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[markstein]

Hi,

First of all: sorry if this was already answered previously, however, I did not find this question answered doing a quick search.

What is the exact volume leveling behaviour in jriver when using WDM input? I know volume leveling adjusts all internal (analyzed) music files to -23LUFS. What happens if I stream Tidal though jriver, using the WDM driver? Is the functionality disabled in this case, or is a static volume reduction applied? In this case: is the amount of static volume reduction customizable? I read that Tidal, e.g., is leveling to -18LUFS, so an additional attenuation by -5dB would make this input more equal to the internal playback.

Best regards, Mark

[mattkhan]

I can't find a reference for this immediately but my recollection is that volume levelling on WDM applies a fixed -1dB offset

I tested it just now to check and it actually counteracts internal volume to apply that -1dB which seems like a really bad idea to me so I'd tread carefully with that (if you use internal volume). To my mind, that seems like a bug but I'm not sure why it behaves that way so hard to be sure.

[Hendrik]

The -1dB offset is applied to counter-act inter-sample peaks, I believe. Although if internal volume is already lower, maybe it should just consolidate with that.

Otherwise, input without volume metadata is not otherwise volume leveled. If you want to achieve a fixed offset of -5dB, you could use PEQ or simply internal volume.

[markstein]

Thank you for this helpful information - especially that any input without volume metadata will not be leveled at all. You may want to add this info to your wiki.

Regarding intersample peaks etc.: I currently apply a volume reduction of -0.2dB using equalizer apo to avoid the Windows limiter becoming active when streaming music into jriver using the WDM driver. My understanding is that WDM runs through the windows mixer, even when using "exclusive" mode.
Without using volume leveling, I would apply -3dB or even -4dB attenuation using internal volume to avoid intersample clipping. Almost all my music is ripped from CD, and intersample overs are more common than you might think... Might be less of an issue when using volume leveling, because the music with the most intersample overs is usually the most compressed music...

Best regards, Mark

 

[mattkhan]

Adaptive peak normalise does apply that fixed -1 today irrespective of internal volume

Volume leveling forcibly shifts the level to -1 by applying a potentially large positive volume adjustment to counteract internal volume

To my mind, the latter looks really strange behaviour and I struggle to think of how that isn't a bug

[markstein]

I just activated volume leveling, played around a little bit and realized that the amount of attenuation is displayed in the dsp overview window. Should have looked there before asking my question!

However, for external input via WDM driver, this shows me a constant -10dB attenuation by the volume leveling. Contradicts what was stated in previous postings.

BTW. I am still using MC 29. Where there any changes to volume leveling implementation in the following releases?

[mattkhan]

I suggest showing a picture of your audio path

[markstein]

Hi Matt,

see attached.

Tidal Win app -> MC WDM driver (exclusive mode) -> MC -> volume leveling activated -> fix -10dB attenuation by volume leveling on WDM input in DSP studio

Internal volume in MC is deactivated

Output to RME ADI2 via ASIO

MC version 29.0.91 (64 bit), Win 11

Best, Mark

[mattkhan]

which volume do you use? internal?

I don't recall anything changing in volume levelling in a long time & https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Release_Notes doesn't mention anything either so I can't explain the -10dB, a dev would have to comment I think

[markstein]

In my use case, MC internal volume is deactivaded under options.

I use external volume control on my DAC.