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[k.e.]

Hi,

I have a HD Studio Master than I want downsized to 16 bit and resampled to 44,1/48 kHz for portable use.

However, I noticed by analyzing the tracks that all of them have a True Peak Level higher than 0. A typical problem of loudness mastering...

So my idea was to use the library tool Convert (to ALAC). Options: 16 Bit.
DSP Enabled:
Output Format changed to 44,100 Hz or 48,000 Hz depending on the Input.
Volume Leveling applied, but that would pull the volume down by a whopping 14,3 dB, which is way too much.
So I also check Adaptive Volume which calculates the folder's/ playlist's/ album's TPL and pulls it all back to 0.
So theoretically the converted files should never overshoot the TPL above 0, all be handled as a group and only the loudest track reach 0 on the TPL.

But it's not working like that.
So from the HD Studio Master all tracks have a TPL of at least 0.1 with the loudest reaching 0.5.
After conversion most of them are around -2 to -3 and the loudest (which wasn't the loudest before) reaching 0.7. That doesn't make sense. I want the whole album consistently pulled down by 0.5 or 0.6 dB to avoid distortion. Nothing else.

What am I doing wrong? Or how do I adjust a manual DSP setting to lower the volume by a given number?

[RD James]

I think it is "working as intended" but only because all of the changes made to improve the Volume Leveling + Adaptive Volume combination on playback did not make it over to file conversion for some reason, and AV still operates in the 'adaptive' mode rather than the 'fixed' mode.
Volume Leveling on its own works perfectly - the converted track ended up with a "Volume Level (R128)" of 0.0 LU.
VL plus Adaptive Volume (peak level) did not. It ended up with a value of -7.7 LU after conversion, when regular playback results in -0.8 LU (-6.6 VL +5.8 AV).

[k.e.]

The solution I was looking for is hidden under DSP Settings > Parametric Equalizer 2 > Add... > Adjust the Volume

That way I can use a program to read the TPL of all files of an album, take the highest peak and adjust the overall volume during conversion to set the max TPL to 0. I'm confused why Adaptive Volume isn't doing this correctly. Never mind, this works for me too.