Audio volume tool ?

[lutinor]

Hi all,

I have 100 media audio files but they have all different volume :( is there a tool which will make = all volume ?

I mean :

File 1 : 40%
File 2 : 50%
File 3 : 70%

You use the tool...yeah ! 100% for all !

I think you get it :)

[hello_hello]

If you're wanting them all to sound the same volume, as opposed to being normalised to the maximum volume etc, then no, there's not really any tool for doing that.

[lutinor]

If you're wanting them all to sound the same volume, as opposed to being normalised to the maximum volume etc, then no, there's not really any tool for doing that.

I mean i want to see all file with = volume. Actually when you navigate in the files you have to :

Pump up, pump down , pump up :s

You can do that manually file by file but it will take age :s I get there is a tool to do that, no?

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Try SoX (http://sox.sourceforge.net/) or Volumax (http://www.rarewares.org/others.php) ;)

[lutinor]

Try SoX (http://sox.sourceforge.net/) or Volumax (http://www.rarewares.org/others.php) ;)
Thx :) Btw i found a way in Goldwave editor (which is free too and beginner friendly).

batch, effet 'maximize', start -> job done :) :thanks:

[Ghitulescu]

Thx :) Btw i found a way in Goldwave editor (which is free too...

Since when is GW free?

[pandy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_Gain

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Since when is GW free?

There is a "free" trial version:
http://download.cnet.com/GoldWave/3000-2170_4-10001099.html

[smok3]

if on windows, foobar2000 has built in replaygain scanner which will either tag your audio files with appropriate rg values or/and actually modify your audio data losslessly (mp3).

p.s. i think it is also up to date with latest EBU R 128 fashion, some reading here:
http://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_2010-Q3_loudness_Camerer.pdf

i want some LUFS.

[hello_hello]

Try SoX (http://sox.sourceforge.net/) or Volumax (http://www.rarewares.org/others.php) ;)

SoX looks interesting. I see it compands and supports ReplyGain.

I was going to write a ReplayGain spiel but the OP seemed like they were after a "1 click" type option, plus I'm not sure how effective ReplayGain would when used on video soundtracks.

Anyone tried using it for that?

[pandy]

AFAIR FB2000 must have explicitly enabled replay gain for converting MP3 to WAV (ie decompress audio from lossy to lossless format ie change sample values)


plus I'm not sure how effective ReplayGain would when used on video soundtracks.
Anyone tried using it for that?

Personally not but idea is exactly the same - loudness level is measured so subjective volume should be very similar for various audio parts.

[smok3]

SoX looks interesting. I see it compands and supports ReplyGain.

I was going to write a ReplayGain spiel but the OP seemed like they were after a "1 click" type option, plus I'm not sure how effective ReplayGain would when used on video soundtracks.

Anyone tried using it for that?

sure, i'am using wavegain for years now on short clips (before it hits the aac encoder), not sure how to do it with 5.1 audio though.

AFAIR FB2000 must have explicitly enabled replay gain for converting MP3 to WAV (ie decompress audio from lossy to lossless format ie change sample values)

mp3 is supported in a way that it doesn't need recompression (that is no quality loss).

[hello_hello]

Thx :) Btw i found a way in Goldwave editor (which is free too and beginner friendly).

batch, effet 'maximize', start -> job done :) :thanks:

If, as I suspect, "maximise" is an effect which normalises the volume (increases it until the loudest part reaches a predetermined level, often 0db) then it's not doing what you said you wanted to do. You said you wanted them to all sound like they've got the same level. You might get lucky and normalising the audio will do the job close enough, but then again, it mightn't.

[hello_hello]

mp3 is supported in a way that it doesn't need recompression (that is no quality loss).

I knew MP3s could have ReplayGain applied losslessly as I've been using MP3Gain for years, but I've been using foobar2000 for years as well and had no idea it could modify MP3s the same way too.
I'll have to check that out. Does it also save tags for reversing the process as MP3Gain does?

[smok3]

Does it also save tags for reversing the process as MP3Gain does?

no idea, sorry.

[hello_hello]

Well just out of interest I gave ReplayGain a try.

I took a dozen MKV files encoded from a TV broadcast (different episodes of the same series) and loaded them into foobar. I figured being all the same show they'll all contain the same audio and probably should be of about the same perceived volume. I used ffdshow to decode the audio. I scanned a couple with ffdshow's mixer disabled and the ReplayGain scanner didn't seem bothered. I tried them again with ffdshow mixing down to stereo to see if there'd be any difference. A slight difference but not much, so I just scanned the whole lot using ffdshow to mix all the 5.1 audio to stereo, as 5.1 audio sucks anyway. :)

Minimum track gain was +6.16db, maximum track gain was +17.14db and the rest varied greatly somewhere in between the two. I had a listen to the minimum and maximum files, still thinking they'd sound about the same, but no... ReplayGain probably wasn't too far off.

While I was at it I'd scanned anther 12 episodes of a different series, this time encodes taken from DVDs (while keeping the original AC3 audio) instead of from free to air broadcasts. Mixed to stereo with ffdshow once again. These all do seem to sound the same in volume.
Minimum track gain +10.33db, maximum track gain +13.73db.

So give or take a few db, I'd tentatively conclude ReplayGain does a pretty good job on video soundtracks, even though I was kind of sceptical it would.

ReplayGain scanning a bunch of MKVs while using a quadcore CPU certainly gives the hard drive a good workout.

[hello_hello]

ReplayGain scan of MKVs using foobar2000 with ffdshow for decoding. Season 4 DVD encodes of The Sopranos, original AC3 audio.
Top scan with ffdshow mixing 5.1 to stereo, bottom scan without mixing to stereo.

ReplayGain does seem to work pretty well.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/dashpb1/replaygain.gif

[smok3]

imho - with ac3 you would have to know what exactly is happening with DRC to get any good results (what kind of DRC are you using as your standard listening method) + apply replaygain to that type, so this would complicate things futher...

quote
An important feature of Dolby Digital is that it conveys audio unaltered in dynamics.
Unlike almost any previous broadcast medium, it therefore gives the listener the option to hear the
program as the mixer intended, even if that means that it goes from scarcely audible to extremely
loud.
Present analog broadcast processors force the program level towards full modulation of the
transmitter for a substantial portion of the time, eliminating most of the dynamic range; an incidental
benefit being an approximate normalization of listening level. In other words, the same
device that reduces the dynamic range determines the average volume. With Dolby Digital there
are no technical pressures to reduce dynamic range, and mean or average volume is addressed by
dialog normalization. Thus in Dolby Digital, the need for dynamic range compression can be considered
independently of average listening levels.
After discrepancies in absolute or average volume have been reduced by the application of
dialog normalization, many program items require no further processing for non- ideal listening
conditions. Some program items, however, have too great a dynamic range for some listeners. An
obvious example is the movie soundtrack; if the volume is set for satisfactory intelligibility of dialog,
sounds such as explosions may be unacceptably loud when reproduced in the home. Another
example is symphonic music; if the volume is set for comfort in loud passages, very quiet ones
may be lost in the background noise. In contrast, news bulletins or rock music have little inherent
dynamic range, and provided their absolute levels have been set appropriately there is no reason
to apply dynamic range compression.
Dynamic Range Control incorporates both selectable dynamic range compression and automatic
overload protection limiting. Dolby Digital encoders generate control words, dynrng and
compr, which can be used in the decoder to compress and limit the dynamic range of a program.
The Dynamic Range Compression profile algorithm is based on a simple audio loudness measurement.
In contrast, overload protection limiting is based on the peak levels.

...

Dynamic Range Compression can be set by selecting one of
several built-in profiles. Six preset DRC profiles are available to content producers: Film Light,
Film Standard, Music Light, Music Standard, Speech, and None



from http://www.minnetonkaaudio.com/info/PDFs/DolbyDigital_Guidelines.pdf


p.s. based on the high positive numbers in your test, i would guess this is without any DRC applied...

[hello_hello]

I don't think there's a way to use foobar to ReplayGain scan an MKV file while also mixing it to stereo, which is why I temporarily moved foobar's AC3 decoder plugin so it'd force foobar to decode via DirectShow and I could use ffdshow for the decoding. I tried again using foobar's AC3 decoder plugin and while the relative volumes were almost the same (about a 1db variation), it also seems decoding via DirectShow drops the level a little (about 2db).

To answer your question through, DRC was disabled.

I tried a few different scans while enabling DRC to see how much difference it'd make. Unfortunately I couldn't find a file where it made any difference at all. Is there a way to determine if AC3 audio contains DRC info so I know whether I'm scanning files which contain it?

[john33]

I modified WaveGain and created WaveGainS for handling multichannel audio that exists as separate mono wav files. It works by treating the tracks as an album and by applying the RG value calculated for the loudest track to all tracks. I use it mainly on decoded DTS tracks prior to encoding to ac3. Works for me. ;)

[TinTime]

I knew MP3s could have ReplayGain applied losslessly as I've been using MP3Gain for years, but I've been using foobar2000 for years as well and had no idea it could modify MP3s the same way too.
I'll have to check that out. Does it also save tags for reversing the process as MP3Gain does?

Just in answer to this - you can't reverse the process after foobar2000 has adjusted them. Unlike MP3Gain it just updates the existing replaygain tags with new values.

[hello_hello]

Just in answer to this - you can't reverse the process after foobar2000 has adjusted them. Unlike MP3Gain it just updates the existing replaygain tags with new values.

So it's not really losslessly changing the gain of the MP3s themselves, just updating/adding tags as it would with any other format?

I guess you could reverse the process simply by deleting the ReplayGain tags then?

[lutinor]

If, as I suspect, "maximise" is an effect which normalises the volume (increases it until the loudest part reaches a predetermined level, often 0db) then it's not doing what you said you wanted to do. You said you wanted them to all sound like they've got the same level. You might get lucky and normalising the audio will do the job close enough, but then again, it mightn't.
You are right, the good option in Batch processing (in process tab) is : MAtch Volume and the result is very impressive and easy to do.

[TinTime]

So it's not really losslessly changing the gain of the MP3s themselves, just updating/adding tags as it would with any other format?

I guess you could reverse the process simply by deleting the ReplayGain tags then?

Sorry, my post was a bit misleading. I meant that Foobar updates the MP3 (i.e. permanently changes the gain) in the same way as MP3Gain, but it doesn't store the original volume so the process can't be (easily) reversed.

If you have an MP3 with a ReplayGain value of, say, -4.71 dB then foobar will permanently drop the volume by 4.5 dB and update the existing ReplayGain tag to -0.21 dB. No tag saying that the volume used to be 4.5 dB higher though.

[hello_hello]

Sorry, my post was a bit misleading. I meant that Foobar updates the MP3 (i.e. permanently changes the gain) in the same way as MP3Gain, but it doesn't store the original volume so the process can't be (easily) reversed.

If you have an MP3 with a ReplayGain value of, say, -4.71 dB then foobar will permanently drop the volume by 4.5 dB and update the existing ReplayGain tag to -0.21 dB. No tag saying that the volume used to be 4.5 dB higher though.

Are you sure about that?
I just tried an MP3 with foobar, ran ReplayGain and got it to update the tags. It reported the track gain as -4.44db and when I got foobar to update the tags, it wrote -4.44db to the tag.

I then run the same Mp3 through MP3Gain and according to it, the physical volume of the MP3 hadn't been touched.
I can't see any other way for updating the ReplayGain info with foobar that'd physically change the MP3 volume as MP3Gain does.

[TinTime]

You need to choose "Apply track/album ReplayGain to MP3 data" in foobar to permanently modify MP3s, not just scan them.

It's a relatively recent addition I think. I'm using v1.1.1

[hello_hello]

You need to choose "Apply track/album ReplayGain to MP3 data" in foobar to permanently modify MP3s, not just scan them.

It's a relatively recent addition I think. I'm using v1.1.1

Well I'll be.... I'd never noticed it before (I'm using 1.1.7), so yes, you're correct. I guess I'll be sticking with MP3Gain until foobar has the same reversing ability though.
How hard can it be? Reduce the volume by 6.45db, write a tag saying the volume was reduced by 6.45db.... it actually seems silly not to.

[TinTime]

Just had a quick look and it seems this functionality was introduced in v0.9.

So not recently at all! I just didn't notice it until recently.