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[Madcow]

I've just started playing with the Replay Gain feature when transferring songs to my iPod.  I have a sufficient number of songs rated now to build some interesting playlists so I've been using Replay Gain to even out the volumes of my songs.  I have a couple of problems, though:

- Even using the maximum adjustment of +12db when using Replay Gain, the results are a bit quiet.  Would it be possible to increase this figure to (say) +20db to allow a slightly larger boost?  Or possibly enable both options (a 12db boost + a 50% enhancement) as at the moment only one option is available at a time.

- Although the Replay Gain works well for individual pop songs, it tends to have problems with classical albums where some tracks are very quiet and some are very loud (and are meant to be that way).  It levels them all out which sounds very odd.  Would it be possible to either (a) be able to exclude certain albums from having Replay Gain applied  or (b) have Replay Gain applied to entire albums at once instead of individual songs, thus preserving the songs' volume relative to each other?

Apologies if these features already exist - any help or advice greatly appreciated.

[SteveG]

- Even using the maximum adjustment of +12db when using Replay Gain, the results are a bit quiet.  Would it be possible to increase this figure to (say) +20db to allow a slightly larger boost?  Or possibly enable both options (a 12db boost + a 50% enhancement) as at the moment only one option is available at a time.

The volume adjustment on iPod is not as robust or complex as what is in MC. Because of this we must translate MC's settings into something that approximates it on the iPod. If you have the boost set to the top, that is as good as it gets with Replay Gain enabled. If you want everything boosted, don't use Replay Gain when going to iPod but just use the percentage boost.

[Madcow]

Problem is, I want everything the same volume AND nice and loud.  Seems to be an either/or situation at the moment.

Is there no way you could make it so Replay Gain is applied (to level out the sounds) and then the percentage boost is applied on top?

I used to use euPod volume boost (freeware software) to artificially boost the volume of the tracks on the Pod before I worked out the percentage boost in MC.  I tried applying Replay Gain in MC then running euPod.  It went bananas - some tracks were incredibly loud and some were incredibly quiet.  I have no idea what it thought it was doing.  

[SteveG]

Is there no way you could make it so Replay Gain is applied (to level out the sounds) and then the percentage boost is applied on top?

That is what is implemented now (although it may be necessary for me to add more to the 12db boost). What is the replay gain setting in MC for a file that is too soft for you on iPod?


**EDIT** Tonight's MC build will include a potential boost by 24 db.

Steve

[Madcow]

**EDIT** Tonight's MC build will include a potential boost by 24 db,

Can't see it in .309 but thanks a million for considering this - that should make the world of difference.

To be honest the feature I would REALLY love to see is a "Replay Gain by album" feature - so all the tracks on an album have the same replay gain applied to them, but overall each album ends up at more or less the same value.  So the replay gain is calculated for the album as a whole and not for each individual song.  This would avoid the problem with certain albums (classical albums especially) where a (deliberately) quiet track followed by a (deliberately) loud track just sounds plain wrong when played in sequence once Replay Gain has been applied.

I assume this option would be a LOT more work than simply tweaking the decibel amendment though.  

[bvm]

To be honest the feature I would REALLY love to see is a "Replay Gain by album" feature

I second that -- I was just about to ask if there was any way to get MC to treat a group of tracks as one when calculating the gain value.  I don't suppose there is.

(And I also wish I could group tracks when I'm ripping, one of the few things I noticed iTunes doing better than MC.  But I think there's already another discouraging thread on that topic.)

[kiwi]

To be honest the feature I would REALLY love to see is a "Replay Gain by album" feature

I too would love to have this feature.

It wouldn't have to do anything different, just have a calculated field that set the "album replay gain", it could just use the least amount of gain applied to any track and apply it to all tracks.  Then the replay gain dsp function could have the option to select "Track Gain" or "Album Gain".

kiwi

[SteveG]

Madcow,

Try the next build of MC for the +- 24.

Everyone,

The replay gain by album feature needs to be implemented in MC before it can be applicable to the iPod. It is on the eventual todo list.

[kiwi]

The replay gain by album feature needs to be implemented in MC before it can be applicable to the iPod. It is on the eventual todo list.

Very excited to hear that it's on the list!

kiwi

[Madcow]

Sounds a long way off... but still, you guys are awesome.  It's this kind of interaction between users and developers that keeps me using MC9 - I get as much of a kick out of trying each night's build as I do out of actually listening to my music.  

[JimH]

Please consider this a possibility and not a promise.  We have a long list.

[kiwi]

Please consider this a possibility and not a promise.  We have a long list.

Being on the bottom of a long list is far better than not being on any list at all.

kiwi

[nguyenkhoang]

Definitely need some updates to the replay gain (and album gain would be nice).  Two considerations here:

1. "virtual album gain"
While we're waiting for album gain, in an album what if we just applied the gain of the lowest track to the entire album...would that in effect keep the relative loudness weights of all songs on that track?

2. Seems that MC9 uses 83decibels as their standard for calculating reply gain...which means I have to set the gain +6decibel when playing back to equalize at 89. This is fine...unless I listen to the online music station on MC9, then those compressed sh*t recorded at 95decibel hurts my ears and I can't take off my headphones fast enough.

Would it have been better to do audio analysis on my wma lossless files, add 6 to the replay gain number, then do away with activating replay gain in the DSP playback?  Even if I wanted to do this, there is currently no way for me to update the replay gain attribute column except ONE BY ONE, and that seems like alot of work.

3. For my MP3s that I convert from wma lossless, I use MP3Gain to set the reply gain to 89 decibel so the MP3s I use in my portal and my car mp3 player will have the same volume...then I got redo the audio analysis on the mp3 files so that they will get the updated correct value...this takes a couple of hours for my large collection.  Isn't there a way for me to update the replay gain attribute for my entire mp3 collection to -6 decibel (which is what MC9 will come out with after it's done analyzing the MP3gained files anyway).

Thanks!

[Madcow]

Out of interest, are we supposed to be able to manually edit the Replay Gain value for a track?

I have a few tracks that simply sound too quiet (they are loud tracks on otherwise quiet albums) and it would resolve my issue if I were able to simply tweak the replay gain for these tracks by a few decibels.  Likewise, for my classical albums I could manually apply a consistent replay gain across the album - it wouldn't take long.

In the Tag Info window, Replay Gain has a light-coloured background (in PixOS) which suggests it is an editable field.  But I can't seem to edit it.  Design choice or bug?

[SteveG]

Madcow,

Replay Gain is not supposed to be an editable field. We need to make it not look like one.

[Madcow]

Awwwww.  Can't you make it editable?  It would solve all my problems.  

[SteveG]

Madcow,

Not right now. Sorry.

All your problems are solved except this one? Man, you are doing pretty well  .