I have to disagree here as many of today's digital music outlets set their volume leveling at different targets dependent upon program material. The R128 "standard" is aimed squarely at professional broadcast and can really take the punch out of a modern day recording due to it's very low -23 threshold.
Apple for example uses somewhere around -16LUFS for Soundcheck/iTunes and probably for Apple Music as well. Spotify uses a preset threshold that is not -23 LUFS.
Being able to adjust the target for volume leveling would make me very happy. Being locked into a pro broadcast level of -23LUFS is very restrictive and basically does not play well with other digital music options out there.
I really see the negative in the "quietness" of this implementation when making CDs for the car and leaving volume leveling set on. I have to crank the volume knob wayyyyy up to get the CD to a reason level and then when I eject it - the radio comes pounding in at today's "normal" volume. Can be a tad annoying.
This is a decent read on other possible options...
https://auphonic.com/blog/2013/01/07/loudness-targets-mobile-audio-podcasts-radio-tv/
VP
yes please, this! Current MC20 volume leveling cuts the entire output down way too much (as compared to say iTunes sound check) which requires me to offset the low output by cranking up my amp or volume on my external DAC/PreAmp which puts the comfortable listening volume in the 3'oclock position (instead of 12'oclock) giving me very little headroom up top when a song i really like comes on. Since I share the same audio/speaker/headphone setup for all other computer sounds (youtube, skype, iTunes, etc) what ends up happening is the moment I play a video via Safari or go to answer the phone it just comes ripping out of my speakers like a jet fighter overhead throwing me into a panic to find and down the volume. Needless to say it scares the h out of me every time and does nothing to impress my neighbor either.
I just purchased the 21 upgrade and I have no interest in any other upgrades that might come my way except for:
- the ability to set the target output volume of volume leveling (default it to the 'standard' fine by me, but let me change it)
- reliable apple wireless keyboard media key detection to where it just always works and does not launch me into iTunes by accident triggering both streams of audio at the same time
That's it for me, just those 2 things and it would be very much appreciated. I would even be willing to pay extra to get those two things prioritized.