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[Johnny B]

I have many music videos with very different loudness (RMS level - not peak level)
1) how can I make them sound in MC more or less the same? (in terms of loudness)
2) why MC does not support Replay Gain for sub type "Music Video"?

[6233638]

Have you tried the adaptive volume option? (Tools > Options > Video > General Video Settings: Adaptive Volume)

It is my understanding that when this is set to Light, it only serves to normalize the volume across videos, and does not adjust volume dynamically.
This will not normalize volume across MC18 entirely, but should serve to normalize volume across your videos. (similar to ReplayGain operating in track mode)


I would also like to see an option in MC18 to normalize volume across the entire application though; but I don't know that it would work by using ReplayGain on videos. (I have to imagine that would be very time consuming)

I am outputting stereo, and when you downmix 5.1 or 7.1 audio, volume for those videos/tracks is much lower than stereo tracks. It would be nice to have an option that would normalize audio across all formats. (by lowering the volume of all 2.0/5.1 tracks to match that of 7.1) You would lose dynamic range doing this, but as long as you are outputting at least 24-bit it should be fine. Normally I am around 10/100 volume with stereo tracks, and 20-30 for films depending on whether they're 5.1/7.1, and how loud they are mixed.

It would be nice to be able to just leave the volume at a fixed value (say 30/100) and never have to change it depending on the format being played. It's always annoying when I forget that I had it turned up because I was watching a film last, and then started to play some music. (made worse because I mostly use headphones)

[mwillems]

Have you tried the adaptive volume option? (Tools > Options > Video > General Video Settings: Adaptive Volume)

It is my understanding that when this is set to Light, it only serves to normalize the volume across videos, and does not adjust volume dynamically.
This will not normalize volume across MC18 entirely, but should serve to normalize volume across your videos. (similar to ReplayGain operating in track mode)


I would also like to see an option in MC18 to normalize volume across the entire application though; but I don't know that it would work by using ReplayGain on videos. (I have to imagine that would be very time consuming)

I am outputting stereo, and when you downmix 5.1 or 7.1 audio, volume for those videos/tracks is much lower than stereo tracks. It would be nice to have an option that would normalize audio across all formats. (by lowering the volume of all 2.0/5.1 tracks to match that of 7.1) You would lose dynamic range doing this, but as long as you are outputting at least 24-bit it should be fine. Normally I am around 10/100 volume with stereo tracks, and 20-30 for films depending on whether they're 5.1/7.1, and how loud they are mixed.

It would be nice to be able to just leave the volume at a fixed value (say 30/100) and never have to change it depending on the format being played. It's always annoying when I forget that I had it turned up because I was watching a film last, and then started to play some music. (made worse because I mostly use headphones)

For what it's worth, replaygain's calibration (as implemented in JRiver) is designed to match up with the movie audio calibration standard (83 dB at -20dB pink noise).  I currently use replaygain on audio and have adaptive volume entirely off in a stereo setup, and the levels between regular audio tracks and films (even 5.1 films) are pretty even on my system (usually within a few dB because I use album gain instead of track gain, but it's never startling).  When I used to use adaptive volume, I got pretty different results between media types, which is why I stopped using it.  Do you still get drastically different levels with replaygain on and adaptive audio off?

The only time I really get blasted out of my chair is with music videos (or other videos that don't observe the film audio mastering standard).  Like OP, I would love something replaygain-like for those kinds of things, but I understand that might be easier said than done.

[JustinM]

Quick Q:  Can someone assure me, That setting adaptive Volume will only affect, Videos, and not music playback??

Thanks

[6233638]

Quick Q:  Can someone assure me, That setting adaptive Volume will only affect, Videos, and not music playback??

I think Adaptive Volume should only affect video, with audio being controlled by ReplayGain. (Volume Levelling DSP)

For what it's worth, replaygain's calibration (as implemented in JRiver) is designed to match up with the movie audio calibration standard (83 dB at -20dB pink noise).  I currently use replaygain on audio and have adaptive volume entirely off in a stereo setup, and the levels between regular audio tracks and films (even 5.1 films) are pretty even on my system (usually within a few dB because I use album gain instead of track gain, but it's never startling).

It's usually more of a problem when switching between 5.1/7.1 films and 2.0 films/downloaded videos (e.g. YouTube content which isn't mastered to anything and can be louder than the stereo track on a film) than it is when switching over to ReplayGained music. (which is quieter)

From doing a quick, highly unscientific test, comparing the volume of a track off the Tron Legacy soundtrack CD with Album Gain enabled (-9.6dB) I have to turn up the volume 50% (15/100) to have the JRSS 7.1 downmix roughly match, and 100% (20/100) when using a custom downmix in LAV Audio. (support for custom downmixes in the JRiver Audio path would nice; a standard downmix discards LFE) JRSS does include LFE.

Going from the JRSS mix to ReplayGained music is too loud, though not startling. Going from the LAV Audio mix to music is far too loud. And it gets worse if it was a particularly quiet film - sometimes I have volume up at 25/100, or even 30/100, rather than 20/100.

And it gets worse still when you go from a quiet 5.1 DVD (maybe 25/100) to a stereo menu that is playing music in the background or another video that is in Stereo - because that is not ReplayGained so there's a much bigger jump in volume.

When I used to use adaptive volume, I got pretty different results between media types, which is why I stopped using it.  Do you still get drastically different levels with replaygain on and adaptive audio off?

I don't personally use Adaptive Volume, I suggested it because it seemed like it should at least help normalize the volume of these music videos - but not necessarily bring them in line with ReplayGained music.

Like OP, I would love something replaygain-like for those kinds of things, but I understand that might be easier said than done.

I agree, it would be a great feature to have; it just might be tricky to actually measure a whole film's soundtrack, and I don't know how iso files would be handled.

ReplayGain aside though, because the downmixes are using normalization, you should be able to calculate the exact gain difference between a 2.0/5.1/7.1 audio track and play them at the same level.

This won't fix loud/quiet mastering, or bring it into line with ReplayGained music, but would at least stop the problem of volume jumping up when going back to the menus or playing a stereo video after a 5.1/7.1 video.

[Johnny B]

Guys, it is "music videos" (several minutes clips) I ask to play at the same level - not movies (hours) and I ask for that because IMHO that should be doable (ideally using Replay Gain the same way as for plain audio tracks)

I wonder why it is not possible especially with regards to his comment from Matt
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=74943.msg508009#msg508009
where he says: "It's worth noting that videos marked as 'Music Video' get special (music-like) treatment from JRSS."

I really would expect music videos (e.g. files which sub type is set to "Music Video") to be treated the same "music-like" way as audio tracks. After all it's still mainly about music (picture is just extra) and why there should be volume difference between for example CD Single track (audio) and videoclip of the same audio track...