ReplayGain

[Qaz]

Now that we have support for ReplayGain, what would be the smartest way to insert the necessary tag to my music. Is there some program that will do this automatically (something similar to MP3gain)?

[hedge]

Now that we have support for ReplayGain, what would be the smartest way to insert the necessary tag to my music. Is there some program that will do this automatically (something similar to MP3gain)?
The new support for replaygain includes a scanner, so you can scan the files directly in qmp. At the moment its a little difficult to get to though, and lacks an easy way to scan multiple albums at once using album gain...

[acozz]

I assume replaygain support is a work in progress since the calculation is so out of the way.

[Toe]

Ya, personally I'm holding off on scanning my collection until the RG support has had a little more time to mature, and we have support for storage in APEv2 tags & such.

[Qaz]

The new support for replaygain includes a scanner, so you can scan the files directly in qmp. At the moment its a little difficult to get to though, and lacks an easy way to scan multiple albums at once using album gain...
Thanks, didn't notice that there first. but it doesn't seem to work at all. The progress bar goes to the end, but nothing is written to the tags.

[madjo]

Thanks, didn't notice that there first. but it doesn't seem to work at all. The progress bar goes to the end, but nothing is written to the tags.did you click "write results to files" ?

[Qaz]

did you click "write results to files" ?
Yes, but all that did was to make to other progress go to the end as well. But nothing actually happened to the files. But as I'm writing this, it mystically started to work. I'll do some testing to see if I can find out why it didn't work in the first place.

[Qaz]

It seems that BASS is the reason why it doesn't work.

[lynott]

Hi!

Could somone please explain what RG does. Is it supposed to work in realtime, or only if written to file? It does nothing to me, and I would not like to write any calculated results to file. is my option then a limiter plugin?

[hedge]

Hi!

Could somone please explain what RG does. Is it supposed to work in realtime, or only if written to file? It does nothing to me, and I would not like to write any calculated results to file. is my option then a limiter plugin?
Replaygain scans the file before playing and calculates the average volume/ gain of the file and then writes this data to the file. When played back the playback system sets the volume back accordingly so that all files within your collection maintain the same volume.
So yes, results are written to the file, but its only a few little tags, consuming a few bytes. Why is this such a bad thing? However, an option to store the data in the database/ library would be nice...
Limiter plugins may and probably will introduce some quality loss as they compress the sound output, but if you don't want the actual file changed in any way, at the moment thats probably your best bet.

[lynott]

Replaygain scans the file before playing and calculates the average volume/ gain of the file and then writes this data to the file. When played back the playback system sets the volume back accordingly so that all files within your collection maintain the same volume.
So yes, results are written to the file, but its only a few little tags, consuming a few bytes. Why is this such a bad thing?

Well, after a unfortunate mishap a year ago, I lost all my mp3's. Since then, my mp3 folder has been "read only". Better safe than sorry :) Also, I don't wont to change the gain permanantly, so: if written to file, will I be able to play my files with the original gain if the TG plugin is not active?

[hedge]

Also, I don't wont to change the gain permanantly, so: if written to file, will I be able to play my files with the original gain if the TG plugin is not active?
The replaygaining process only adds tags to the files, it doesn't actually change the audio bits themselves. So to remove the replaygain stuff, all ya have to do is remove the tags ;)
And yes, with replaygain off or with programs that don't support replaygain, the original gain is used.

[Tokelil]

It seems that BASS is the reason why it doesn't work.This is a know bug of BASS and mentioned in the post with the newest build. I still have no solution for it and Im going to take a few days not looking at BASS code. (Used 1½ trying to solve this with no luck! :( )

[Qaz]

This is a know bug of BASS and mentioned in the post with the newest build.
So it's related to the file not being released bug? In that case it would be nice if QMP would give the error about the file being in use.

[lynott]

1. If I apply replaygain to all my files, then add one or more albums to my mp3 collection, will I then have to scan(and write) all the files again in order to keep a consistant volume?

2. Can a file consist of both "radio" and "audiophile" tags, so that I would be able to switch between them? If so, do I first scan and write "radio" then repeat the process with "audiophile?

3. I i analyze and write tags to my entire collection at once, would it then be processed as "radio" even if I use the "audiophile" setting, or is this analyzed track by track?

Thanks in advance
lynott

[Scythe_njt]

1. It normalises all your songs to a certain volume, so adding albums doesnt require that you rescan everything

2 When you analyse as album it automatically writes the individual and album values, so you don't need to do it twice.

3 it depends how you did it, if you did you whole collection as an album you could use the audiophile setting, but this defeats the purpose of ReplayGain as all the volume differences will still be intact. If you just analysed them all individually then you can run in either mode and it wont make a difference (none of your files will have album values)

Hope this helps

[lynott]

1. It normalises all your songs to a certain volume, so adding albums doesnt require that you rescan everything

2 When you analyse as album it automatically writes the individual and album values, so you don't need to do it twice.

3 it depends how you did it, if you did you whole collection as an album you could use the audiophile setting, but this defeats the purpose of ReplayGain as all the volume differences will still be intact. If you just analysed them all individually then you can run in either mode and it wont make a difference (none of your files will have album values)

Hope this helps
Thank you for your answer.

On 3: I'm not quite shure if I get this.
Does this mean that in order to be able to use both modes I have to analyze and write album by album? This would be a hell of a job. I have something like 500 different albums on my disc.

Edit/Nevermind. Have started the long road, album by album :) /Edit

By the way: Is it possible to apply replaygain when ripping in Qmp?

Please excuse my ignorance :)

[Toe]

Personally, I'm holding off on scanning my collection until the toolset is a bit more robust. Like in foobar, you can just select a big clump of tracks, and select 'Process selection as multiple albums' and it'll scan the tracks and process the different albums seperately. Plus there's currently no way to directly view/edit the stored values. I think Paul said that will go in the Advanced tab on the tag editor, once it's done. Plus there's the whole 'store values in APEv2 tags like foobar does' thing I've mentioned... how many times now? :cheeky:

[Toe]

3 it depends how you did it, if you did you whole collection as an album you could use the audiophile setting, but this defeats the purpose of ReplayGain as all the volume differences will still be intact. If you just analysed them all individually then you can run in either mode and it wont make a difference (none of your files will have album values)
Just to clarify, you mean that as 'if you scanned your entire collection as one album,' right? Because if you scanned your entire collection as multiple albums, that would be fine. But as I said above, currently Q can't process a large set of tracks as multiple, seperate albums.

[lynott]

Puh, done :) Took some time to analyze 561 albums, but I'm glad I did it. Sounds sooo much better than with a limiter :)

I found that everything I've heard about "louder is better" is true. Albums from the 70's were hardly touched, while recent albums was lowered with an average of 8 db's.

If you're interested, read more here:
http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/articles/8A133F52D0FD71AB86256C2E005DAF1C

lynott

[Toe]

Happen to have Califonication by Red Hot Chili Peppers? That one's pretty notorious for having the loudness jacked WAY up. There was a "what's the highest album RG value in your collection" thread on HA a while back, I'll look it up later. (Gotta run)

[lynott]

Nope, not much of a Red Hot fan I'm afraid.
I remember the day I recieved the (Vapor trails) album in the article. Usually when a new Rush album is released, it will stick in the player for weeks. Vapor Trails however, I couldn't even finish one spin. I was shocked an thought Rush had released something below standards. Then I heard the songs on "Rock in Rio" dvd, and they sounded really good, really Rush( the live cd also sounds like crap). The article opened my eyes to what has happened, and I don't know wether to be happy or sad. Happy Rush still delivers the goods, sad for the recording industry mastering todays cd's in CAPS. I guess I won't bother upgrading my Zep collection with the remasters series, and stick to the ones i bought back in the eighties :)

[Toe]

Ah yes, now that I've actually had time to click the link, I've read that article before. Another one that's become a bit infamous is the recent release of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The disc was a hybrid CD/SACD release. The SACD part was at a 'normal' volume level, while the CD part was heavilly volume boosted/compressed. ON THE SAME DISC! :cry:

Well, I suppose that's ONE way to demonstrate how your new format supposedly has a much greater dynamic range: by completely stripping the other format of its own dynamic range.

Dear Sony: FUCK YOU.

[Shadowraven]

Which is exactly what I've been saying about SONY all along, they are arrogant. I consider them the M$ of the Aud/Vid market. They definitely don't seem to have the customer in mind when they market a product.