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Topic: Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently? (Read 30046 times) previous topic - next topic
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Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Hello,

I have a huge collection of ripped music from my CDs (FLAC and some MP3).

I know, there is replay gain that can be calculated and that most players apply that gain live while listening.

But I also listen a lot in e.g. my car, where it doesn't use those "gain tags" and every song is differently loud. This is very annoying.

This is why I would like to permanently alter the volume of every music on my pc. I read that it is possible to alter the volume of mp3's without re-compression. FLAC is lossless, so I guess this should be possible here, too.

But even if there should be a _very small_ loss of quality in that process, I'm ok with this!! For me it is more important to have equal volume on every device I am listening with.

Could you give a (newb like me) a suggestion, how I can do this?

What is the best way to do it? Some time ago, I bought "dbpoweramp". Is "Volume Normalize" / ReplayGain(track gain) the right setting? Or ReplayGain(apply)? Or is there a better way?

What setting should I use for mp3s/ for flacs?

Thank you very much!

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #1 –
Load the MP3s in foobar, scan with replaygain, then right click and choose to apply gain permanently to each MP3 file.  This process is lossless and reversible.

Load the FLAC files in foobar, scan with replaygain, and then transcode them to FLAC while applying replaygain.  This process is not lossless (the gain will be changed) but will not reduce the quality of the files at all, just the volume.

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #2 –
My $.02, I would not alter any folders and files in your main computer or wherever your archival library is. For files on portable devices, I've done what you suggest and have been very satisfied. (I use a USB stick in my car, also have a couple Sansa Clips floating around between me and my girlfriend..)

I find foobar2000 is probably the simplest (and FREE).

FLAC-to-MP3 conversion, before having put files on your device:
1) Build a playlist or just select all the files you want to add.. SCAN PER-FILE TRACK GAIN
2) Right-click > Convert > ...
    a) assign destination (it can go directly to your device if you have it plugged in)
    b) pick codec
    c) In Processing, click on the "..." button underneath Replaygain
    d) choose source mode TRACK, and processing APPLY GAIN (and prevent clipping...)
    e) Convert!

For MP3 files already on your device:
1) Find your portable device MP3s through windows explorer. Open with foobar.
    -if they are in multiple folders, I like to load a portable foobar installation and configure the library just for that portable device. That way, you            don't have to find them all in their folders.
2) Scan per-file track gain
3) Then, also in the replaygain menu, select "apply track replaygain to file content".

P.S. Too slow, what Saratoga summed up. For myself, however, I like to leave my original ripped files untouched.

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #3 –
++ for not altering the FLAC files. This is your archive, so leave it alone.

You can easily encode all your lossless stuff to highest quality mp3s (e.g. lame -V0) or whatever your car/portable player can handle.
You'll have a really hard time to spot quality problems in noisy environments like in a car anyway.
So you'll have the best of both worlds: Lossless archive files with ReplayGain tags and replaygain-adjusted MP3s for almost every device.

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #4 –
Beware of tracks with positive replaygain. It might introduce clipping.
I've rarely had tracks where it was audible, but if you're not keeping the originals, it's worth verifying.

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: andrew_berge on
Beware of tracks with positive replaygain. It might introduce clipping.
I've rarely had tracks where it was audible, but if you're not keeping the originals, it's worth verifying.
True, when I apply RG or volume normalize with dBpoweramp I look for "prevent clipping" settings just to be on the safe (OCD) side.

Another way to prevent clipping in foobar2000, when applying track gain, is a setting buried in the preferences. I never knew about this until recently, FWIW:
Go to Advanced > Tools > ReplayGain Scanner > File content alteration > (check) Prevent clipping

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #6 –
Thank you all for your answers! I'll use the foobar procedure on all mp3s.

Quote
++ for not altering the FLAC files. This is your archive, so leave it alone.

I "re-thought" and you know... you are right! This is an archive, so I'll not touch the FLACs. For every FLAC I'll make a ReplayGained MP3 copy for portable devices

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #8 –
Sorry to dig up old thread. I like to carry my lossless files with me (have a Fiio X5 which definitely does them justice!), is there any way to permanently alter the files after I put them on my portable device, and keep them lossless? Sometimes I have playlist folders with many single tracks in, and would like them all to play back at the same volume (true peak scanned and without clipping), whilst staying with lossless quality (OK I know it will actually make them quieter but that's OK cos I have my main archive untouched back home).

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #9 –
Yes, see my first reply to this thread.

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #10 –
I see, thank you, so I basically need to transcode from FLAC to FLAC whilst applying the RG info. Cheers!

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #11 –
OK, from what I understand Foobar / Replaygain Track mode analyzes each track against an 89db ceiling, then adds a value to a tag to increase or decrease the loudness of the track. Some applications recognize this tag, some do not.

My practice has been that when making mp3 compilations in Foobar, to preserve the playlist order I copy the files to a new folder and rename as ListIndex_Filename, then I bring these new files back into a new playlist in Foobar and do Replaygain Track mode and apply the values.

What I'm wondering, after reading this thread, is that since the Track mode value is only a tag why keep analyzing and applying to the same tracks each time it becomes part of a new compilation, just apply the track value upon first analysis.

Or, does the presence of this track value take precedence if there is no Album value, if some tracks of an album have track values and some do not, has the relative relationship between the tracks of an album been altered ?

I'm just trying to figure out a set of best practices for my mp3 compilation.

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #12 –
Quote from: ashwken on
What I'm wondering, after reading this thread, is that since the Track mode value is only a tag why keep analyzing and applying to the same tracks each time it becomes part of a new compilation, just apply the track value upon first analysis.


There is no reason to do that.  The new value will be the same as the old.

Quote from: ashwken on
Or, does the presence of this track value take precedence if there is no Album value, if some tracks of an album have track values and some do not, has the relative relationship between the tracks of an album been altered ?


You can set most replaygain aware applications to choose either the track or the album gain if both are available. 

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #13 –
Quote from: saratoga on
Quote from: ashwken on
What I'm wondering, after reading this thread, is that since the Track mode value is only a tag why keep analyzing and applying to the same tracks each time it becomes part of a new compilation, just apply the track value upon first analysis.


There is no reason to do that.  The new value will be the same as the old.

Quote from: ashwken on
Or, does the presence of this track value take precedence if there is no Album value, if some tracks of an album have track values and some do not, has the relative relationship between the tracks of an album been altered ?


You can set most replaygain aware applications to choose either the track or the album gain if both are available.

Thank you for the response.

As I build compilations there a some tracks from an album that may appear in several compilations while other tracks from the same album may never appear in a compilation. Applying the track gain to these original individual mp3 tracks as they become part of a compilation need be done only once, if at a later point the same track becomes part of another compilation applying track gain will simply overwrite the existing tag value with the same value from the new analysis.

Following this method some tracks will have a value for track gain, while others will not, and none of the tracks will have been analyzed for album gain. Is there a downside to this ?

I suspect that applying both track and album gain when the files were created would've been the proper procedure, but they weren't.

Best way to mass normalize/replaygain mp3 and flac permanently?

Reply #14 –
Quote from: ashwken on
I suspect that applying both track and album gain when the files were created would've been the proper procedure, but they weren't.


This is the normal way to do it.  That or "select all" -> scan replaygain.