[indysmith]

On some tracks I hear clipping. It's consistent in that it's always in the same place in the same songs. It is always the same volume though - have the volume RIGHT down, and you can hear it clear as day, but turn the volume up and it's right down underneath the music.
I get this with and without my headphone amp and with all my headphones, so I've narrowed it down to my source being the source.
Is it likely that my Macbook's sound card is clipping at certain frequencies?

 

[majkel]

Try adjusting the soundcard properties - Wave and Master Volume in Windows, dunno the names for Apple.

 

[hanalei mike]

it's probably in the recording

 

[infinitesymphony]

What program are you using for playback?

 

[indysmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanalei mike /img/forum/go_quote.gif it's probably in the recording

I don't think so - because if so the clipping's volume would go up and down with the track's volume

 

[indysmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif What program are you using for playback?

good ol' iTunes

 

[bigshot]

Midrange is what comes through better at low volume levels. When you turn up the volume the bass and treble become more prominent. That's probably why the clipping doesn't seem to be following the volume boost.

It also could be that you have EQ applied to a fully normalized track. Try turning off the EQ or sound enhancer and see if it sounds better. It isn't iTunes or your macbook. I have the same setup and there's no problem on mine.

See ya
Steve

 

[milkweg]

Maybe you need to normalize the volume of your MP3 collection? I use MediaMonkey to do that but you can do it in foobar too. MediaMonkey volume leveling only works in MediaMonkey for playback though. I find some mp3's have excessive gain which can cause clipping in comparison to other mp3's played back at the same volume. Some recording are just poorly recorded at the studio and have clipping distortion anyway and there is nothing much you can do about that.

 

[brainsalad]

X2 on Milkweg's suggestion.

This is free and will set the gain tag for Winamp, MediaMonkey, and foobar. I don't know about Itunes.

MP3Gain

 

[milkweg]

I should just add that you have to be careful what db level you use when =using sound levelling. MediaMonkey was using a default of 89db which ruined some of my classical music because it boosted them way too high and i could background hiss in those recordings. I changed it to 82db and also do it on an album basis and not single track basis as I was previously doing. It's good that it only works in MediaMonkey or else it could have ruined my mp3 collection. Can't undo sound leveling in MM but I think you can undo replay gain in foobar, not sure as have never used it but think I read that somewhere. Only way to fix it in MM is to redo it at a different level and you have to analyze the tracks first before you can level them.

 

[PhaedrusX]

i would try bigshot's suggestion first.
i experienced the same problem in the past and traced it back to the equalizer, which i hadn't realized had been turned on.
once it was disabled, all distortion on certain tracks disappeared.

as for volume normalization software, i use the one built into iTunes. there is a Mac version of "MP3Gain" as well, though I haven't tried it.