Help reg. sound volume and parameters

[nightrhyme]

I have just started using GKnot. Used to go with AutoGK.
I'm having some trouble getting the audio volume like the one AutoGK produces, also I don't know the parameters for getting 192 kbps VBR mp3. I don't know much about parameters for Azid and Besweet so I would be very grateful if someone would tell me which parameters to use. See screenshot below:

I would like to have 192 kbps VBR mp3 and as loud a sound as AutoGK.

Thanx in advance

http://img35.exs.cx/img35/2443/4213.jpg

[nightrhyme]

Well I will answer my question myself. Very sad that someone couldn't find the time to help a desperate N00B in need of assistance.
But I guess this is the general attitude of these boards. At least that's my impression after reading these boards heavily for the last 14 days.
Very sad since this is the only board with very wise people.

Sorry but I'm just so frustrated seaching through this board and every time you find a thread with some guy asking the right questions and you think YES now I will find my answer. You always find the standard reply: SEARCH,
You have violated this and this rule. Don't ask what is best etc.

Well chances are that another N00B will come by and benefit of my findings. Hell it only took me about 48 hours to find out :-(

Well here goes. To obtain reasonable levels of audio use the following parameters in Gknot. I really don't understand why these settings are not used by default:

http://img36.exs.cx/img36/4462/gknot-audio.jpg

Next I will find out the best Xvid encoding settings for max quality. Since that is impossible to get a straight answer to as well

Should you have a problem with your PC, hardware etc. Come by my favorite board ABXZONE (http://www.abxzone.com/) where no matter what your problem is or how stupid your question is. You will get an answer within 2 hours. And you wil never ever be told to do a SEARCH !

[manono]

Don't pull that crap anymore, or you'll see how long you last around here. Next time, why don't you try asking in the Audio Forum. It's for...audio questions. Duh!

And your recommendation that your settings be made the default is also nonsense. Using Post Gain combined with Boost is a guaranteed recipe for clipping (distortion). It may or may not be noticeable, but it's there nonetheless. Just open the MP3 in MP3 Gain (http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/) and you'll see. After it's open, hit the Track Analysis button to find out.

Lots of times the audio is perfectly normalized, but the music may be loud in only one place, or a gunshot, or other loud noise, and therefore the dialog may wind up too soft. Using Boost may help with that, but you had better go back to MP3 Gain afterwards and re-normalize it. Also, sometimes using Boost may leave behind artifacts in the form of little clicks. Not often, but sometimes. I've heard them myself on occasion.

I don't know exactly why the GKnot audio isn't as loud as that produced by AutoGK. Are we talking about the same movie? If not, then what you said is meaningless, for the reason I explained above. If it is the same movie, then I would guess that you are using an older version of AutoGK. It used Post Gain for awhile, which does produce louder volume, but DSPguru said that Hybrid Gain was much better.

[nightrhyme]

Originally posted by manono
Don't pull that crap anymore, or you'll see how long you last around here. Next time, why don't you try asking in the Audio Forum. It's for...audio questions. Duh!

And your recommendation that your settings be made the default is also nonsense. Using Post Gain combined with Boost is a guaranteed recipe for clipping (distortion). It may or may not be noticeable, but it's there nonetheless. Just open the MP3 in MP3 Gain (http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/) and you'll see. After it's open, hit the Track Analysis button to find out.

Lots of times the audio is perfectly normalized, but the music may be loud in only one place, or a gunshot, or other loud noise, and therefore the dialog may wind up too soft. Using Boost may help with that, but you had better go back to MP3 Gain afterwards and re-normalize it. Also, sometimes using Boost may leave behind artifacts in the form of little clicks. Not often, but sometimes. I've heard them myself on occasion.

I don't know exactly why the GKnot audio isn't as loud as that produced by AutoGK. Are we talking about the same movie? If not, then what you said is meaningless, for the reason I explained above. If it is the same movie, then I would guess that you are using an older version of AutoGK. It used Post Gain for awhile, which does produce louder volume, but DSPguru said that Hybrid Gain was much better.

Thanx so much for reply. And I really mean that. That's what I wanted. Reply from one of you wise people :)
Perhaps I should have posted in Audio Forum but thought you guys would find my question pretty standard and therefor I figured it was easily answered by one of the Gknot users.

Opened the track in Mp3 Gain and analyzed. But really don't know how to interpret the result. Perhaps you could help.
See Image:
What can you tell me about Pre-Gain and PostGain settings. Do they make any sort of errors in the audio ?

http://img6.exs.cx/img6/5613/mp3gain.jpg

Regarding sound volume AutoGK Vs. Gknot. I always use the newest beta from AutoGk. Right now 1.48 Beta. I have been folowing the development of AutoGK for a long time. And of course I tested the sound volume in the same movie :-)

Regarding my rant about the forum. I'm am truly sorry. But I did explain why I was so frustrated. I'm having a hard time figuring out the right way to use these forums. Mind you I'm a member of several other forums and even a MOD in one. So forums are not new to me.
For instance: I spend a great deal of time creating the data and setting up this thread :http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79815
In search of answers. But all I get is THREAD CLOSED. I simply don't understand :confused:
In my world (Might be different from your's) that's a strange way to treat a NEW guy. And I should note that all the Guides and FAQ's
suggested was all read prior to posting.

Thanx for your time :)

[manono]

Clip(Track)=Y means it clips, and -9 means it clips a lot. To fix it, change Target "Normal" Volume to 88.4 (9 less than current volume) and hit the Track Gain button.

The reason I didn't answer your original question is that I'm far from an audio expert. Just ask DSPguru, who has corrected me several times in the past. I've also been wrong with answers for other kinds of questions too many times in the past. So, I'm learning to not answer questions unless I'm pretty sure of the answer, or know the questions to ask to help me figure the answer. When I did hazard a guess for your AutoGK .vs GKnot question, well, wrong again. Perhaps len0x, when he gets back, will know the answer and be able to say what, if anything, is different between the audio settings of the 2 programs. Or perhaps someone else knows the answer.

I don't know the difference between the 3 types of Gain. Again, that's a question for the Audio Forum.

If you were to use the regular GKnot audio settings, you can open the resulting MP3 in MP3 Gain, and if you get a "+" figure, you can raise the volume safely.

Regarding Koepi closing your other thread; I understand his reasoning perfectly. It's the same reason that I won't give you my settings. Plus, they vary from movie to movie. One of his pieces of advice, and one with which I agree totally, is to read Crusty's FAQ (http://www.vslcatena.nl/~ronald/docs/xvidfaq.html). Everything's explained in there.

[piscator]

Indeed Audio forum question, but well. And as a general rule of thumb, expect answers as a courtesy of other people. That way you won't feel disappointed.

For most users, I guess, use standard settings for MP3 because that works as a charm. Fine-tuning depends on personal preference and most of all on the source you are using:
1) Is it DVD source?
2) Is it surround sound or just stereo sound?

As said before, boost heavy is bad because of distortion and most especially clipping because of max volume levels.
As said before, normalization changes volume levels and is absolutely unecessary for DVD sources. Stick to HybridGain.
Using both at the same time is a sin, as can be well guessed using common sense.

What I'm using for 5.1 surround sources is:
Azid: -L -3db -s stereo -c normal
Shibatch: --rate 44100 (though other people might argue with this)
Lame: -h --alt-preset 160 (though in the current distros of lame there is no difference between --preset and --alt-preset and if I remember correctly -h (higher quality) is default).

And if your source is AC3 2-channel 192 kbit and if you really want to reencode it to MP3, use:
Azid: -c normal

greetz,
Piscator