output levels from computer

[disc]

i am instaling a computer in a bar , for background music , only problem is the music level drops and goes up depending what song is been played, doin my headin this as have tried eveything , is there a program i can get which will adjust the output level of a song accordinly

[retired]

Dont know too much, but if you are using a programme like zara radio to play the tracks there are processor plug ins that may do the job? I dont really know though? Other than that a hardware processor may work?

[Gav Hayes]

Your obviously using mp3s (some ripped, some ripped off.....) Anyhow this is normal given the amount of encoders out there and the different versions.

Download DBPoweramp Music Converter (any one of links below - do not download the latest version fro the website as it doesnt include the free encoder - lame)

http://ftp.pub.cri74.org/pub/win9x/audio/dbPowerAMP/dMC-r9.exe
http://www.cs.aau.dk/~mo/files/Trim/DMC/dMC-r9.exe
http://www.royalclan.us/downloads/dMC-r9.exe

Install the program. Reboot your Computer.

Go to where all your mp3s are, highlight the lot (Cntrl A). Right Click and you'll see that as part of your menu you have a "convert to" bit on your menu, click that, set the encoder to what bit rate you want 96-320 (192 maybe).......Click on the box that save delete original and click on the box that says Normalise.

This will Normalise your mp3s to approx the same volume.

It may take some time to do (if you have a shed load of tunes on the pc, but once its done its done....) The thing you gotta remember is when adding new tunes is to do the same for them!

[JDxtra]

But I assume that will re-encode all the MP3's? This process will reduce the quality no matter what bit rate you re-encode to.

Would an easier solution be just to install an audio limiter/compressor? Or use some playback software which checks the volume beforehand? Can Windows Media Player and iTunes even do this...?

[zeeman]

Try this..

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/mp3gain/mp3gain-win-1_2_5.exe?download

[Gav Hayes]

But I assume that will re-encode all the MP3's? This process will reduce the quality no matter what bit rate you re-encode to.


How? If you decide to rencode at 192 (you can set it higher!!), and the original was encoded at a lower rate then you will not have lost anymore than the original mp3. You will obviously only loose quality when the mp3 was higher than what you are universally compressing them too. The key to is not encoding but rather the normalising of sound volume. And this is quick cheap solution.

You really should be using a limter/compressor after the PC anyway, but the first step should be what I have outlined above, ie normalising the sound to some before it gets to the stage of limiting and compression.

[JDxtra]

How? If you decide to rencode at 192 (you can set it higher!!), and the original was encoded at a lower rate then you will not have lost anymore than the original mp3. You will obviously only loose quality when the mp3 was higher than what you are universally compressing them too. The key to is not encoding but rather the normalising of sound volume. And this is quick cheap solution.

If the original is encoded at 192, and you re-encode as 192 then you will loose quality. Think of it like taking a photocopy of a photocopy.

The software has to decode the original MP3 and 'guess' what the missing bits are. Then when you re-encode, it's compressed again and you will loose even more of the original music file.

That's why it's best always to get your encoding right in the first place... or rip it in a lossless format.

[Gav Hayes]

Yes Jon, any encoding with lossy formats will results in lost bits. When an orginal mp3 is encoded and reencoded at the same bit rate again, the loss howvever is neglible.

The whole point here is that obviously the mp3's on the computer in question are not from the one source, were not ripped with the one encoder and are at varied bit rates with normalisation set to off. It is the only explanation for varied volume rates.... which is the solution I am trying to put forward here.

The equalisation of sound volumes outways the neglible loss here from re-encoding.

[VOG]

two things you need to do to resolve this is runa program called mp3gain..this will set all mp3 to play at the desired level.

Then get yourself a decent sound card eg a M Audio one, Problem solved. This will psuh out a better signal a professional gain level.

[disc]

thanks for all the help, will try out a few of the ideas and let you know ho i get on