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Topic: Audacity - file formats i can edit ? (Read 20100 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #100
hi ab, well you passed me up.  i understand what you are saying.  now if i only understood what a conversion chain is, and how to implement it.  about the only thing that i use foobar for is conversions.  dave bryant helped me get my long string of commands working for eac ripping to wavpack.

i think this conversion chain seems similar to the command that eac uses.  however, in foobar, i never set up any such string or commands.  when i convert, i right click any file or group of files that i have selected in foobar.  i then click "quick convert".

it displays a whole bunch of formats, including apple lossless 3 times.  i dont know what the difference is, but i always click the top one.  just cuz it seems to work, as far as i can tell.

i can probably do what you want me to do, if you can sorta babysit me thru it !!

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #101
here is the additional command line option that i use in eac.  we put in those phrases about once per effort.  i have nowhere near the sophistication to have done that, without dave's help !!
-w "Artist=%artist%" -w "Title=%title%"   -w "Album=%albumtitle%" -w "Year=%year%" -w "Track=%tracknr%/%numtracks%" -w "Album Artist=%albumartist%"  -w "Disc=%cdnumber%/%totalcds%" -w "Genre=%genre%" -w "Composer=%composer%" -w "Performer=%albuminterpret%"  %hascover%--write-binary-tag "Cover Art (Front)=@%coverfile%"%hascover% --allow-huge-tags  -hh %source% %dest%

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #102
Don't select "Quick convert", but instead create your own conversion profile.  Select "..." and configure your settings as below.  When finished, save as a preset.


Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #103
i actually wanted apple lossless.  i was able to create a preset and save it.  so i can always go back and edit it.  called it JimmyAppleLossless.

i keyed in the destination as you typed in.  i suspect i will need some fine tuning on that, for my exact desire.  on the processing, i added skip silence to download channels to mono.  on the other, i transferred tags, attached pictures and attached replay gain.  for now, i did not do the replay gain for albums, cuz i read that this permanently changes the file.

but at least now i have something to play with.

thank you very much.  once i get this working, it will save me lots of time

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #104
i ran my first test.  i think i feel comfortable changing the destination around to whatever i end up wanting.  it did change it to mono, which was the main thing i was looking for

there is one difference between it and audacity.  when audacity changes it to mono, it will leave it at about its highest replay gain without clipping.  foobar leaves it right about the same gain, which is probably better for most people. 

but i was wondering if i could have this do a max regain at the same time i convert it ?  that would be ideal.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #105
i see there is a replay option.  so i added another preset.  i put in add replay gain by track without clipping.

i then loaded that file into audacity, and the original file into audacity.  they seem to be at the exact same volume

so no gain was done - i did test them.  each file had the exact same maximum amount that it could be amplified

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #106
i put in add replay gain by track without clipping.
I don't know your specific use case, but generally you'd want to use Album Gain.  Use Track Gain if you typically listen to playlists consisting of tracks from different albums.

As good an explanation as any:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/foobar2000-with-replaygain-what-do-i-do.599598/post-8203836

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #107
i definitely want the track option.  i have no desire to try and blend an album together.  for me, each song is a song in and of itself.  if i am forced to edit a song for some reason, i will very often raise quiet portions of a song.  i like the loudness level to be very consistent throughout my listening process.

i very seldom would take every song of a cd or album to even listen to, much less try and put some sort of "album" view to a collection of songs.

are there any programs that can raise the gain on a lossless file ?

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #108
hi ab,

i read thru his explanation.  but it is confusing to me.

first, when you go to preferences, context.  you can click on the replay gain box.  then if you double click that, there are 12 more boxes to either click on or click off

what i want to be able to do is load some files, and apply enough gain to each track, so that it is at the same level.

i think i am at least headed in the right direction.

the first thing i need to do is select and de-select the correct boxes on these first 12 choices.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #109
on the convert screen, it allows me to do a replay gain.  in the scan mode, it wanted to reduce everything.  but at least it wanted to do SOMETHING - LOL.

and that worked for playing in foobar.  but that is about it, as far as i could tell.  i loaded it into audacity - no change.  i played it on vlc media player - no change.  i then placed it in my itunes library, so that itunes would play it - no change.  no change in volume, except for in foobar.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #110
hi ab,

i end up going to audacity for quite a few things, such as clipping the song, and making adjustments to various things.  so i am just gonna call up each song once.  do whatever, and then amplify it to the max.  an album at a time.  and then use foobar to convert to apple lossless mono.

this is a project/hobby that will last a long time.  so i am just gonna have fun doing it a little bit at a time -  thanks for your help

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #111
Remove this post

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #112
on the convert screen, it allows me to do a replay gain.  in the scan mode, it wanted to reduce everything.  but at least it wanted to do SOMETHING - LOL.

and that worked for playing in foobar.  but that is about it, as far as i could tell.  i loaded it into audacity - no change.  i played it on vlc media player - no change.  i then placed it in my itunes library, so that itunes would play it - no change.  no change in volume, except for in foobar.
From wikipedia
"Typically, the replay gain and peak level values are then stored as metadata in the audio file. ReplayGain-capable audio players use the replay gain metadata to automatically attenuate or amplify the signal on a per-track or per-album basis such that tracks or albums play at a similar loudness level."

Which is why there would be no change when you open up the file in audacity. itunes I think uses something called Sound Check instead of ReplayGain, which I think you have to enable in itunes.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #113
hi irish,  from my best guestimate, foobar places the replay gain info in a different spot, or in a different format.  cuz there were 3 separate programs, all of whom did not recognize it.

i was hoping to use sound normalizer for my loudness.  i may still do that.  so far, the paid program links have not passed bit-defender's security.  whereas their trial version did.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #114
hi irish,  from my best guestimate, foobar places the replay gain info in a different spot, or in a different format.  cuz there were 3 separate programs, all of whom did not recognize it.

No foobar places the replay gain info in the metadata, which is right.

Did you try Sound Check in itunes.  Go Edit - Preferences - Playback - sound check option

replay gain in VLC. Tools - Preferences - Audio

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #115
i did make the change to vlc.  i dont want to use sound check, for various reasons.  i dont have those particular files.  i will have to test it later.

i wonder what audacity does - every program seems to recognize it

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #116
i dont want to use sound check, for various reasons.  i dont have those particular files.  i will have to test it later.

Sound Check is just like replay gain (More or Less) So if you play audio files in iTunes its fine (no permanent change). Ignore the options below Sound Check option.
Or there's the audio compressor option in audacity, you can mess around with.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #117
thanks, i use itunes a lot.  but not to listen to music, for enjoyment.  my listening enjoyment comes from listening to my ipod.

audacity is a huge program.  i seem to figure things out, as i need them.

i am glad that all the ripped music is in stereo.  it gives me more edit options.  very often the irritating sound is mostly or wholly one just one track.  but i have not heard of the audio compressor - so i dont know what it is supposed to accomplish ?

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #118
boy, it is pretty involved.  to a sophisticated user, i can see this coming in handy.  it may be a little beyond me and my needs.

it would be nice someday to be able to eliminate some frequencies, to get rid of particular sounds.  when the irritating sound is somewhat even in both channels, there is nothing i can currently do, to fix that.

i can of course delete the whole section (which i have done at times), if there is no singing.  most of the songs that i listen to are mostly about singing, but usually there is 1 instrumental section.  and that section usually has the loudest of the irritating noise

https://www.buzzsprout.com/blog/how-to-use-compressor-in-audacity

 

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #119
one thing i am learning about the amplification, and that i am adjusting to - one reason why a fully amplified song can sound softer than the others is that a song is only amplified until the first note hits the peak

so what i look for, after amplification, is how much of the wave form is below peak ?  sometimes there are a few notes at the top, but most of it is quite a bit below.

i can pretty much eyeball it, and know whether it can stand further amplification.  if i want it louder, then i convert to mono within audacity - that adds a fair amount to the loudness


Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #120
the mono files are almost exactly one half the size of the stereo files.  this sorta surprises me.  i would have thought that more than half of the music would need to be captured ?

the size of a mono alac file is somewhere between 2 and 2.5 times the size of the corresponding mp3 file.  most of my alac files are taking up somewhere between 6 and 10 MB, depending upon the length of the song and the amount of music in it

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #121
i should have said STEREO corresponding mp3 file.  so mono alac is still twice as large as stereo mp3.  i am really loving audacity.  calling up the file for the first time, i am cutting silence at the start and end of the song.  amplifying it to the highest it will let me.  and then fooling around with the tempo on a LOT OF SONGS.

one of my all-time favorite fast songs is oh boy by buddy holly.  i sped it up 10%.  it sounds even better.  this is a lifelong project.  but because it is fun, i find it to be a hobby.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #122
i thought the balance buttons were just for playback.  they are actually for recording, as well.  it probably would not be that useful to someone who wants to keep a stereo recording.  but it does make it very simple to minimize one channel against the other, FOR MONO RECORDINGS.  some times i just want to minimize certain portions of a channel.  but very often the irritating part of the song is predominant throughout the whole channel.  i continue to find more and more ways to manipulate the song.  and i have only gone thru a small sprinkling of the tools, albeit probably the ones that a person would be apt to use the most.

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #123
an interesting situation.  i accidentally kept one of the unedited files.  in comparing the two, the edited version was 1 second shorter.  so i almost for sure simply chopped off a second of silence at the end.  the edited version was 7.94mb.  the unedited version was 7.85mb.  with only 1 second difference, i did not do any tempo changes.  yet the shorter version actually takes up a small amount extra.  about the only other change i might have made is an amplification.  i thought that just made changes to certain bits.  does it actually add to the file ?  i cant think of anything else that i might have done ?  oh yea, one other thing i might have done is place the balance dial more towards one channel.  i will do that if i want to lessen some sound coming out of just one of the channels

Re: Audacity - file formats i can edit ?

Reply #124
boy, i just found another tool to use - the bass and treble control.  i had one song that i really loved the melody on.  but i had to manipulate it a lot, to lessen some irritating sounds.  it left 2 sections of the song with too much bass.  so i was able to adjust those 2 sections back to a more normal level.  song sounds great, now !!