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[Macstein505]

I am new to MC.  I have been reading all the latest on file format for the best quality play back (bit perfect, Absolute Sound).  My audio library is in FLAC and ALAC.  I have just started experimenting in WAV.  I have recopied the CD to my computer HD and encoded in FLAC and repeated the process in unlimited WAV.  Playing the same song in the two different formats the FLAC file sounds 2x louder.  Normal? I have only used the computer speakers.  New enough to this, I have not hooked to my audio system yet.

[Listener]

There should not be a difference in volume between Flac and WAV files containing the sample audio stream.

Some possibilities for the difference you heard:

1. Replay Gain: when you rip a CD, MC or another ripping program can analyze the audio stream and record in a tag in the music file some information  about how loud the audio stream is.  When the file is played, MC or another player could adjust the volume based on the Replay_gain value. Some info:

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Replay_gain#Auto_Analyze_during_Rip

This explanation would apply if

- the WAV file didn't contain a replay_gain tag and the Flac file did.
-  The MC setting to use replay_gain to adjust volume during playback was turned on.

2. Normalization:  MC or another ripping program can adjust volume before the audio stream is stored in the music file.  This is a permanent change. Some info:

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Encoding_Settings

This explanation would apply if

- Normalization was applied when the Flac file was created and not applied when the WAV file was created.

In both cases, changing a couple of settings in MC (or another ripping program) will remove the difference.

Other people may have additional possibilities to suggest.

Bill

[Macstein505]

You were right on.  A gain was set in the tag of the FLAC file.  After analysis it corrected the volume level.  And!, in this case I remembered I recorded the FLAC file on a sister computer with a different program to save time in ripping CD's.  My fault, I need to install MC on that computer also.  Time to analyze  a few files now.  Thanks for the help.