Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Hawk
I have been using LameXP to convert a bunch of wav files to mp3. I noticed that it appears to be assigning a track volume. I am not sure why it is doing this since I don't have normalization checked and haven't changed any of the default settings.
I converted a test track and it assigned -10.0dB. I converted the same track with Audacity and Foobar and it left that tag blank. I am viewing the tags in MediaMonkey. When played the LameXP converted track is quieter than the other two as expected.
I can delete the tagged value and the song returns to normal volume, but any idea why this is happening? I expected a raw conversion with no added tweaks to the sound.
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It is important to understand that the ReplayGain tag that LAME is creating (by default) is nothing but a
meta information. It does
not alter the volume of the audio file at all!
ReplayGain normalization happens, if at all,
at playback time. So, IMO, there are only two possible situations:
- If you do want ReplayGain to normalize the volume of you media files, then you need a playback software that supports ReplayGain and your media files need to contain proper ReplayGain meta information.
The latter is exactly what LAME is doing (by default). In other words, LAME prepares the created MP3 files for ReplayGain processing, but the actual processing happens in your playback software.
- If you do not want ReplayGain to normalize the volume of you media files, then use a playback software that does not support ReplayGain –or– just disable the ReplayGain feature of your playback software.
Either way, as long as ReplayGain is disabled (or unsupported) in your playback software, the ReplayGain meta information that may be present in the media file will simply be ignored.
tl;dr If you don't like ReplayGain processing, then disable it in your
playback software 