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Topic: Radio-like compression (Read 4928 times) previous topic - next topic
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Radio-like compression

Hi,
we are trying to achieve the same sort of homogeneous loudness radio stations have, with all sort of music genre sounding equally the same. Is there some particular hardware/software setup we can easily replicate  to get this kind of result?


Radio-like compression

Reply #2
What the OP is looking for is not Replaygain but Dynamic Range Compression. I've never wanted to use it so I can't cite any software off the top of my head, but Wikipedia has a list.

Radio-like compression

Reply #3
What the OP is looking for is not Replaygain but Dynamic Range Compression. I've never wanted to use it so I can't cite any software off the top of my head, but Wikipedia has a list.

It is not very clear what the OP is looking for, IMO.

Anyway, if you just want to set the loudness of all the tracks to an equal value, without changing the dynamics of the songs: Replaygain.

If you want to apply dynamic range compression you could use a compressor and/or limiter. I know at least of one radiostation that uses Waves' L2, for example (http://www.waves.com/Content.aspx?id=211).

Radio-like compression

Reply #4
Hi,
we are trying to achieve the same sort of homogeneous loudness radio stations have, with all sort of music genre sounding equally the same. Is there some particular hardware/software setup we can easily replicate  to get this kind of result?

You may consider the European Broadcasting Unions's (EBU) Loudness Recommendation EBU R128. Cf. also the following threads here at HA forum:
Direct links:

Radio-like compression

Reply #5
If you want a software audio player with dynamic compression, use foobar200 and install foo_dsp_vlevel. Compression IMHO makes only sense for noisy environment (e.g. car). Replaygain is recommended if you want to keep the original character of the music intact.

Radio-like compression

Reply #6
Definitely use Replaygain, this should be enough. If you require additional dynamic leveling Stero Tool via foo_dsp_bridge will do a better job than vlevel or R128GAIN IMHO. Just don't go nuts with the latter, despite being one of the better tools of its kind it reduces audio quality by design.

Radio-like compression

Reply #7
If you want a software audio player with dynamic compression, use foobar200 and install foo_dsp_vlevel.

Or foo_r128norm:

its around 2.8x faster than my port of Garf's Dynamics Compressor.

They don't do the exact same thing, as you will know. The effect of foo_r128norm is more like that of Vlevel, i.e. it seems to adjust the volume (slowly) over time as opposed to compressing the dynamics to make it sound louder. It sounds obviously radio-ish. The calculations will probably be much different (from Vlevel) though, and a fixed 3 sec. sliding window is [or was?] used.

Radio-like compression

Reply #8
Just don't go nuts with the latter, despite being one of the better tools of its kind it reduces audio quality by design.

Despite the fact that this statement is an obvious violation of TOS #8 it is obviously wrong because R128GAIN just calculates a gain and tags the audio file accordingly (i.e. doesn't touch the audio itself in any way and hence don't "reduce the audio quality",) just the same way as ReplayGain does.

Radio-like compression

Reply #9
Just don't go nuts with the latter, despite being one of the better tools of its kind it reduces audio quality by design.

Despite the fact that this statement is an obvious violation of TOS #8 it is obviously wrong because R128GAIN just calculates a gain and tags the audio file accordingly (i.e. doesn't touch the audio itself in any way and hence don't "reduce the audio quality",) just the same way as ReplayGain does.

That statement did not refer to R128GAIN, it referred to stereo tool, although the statement is a little convoluted.

Radio-like compression

Reply #10
A lot depends on how the music is played. If he wants to listen to the music in a car, dynamic range compression!
Glass half full!

Radio-like compression

Reply #11
I would much rather that my car's stereo have a dynamic compression option. That way I don't need two versions of everything.

Radio-like compression

Reply #12
It is not very clear what the OP is looking for, IMO.


He said he wants "homogeneous loudness radio stations have". Every commercial radio station I've listened to, without exception, has used dynamic range compression. It seems pretty clear to me. (It's important to note that this is distinct from, and unrelated to, audio data compression such as MP3.)

Having never messed around with compressor plugins myself, I would advise the O.P. to try some of the software previously mentioned in this topic, and see what works best. I imagine one of the softwares based on broadcast standards would provide the most "radio-like" level compression.

 

Radio-like compression

Reply #13
Radio stations get their sound from Orban or Omnia. Probably outside your budget though.