Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

2021-03-29 07:38:30

The current media reader does not read audio files (a FLAC in this case) with multiple monotracks correctly at all volume-wise. It is giving me audio far too quiet for the volume, to the point it is often barely audible at maximum volume by default and often lowers the volume further in a ReplayGain scan. This is fixed immediately when I mix the files down to a single monotrack, but that damages the quality of my FLAC files. Is there any setting besides ReplayGain I need to adjust or is this simply a problem with the reader? I can just set ReplayGain to 18 dBs but I'd rather have it more accurately judged as was the point of me downloading this software. Thanks.

Note: This is a fresh install of the latest stable version. It has no third party software or anything of the sort.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #1 – 2021-03-29 18:29:03

Excuse my stupidity but I don't understand what your source file is like. Can you share a sample audio file with multiple monotracks?

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #2 – 2021-03-29 19:17:24

I don't want to break rules so here's a PNG of the particular song I'm trying to use, a game rip of the Hyrule Warriors soundtrack, in Audacity. This one in particular is Hyrule Field (Twilight Princess).

If I can post it or a part of it I'd be happy to. Just felt best be on the safe side.

Edit: I suppose I could record like three different notes separately, put them into GoldWave and put that as a FLAC, would be terrible but would give a non-copyrighted sample track. Let me know if you need that.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #3 – 2021-03-29 19:48:03

That is an 8 channel audio file and it would be quite loud when played on a device supporting that. I recall foobar2000's ReplayGain scanner handles multichannel loudness estimation very well. I can see from the waveforms that boosting that by 18 dB would clip like crazy. Are you playing the file incorrectly, leaving some channels away for example or downmixing it with some weird custom downmixer?

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #4 – 2021-03-29 20:17:22

It would be clipping like crazy if it played it at the proper volume by default. When I compile it down to a single channel track in Audacity, even with the ReplayGain data removed, they play at completely different volumes when run.
I just run it straight into the audio player, the only other audio player I've used on this laptop is the default Groove. I am running it through nothing else. I have GoldWave and Audacity for editing tracks but have used neither on the original version. I've done nothing to this file but manually adjust ReplayGain (which only reaches the same volume as the non-ReplayGain adjusted single channel track version when boosted by a replay gain of around a bit over 10 dB)
It's really strange, the thing is again, when I mix it down to a single channel, it plays completely differently in volume when both are set to play at the exact same volume.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #5 – 2021-03-29 20:38:00

foobar2000's ReplayGain scanner uses a downmixing algorithm to determine the loudness of multi-channel files. This is not guaranteed to be the same effective loudness as any other downmixing algorithm. It is supposed to have an effective result for actual multi-channel speaker output, but it's not perfect. I don't think any algorithm can handle every downmixing or playback case for >2ch or even 1ch vs 2ch output, depending on whether your 1ch is upmixed to 2ch for playback, or played over the center speaker.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #6 – 2021-03-29 21:01:01

No. It is NOT a problem with the ReplayGain. That fixes the issue through manual adjustment, mostly. It is a problem with the playback going lower in volume than it should.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #7 – 2021-03-30 00:20:29

Sounds like you're getting downmixed, then. That, or audio output isn't decoding all of the channels to the correct speakers.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #8 – 2021-03-30 01:08:07

Gotcha, I've been using headphones right now mostly, with my good speakers away at the moment. Is there a good way to improve this while using headphones? Or do I just need to boost the sound each time?

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #9 – 2021-03-30 07:04:39

I really hope this can be fixed consistently.
I know that it doesn't do this on Groove, so if you have any way of solving this I'd appreciate it.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #10 – 2021-03-30 07:58:06

Try adding the "Downmix to Stereo" DSP to your playback chain. The current version's WASAPI output doesn't really work that well for multi-channel, unless you have a surround virtualization plugin installed system-wide, such as Dolby Atmos for Headphones or similar.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #11 – 2021-03-30 18:26:50

So, I downloaded Adobe Access and am using the 7 Day Trial for Atmos for Headphones, while that did improve some of the quality it still isn't fixing the music's volume. I don't think it's an issue with output. Here, let me show you with two screenshots of the volume bar for the 8-channel vs the 1-channel paused at the same point in time within Foobar. (All ReplayGain was of course removed).

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #12 – 2021-03-30 19:20:12

Visualizer averages all of the channels together, which will reduce their individual volume levels. I guess you'll have to PM Peter a sample of your audio and maybe he can look at it.

Re: Foobar Reads Multi-audio Files Poorly

Reply #13 – 2021-04-05 17:44:09

So I did that and he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I mean I can deal with the issue by blasting the replaygain and manually adjusting it I just would like to see if it could be worked out.