[steve1979]

Have you ever wondered what the 'Set the same volume level for all tracks' option in Spotify is really doing?
No probably not, but I have.



Googling didn't help to find an answer to this question because some people say that it works by normalization and others say that it works by reducing the dynamic range of the tracks that would originally have had a high dynamic range.

I hoped that it would only normalize* the volume to make all of the tracks seem equally loud. If this was done the full dynamic range (and thus the sound quality) of each track would be kept intact and it would simply balance the volume levels by reducing the volume of the tracks that have already had their dynamic range compressed.

So I decided to put it to the test myself by using the dynamic range meter in Foobar and comparing a track played via Spotify twice. Once with the 'Set the same volume level for all tracks' turned on and once with it turned off.

The one on the left is the result with it turned on and the one on the right is with it turned off.



A very disappointing result Spotify! They're reducing the dynamic range (and thus sound quality) of their music.

This may not seem like a big issue to most people but I think that Spotify have missed a chance here to put an end to the loudness wars once and for all. A bold statement you may think? Well think about it this way. Spotify and other streaming services have become the most popular way to listen to music right? Well, if they were to make all of the tracks play at the same volume by implementing normalization of the tracks this would keep allow their full dynamic range (and thus sound quality) to be kept intact.

All of the music would still play at the same average volume level like it already does. The only difference would be that the sound quality inadequacies of the dynamically compressed tracks would be obvious to hear when compared to music that has more dynamic range.

As we all know the loudness wars were started by record companies wanting their music to jump out at you by reducing its dynamic range to make it seem louder. However if everything was played at the same average volume by applying normalization this tactic would no longer work. Quite the opposite, they would now be motivated to make their music stand out by improving the sound quality instead by allowing music to be made with its full dynamic range still intact.

Spotify could still keep the existing dynamic range compression option available for people who want to use it because it can come in useful when listening to music in a loud environment. But they should also give a normalization option for people who want to listen to music that offers the best possible sound quality with a full dynamic range.

If enough people read this and spread the word to push Spotify (and other streaming services) to normalize the volume levels rather than dynamically compressing them we could put an end to the loudness war.

What do you think?

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_normalization

 

[0xd34db33f]

Just confirming this.
 

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    
 Analyzed folder:  spotifycompare
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    
DR    Peak    RMS    Duration    Title [codec]    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    
 DR8     -0.09 dB     -9.17 dB    3:50    normalization off.wav    
 DR6     -4.75 dB     -11.68 dB    3:50    normalization on.wav    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    
 Number of files:    2
 Official DR value:  DR7
    
 Sampling rate:          44100 Hz
 Average bitrate:          1411kbs
 Bits per sample:          16 bit
    
Dr14 T.meter 1.0.15
==============================================================================================    
 

 

[kraken2109]

I think replaygain or a similar technology would be the only real way to solve this.

 

[davidmolliere]

I was reading about this and found this thread, the conclusion there are quite different from your findings : 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-O5l6NSsdY (from http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/about/)
 
There is a DR database that could be instructive : http://dr.loudness-war.info/  (granted, the database has data from lossless files but from what I have read even high res file with poor mastering will have a bad DR rating).
 
A lot depends on mastering apparently, which means low DR mastering would show improvement with the Spotify setting while other less so (but worst results that you get is puzzling). Dire Strait's "Brother in Arms" with a DR of 16 would not benefit much from the setting while Portishead "Third"' with a DR rating of 6 would.

 

[castleofargh]

maybe look at the tracks in audacity to see exactly what is done? DR software is known to be funky at times.
 
I would guess that it's a subjective choice more than a mistake. when you check that option, obviously your main problem is to get even loudness, so they do that for you.
to get all tracks to sound the same the basic idea would be to just put back all tracks up to 0db, but in practice going from a high DR track to a low DR track will not feel to be set at the same loudness.
the other option is simply to compress the dynamic so that the overall music is closer to the peak values, that way you feel less changes from track to track. and mixing both options you get the best subjective results. obviously at the cost of dynamic.
most FM radios use dynamic compression, maybe that is just a way to be more "radio like" for them? ^_^.
 
 
I personally would favor replay gain, it does move the entire track a few db higher or lower to fit the others, but it's clever enough not to just do it based on peak levels now. so subjectively it is the best compromise with an ok feeling of even loudness and minimized dynamic loss(you still make the noise floor closer to the music for some tracks).

 

[Rumi11]

Hello,
 
I have registered here just for this reply.
 
For future readers: This is very probably a misunderstanding of how Brainworx' DR Meter works. The DR Meter doesn't consider the whole dynamic range, it only looks at the highest 20% of the dynamic spectrum. So if you shift the loudest peak, you also change the DR value, without actually changing the dynamics of the recording at all.
This could be easily verified by taking the Spotify version, putting it in a DAW, and then raising the gain, until it matches the original file in level. I would say that then the DR Meter displays the same value again.
 
It is highly unlikely that Spotify implemented a compressor.
 
The DR Meter has become pretty much obsolete, by the way (at least in my view). LUFS meters and the whole EBU BS 1771 / R 128 Recommendation are more advanced than the DR Meter. Friedemann Tischmeyer has announced to release an improved DR Meter, based on the research that has been done for the R 128 Recommendation, but I don't know whether that has happened.
 
At times, I have had strange results with the DR Meter in my work as a mastering engineer. And my tests have shown that a DR value doesn't say much about the actual loudness of a piece of music, unfortunately. Only with all three LUFS values of an EBU R 128 meter, plus the DR Meter value, it is possible to consistently predict the actual loudness of a piece of music.
 
But the R 128 Recommendation comes pretty close to the goal of having a tool to measure the actual loudness, and is very useful, and if everyone would follow what Spotify et al are doing, the loudness war would be over ("Mastered for iTunes" has to be mentioned here as well). There is a strong shift happening that goes in that direction. It is important to educate the public about these great and very welcomed shifts, that's why I wrote this.
Hypercompressed music sounds worse and actually less loud on playback devices that apply loudness normalization, like Spotify and iTunes.
 
Rumi S. Hatt, Pilgrim Studio, Switzerland (www.pilgrimstudio.ch)
 
More about this topic:
https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb14/articles/loudness-war.htm
http://www.soundstudieslab.org/apple-spotify-to-end-the-loudness-war/
 
Friedemann Tischmeyer wrote in an e-mail:
"Due to the new established world standard for loudness normalization (BS 1771 / R128 / A/85--> LU & LUFS measurement) DR is not any longer a
proper standard for loudness normalization as it makes no sense to have multiple competing systems on the market.
Therefore we will develop the TT Dynamic Range algorithm into a direction that it even better will be able to give a meaningful information
about the technical vitality of musical content.
Our aim is to develop a second generation which considers TPL (True Peak Level --> the portion of distortion caused through inter-sample peaks)
and the truthfulness of High Res content. High Res content is a growing market segment and major companies are trying to fool customers through releasing
faked up-sampled versions of actual Low Res releases. We are going to embed a verification algorithm into a new meter that will be able to reveal faked
High Res releases.
The new algorithm will be called DRQ - for Dynamic Range Quality."

 

[Rumi11]

This video states clearly that iTunes doesn't alter the audio in any way, it only changes playback level:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTDoJKMi72M