Loads Of My Songs Play At Different Volumes

[Beckett]

quite a lot of my songs play at different levels, was wondering if there was anything that could be done on itunes(MAC version) to make all the songs play at same volume?

i find if i listen to say hypnotise, then a song that isnt as loud then i find it ruins listening to that song

i play all the songs from my ipod, into my alpine HU. a lot of the songs are from limewire etc.

any help/comments?

cheers Beckett

[lance_aka_64]

iduno if the mac version is any different from the windows version but i have the windows version. try going to edit then preferences then advanced and then burning. click use sound check and hit ok. once it gets done scanning all of your songs they will all be the same volume. i just hope all of the settings are the same for mac as they are for windows.

[audiofanaticz]

Im not a ipod user, but your problem is most likely different KBPS.

Since I dont know the apple software I dont know if there is a fix to level them to all the same, but otherwise you can use a additional program such as acid pro, fruityloops, vegas, adobe audition to make the files all the same, then import them into your itunes software.

[Decaf]

the only problem with volume leveling is its not always an average of all files levels

found this on a forum i used to go to:

MP3Gain (free program used to "fix" mp3's and such) defaults to 89db, so by applying volume leveling to a group of files it will lower or raise volume to 89db (give or take a db or 2). It does not however, sample the group of files to be normalized, to find the "averaged" volume

and

Many comments, some potentially dangerous. Here is my take as an engineer:

1. Methods like ReplyGain (for MP3 only, Windows) or iTunes Sound Check are pretty harmless, as they only add a tag to the music file that tells the music player to increase or decrease the volume by a certain amount. The music file itself is unaffected.

The nice thing about iTunes' method is that iPods can read it and use it by default.

2. Actually changing levels with an audio editor (such as Audacity) is more serious - these changes affect the actual music file. This is also quite time consuming.

3. Achieving decent results for the human ear is very, very tricky. Absolute level is only one part of the equation, and is the only one that things like iTunes' Sound Check deal with. Other critical factors include (but are not limited to):

a) EQ - a bright, shrill recording will sound much louder than a dark, mellow recording with identical levels, for example.

Level Compression - used on all popular recordings to reduce dynamic range. An uncompressed track has higher highs and lower lows (levels) but overall sounds quieter than a compressed version that has the same peak level.

These variations are the reason that iTunes Sound Check now only adjusts the level in a downward direction - it is the safest way to go to avoid clipping and unexpected blasts of volume from your headphones.

Ultimately, the best solution would be a very clever algorithm that looked at all the factors the ear uses to determine volume and made best-guess calculations from there. Even then, don't fool yourself into thinking that a string quartet followed by Led Zeppelin will sound like they are "at the same level" - that is only possible by greatly reducing the dynamic range of each of them, which is a pretty nasty thing to do to the music. That, by the way, is what your local FM station does to make all the tracks sound "level". You don't want your iPod to sound like that, trust me

Edited March 2, 2008 by decafcappucino

[Beckett]

i went onto itunes

then i went into 'preferences', then i went on the 'playback' section, and there is this button to click called 'sound check' under that is says- 'automatically adjusts songs playback to same level'

would this sorta make all the songs the same level?

i mean like 'my' lets say 'gangsta music by YJ' the bass isnt very powerful i think, compared to like 'my' 'hypnotise' or 'thug motivation' so will they all sorta play at the same kinda level now be as powerful as each other??

cheers

[Decaf]

thats the inherent problem, most programs take the quietest track and lower all songs louder than it closer to the volume of the quietest track

its not an average, and even if it was, your loudest songs would always get quieter

the real way to do this is buy the original cd's, since so many downloads are at different levels

before i put anything on a cd or memory card to play i look at it with windows media player oscilioscope and you can see if the track is visibly quieter, so keep on looking for a good copy

i have everything from blues, to incubus, to jeezy, to ciara and if it was copied from the original cd, it all sounds the same, but tracks ive downloaded from the "greencable" are all over the place