What's the best way to level out volume?

[Nilosaur]

After almost blowing out my eardrum earlier today, I think it's time to level out all of my music's volume. Does anybody know any good programs to do this?

Thanks!

 

[scytheavatar]

MP3Gain

 

[PWilson]

Does MP3gain still alter the actual file (making 'unpm3gained' playback impossible)? If so, replaygain is preferable, because it does its stuff at the id3/tag/whatever level, but doesn't actually affect the music data, and you can play the files as original if you wish by turning replaygain off.

When I do use replaygain, it's as a built in plugin for Foobar, so I'm not sure what the procedure is for running it in itunes/wmp.

 

[krmathis]

You may want to look into Replay Gain.
Supported by a lot of audio players and formats/codecs out there.

 

[Nilosaur]

What's the highest I can set dB without decreasing my sound quality?

 

[SiriuslyCold]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nilosaur /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's the highest I can set dB without decreasing my sound quality?

depends on a lot of things

1. amplifier power, which is related to

2. speaker sensitivity

3. also, quality of mastering and dynamic range on a recording. more range, higher db SPL possible without distortion

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nilosaur /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's the highest I can set dB without decreasing my sound quality?

That certainly depends on a lot of factors.
I believe Replay Gain in itself is lossy, in the meaning that by applying it the output audio signal will be altered. If you can hear an audible degrade in sound quality depends on:
* The volume level of the audio track (if the audio data will be attenuated or amplified).
* The gear used to play back the audio data.
* Your ability to hear artifacts or other abnormalities.

 

[Nilosaur]

Ahh I see.. Well I'm not much of an audiophile at all. I use the iPod Nano 4G to listen to my tracks (which are mostly mp3 160kbps) and switch between the stock buds, Marshmallows, and KSC75s depending on how I feel.

Is it possible for sound quality to go down if I actually decrease the dB?

 

[scytheavatar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif That certainly depends on a lot of factors. I believe Replay Gain in itself is lossy, in the meaning that by applying it the output audio signal will be altered. If you can hear an audible degrade in sound quality depends on: * The volume level of the audio track (if the audio data will be attenuated or amplified). * The gear used to play back the audio data. * Your ability to hear artifacts or other abnormalities.

Replay gain is loseless, all it does is to change the volume data in the mp3's id3 tag. Meaning that you can change that data as much times as you like without any lose in sound quality. The only issue would be if you increase the MP3's volume to the level where clipping occurs, so you shouldn't set the volume to an excessively high level. The same goes for MP3Gain.

 

[Incarcerate]

Album replay gain has been so useful to me, decreases the volume my extremely loud modern albums and increases the volume for my older classical all the while retaining the dynamics of the album. I no long blow out my eardrums switching from one album to the other.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Replay gain is loseless, all it does is to change the volume data in the mp3's id3 tag. Meaning that you can change that data as much times as you like without any lose in sound quality. The only issue would be if you increase the MP3's volume to the level where clipping occurs, so you shouldn't set the volume to an excessively high level. The same goes for MP3Gain.

Not quite sure we talk about the same loss.
I know it don't alter the audio data in the file. But during playback it has to alter the streaming audio data, meaning that the audio data is not identical to the one in the file. Aka there are some kind of loss, since the DAC will process altered audio data.

Replay Gain can either attenuate or amplify the streaming audio data, which at worst could lead to clipping.


Edit. That its not lossless don't have to mean that there are any audible difference. But there sure can be...

 

[milkweg]

I use MediaMonkey to level the volume because what it writes to the files is only readable in MediaMonkey so it doesn't alter the sound level in other players. Which is what I want.

 

[japc]

Replaygain.

 

[cerbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not quite sure we talk about the same loss. I know it don't alter the audio data in the file. But during playback it has to alter the streaming audio data, meaning that the audio data is not identical to the one in the file. Aka there are some kind of loss, since the DAC will process altered audio data. Replay Gain can either attenuate or amplify the streaming audio data, which at worst could lead to clipping.

It can't lead to clipping. Rather, ReplayGain will stop before it reaches clipping, even if it means the average sound level remains lower than the ideal.

Also, any volume control alters the stream. From there, it all depends on how it's done. But, does iTunes and the iPod support RG, or have their own implementation?

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cerbie /img/forum/go_quote.gif It can't lead to clipping. Rather, ReplayGain will stop before it reaches clipping, even if it means the average sound level remains lower than the ideal. Also, any volume control alters the stream. From there, it all depends on how it's done. But, does iTunes and the iPod support RG, or have their own implementation?

Ok, I thought Replay Gain leveled out to 89db in all instances. Which if the audio was recorded very low would mean amplification, and hence even introduce clipping. Now I know its smarter than so.

iTunes and iPod have their own implementation.
Sound check -> iTunes: About Sound Check