iTunes 'sound check'

Discussion in 'iPod discussion' started by arvinf, Mar 25, 2006.

  1. arvinf

    arvinf Member

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    Hi guys

    Although iTunes is by far my favourite music player, its a real pain as far as its 'sound check' feature is concerned. I keep having to manually adjust several tracks because it's made them really loud in comparison to others. Is anyone else experiencing this? Anything i've missed? Is there any third party plugin or anything that can solve this problem?

    Thanks in advance
     
  2. Lethal_B

    Lethal_B Moderator Staff Member

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    Are you sure it's iTunes that is the problem? i.e, are these songs loud when played on a standalone cd player?

    Another suggestion, I really recommend you don't use iTunes to rip your music. You should use[bold] Exact Audio Copy [/bold]with the LAME encoder, as it is by far the best in it's field.

    Here is an afterdawn link to the guide and information them,

    [bold]http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/mydeneaclame.cfm[/bold]

    Peace,

    Lethal
     
  3. arvinf

    arvinf Member

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    Hi lethal B, thanks for your post

    Don't worry i don't use iTunes to rip my music directly (i use dbpoweramp music converter [which uses the LAME codec] because of its 'accurate-rip feature' which compares your rips with a database on the web). I did read your guide though - should i still use the Nero ASPI dll?

    Back to the main question, the problem is with tracks that are meant to be quieter than the rest, such as interludes. When i turn off 'sound check' albums play just fine, but with it on again the interludes are incredibly loud.

    I could understand if it brought the volume of the interlude up to the SAME as the following track, but it actually makes it a lot louder than the following track. I thought the objective of sound check was to make tracks play at similar volumes (to avoid the need to keep adjusting volume levels).

    Which brings me onto a new question, if I rip tracks using 'volume normalize' functions, does this normalize tracks to a certain dB, or does it only normalize them in the context of the CD they are on?

    Thanks
     
  4. Lethal_B

    Lethal_B Moderator Staff Member

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    That's good to here. It's nice that you have a good amount of knowledge, and that you actually [bold]read the guides!![/bold] :)

    Anyroad, back on topic.

    That is one of the reasons I don't use the sound track that is integrated with iTunes, as it's invariably inaccurate.

    I personally use the mp3 doctor for this purpose. It caters for my audio normalizing needs. You only get 20 processes on the free trial before you have to pay for it, which I'm guessing is something you probably do not want to do.

    If you enquire over at the Audio forums --

    http://forums.afterdawn.com/forum_view.cfm/37

    I am sure someone will be able to assist you, as my knowledge on audio editing is only enough to get myself by, whereas those guys are geniuses in that field..
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2006
  5. jazo123

    jazo123 Guest

    In iTunes you can go to [bold]edit-->preferences[/bold]. Then, under "Playback" check the box that reads: "Automatically adjust song playback level to same level." Then, they should all be the same volume level. ;-)
     
  6. Lethal_B

    Lethal_B Moderator Staff Member

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    Jazo, that's the sound check, and arvinf is having a problem with that feature -- he knows where it is..
     
  7. jazo123

    jazo123 Guest

    Oh, okay, sorry about that. :(
     
  8. Lethal_B

    Lethal_B Moderator Staff Member

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    No Problem.

    So arvinf, have you found a solution with your sound normalizing issue?
     
  9. arvinf

    arvinf Member

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    thanks man, i'll try mp3 doctor

    I don't mind paying for stuff, I bought dbpoweramp after all ;-)

    Cheers
     

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