic player. I'm certainly not convinced it's any better than some other already tweaked players (I just ran it side by side with Music Match and they were identical to my ears).

Anyway, I'd really just like to measure the dBs right now.

 

[stewgriff]

I've used MP3Gain, and it's always allowed me to undo the changes. I didn't notice a change in the sound, either, after gaining, and the fact that it adds a (reversible) change in the data allows the volume change to be applied anywhere, regardless of ReplayGain support (i.e., level volume on iPod). You can choose Track Analysis, instead of Track Gain, to just analyze the volume levels of your files.

That said, since I got a DAC, I mostly use Foobar's ReplayGain now. It's faster and only adds a metadata tag.

 

[pedxing]

mp3gain uses APEv2 tags in hopes of having the least impact on the mp3 file when a player reads the IDv3 tags. However, some players like foobar 2000 sometimes get confused and start messing up on replaygain settings. The biggest problem occurs when the mp3 file is first modified by mp3gain, then modified by foobar, and the modified by mp3gain again. mp3gain will end up a with an out-of-date replaygain setting because its reliant on its undo history, kept and written in the APEv2 tags. I believe Foobar 2000 only modifies the IDV3 tags. If the player is smart enough, it should choose which set of replaygain settings to use and stick with it. With foobar (unless it was recently fixed), usually it reads the first mp3 block and plays it back with the IDv3 tag settings and then switches to the APEv2 tags from there on. I have done experiments where I set the foobar and mp3gain at opposite ends of the db scale and got some interesting results. Confused? I am.

In short, I would use the one that your player is happy with. If you use foobar, stick to foobar.

 

[Rempert]

I am just speaking generally here, but there are a few potential issues to consider with any leveling software.

One is the "album vs. track" dilemma. If you are listening to an album that kind of flows together like Dark Side of the Moon or Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and you have all tracks leveled to the same average volume, now the transitions may not be at the same levels, songs that are *supposed* to be soft on the album won't be, etc. On the other hand, if you listen to a track from Dark Side of the Moon as a single mixed in with whatever else you feel like listening to, you may want it to be the same level.

Another is the clipping concern. The software are set to bring everything down to a certain level, which you may be able to set. If you have an extremely soft recording, like a solo harp or piano, or something that is not professionally mastered, the levels may actually have to be raised significantly in order to reach the default level you are adjusting everything to. That leaves two possibilities which both may be undesirable... either the song will not be raised to match the level of the others, or it will be and severe clipping artifacts might occur.

These are just things to consider, depending on your listening habits and what types of music you listen to. I don't know offhand how mp3gain handles these situations.

 

[jiiteepee]

Maybe these standalone software helps w/ analyzing those files:

http://www.curioza.com/index.php?opt...tpage&Itemid=1
http://www.har-bal.com/

There are some VST plugins too but, does your player software support VST?
- Voxengo SPAN
- etc.

jiitee

 

[cooperpwc]

Inspiring thread. i just activated Replaygain in Foobar2000. Scanned all the files as albums (one click and then waited a bit more than an hour while it did it all automatically). I then turned the feature on. By George, it works!

People can criticise Foobar2000 as too complicated to set up but it seems that once again it does the job better than the alternatives.

 

[EnOYiN]

Foobar isn't that hard to use at all.

You just shouldn't make anything yourself. There are so many things around allready that you will not have to. Search for a few things on HydroGen. I am sure you will find anything you will need.

I suggest you use collums.ui and a nice skin. Installing those isn't that hard and you will have a better player than most other things around.

*You could try to use Amarok if you use Linux.*