IPOD/mp3 volume normalizing w/adaptor

[Kaelaria]

I've tried in vain to solve this problem, not sure if there is a solution yet.

Some of my mp3's are around 100db recorded level, and that matches the volume of the radio, when used with the MINI iPOD adaptor. Most of my mp3's however are in the 80's, and are therefore significantly quieter than others and the radio. In fact the level is not loud enough to hear at highway speeds witht he windows down on some fo them (with H/K system).

I need to find a way to raise the volume of those that are currently too low.

Using iTunes, I found soundcheck. This unfortunately does exactly the opposite of what I need, lowering the volume to find a more common denominator level.

I tried MP3Gain, which in theory does exactly what I want - allows you to set a new level for the mp3. The problem is it doesn't actually alter the mp3 track, it mearly adds a tag to raise the volume by a certain amount. The problem is, whatever player you use has to support this tag feature. Currently the iPOD only supports it using the headphone out, not the lineout, so it has no effect for the MINI adaptor.

Does anyone know of a utility to actually raise the volume of the MP3 itself, without degrading the track? I realize it means the track will need to be opened, recoded and recorded again and will take quite some time - but it's the only way I can see. I just have not been able to find a good answer so far.

HELP!

[djtex]

I might be able to help, i wanted to boost the volume coming from my ipod, just for normal listening on headphones and on the Hifi at home, I found a bit of software called EuPod Pro. You can download it for free at the link below.

Link

You have to ensure that you have Itnes closed before you use it, but it worked a treat for me, if you use the sound normalisation control in Itunes as you mentioned then crank the volume to max using this software it should have the desired effect.

Good luck.

[Berthil]

Instead of opening a new thread I would like to 'broaden' this one? A search for 'mp3 normalise' did not bring anything.

I use a PDA with a 2GB memory card (I even have the Italian Job on it ). I too want to normalise my MP3 collection, but on my PC harddisk regardless if I use WMP or iTunes. So a good stand alone program to normalize an entire mp3 collection. Thx.

[djtex]

I don't know whether it is possible to get software that will allow you to select an entire collection and Normalise it. But even if there is I'm not sure thats what I'd do.

I am a Dj and Music Producer and use Sonic Foundry Soundforge to record my mixes, once recorded I Normalise. However, for proper normalisation to take place the software would scan the file and reduce and boost freuencies so they do not exceed a pre-determined level. If you were able to do this with an entire collection you could end up with un-desirable reults, as a level that suits one type of music may not suit another.

Anyway, if you are going to do one track at a time then play about to get what sounds best, remember if you go to close to 0db then you will find that any frequencies that were higher than that will be clipped and will affect the end result. This is especially apparent with acoustic music, where there is less fine control over levels. If you are looking at modern pop music and dance records which are compressed like mad in the studio prior ro any normalisation then you could set a level as high as -99.9db. That way nothing will get to 0db, and it will be as loud as possible without any distortion.

The only problem with Soundforge is that it costs around £450 I believe. Worth every penny though for the results. I hope that this makes sense, if not reply with any questions.

Cheers

[Kaelaria]

Solution:

You must get Sound Forge v8 with crack and mp3 plugin v2 crack (use your favorite p2p for both). Install SF and the cracks per instructions. In iTunes, select your whole library and right click, convert ID Tags. Choose 2.2, as the standard 2.3 gives errors when opening a track in SF (only applicable to mp3s you ripped using iTunes. Other rippers don't seem to have this problem). Next use Windows search to find all you mp3's and copy them to a single folder somewhere (a new folder on the desktop works nicely). Open Sound Forge, Tools, Batch, and make a new batch run. Add the new folder you copied everything to, add the normalize function, and choose average RMS level, leave everythign else alone. This will make all tracks peak to 100%, with VERY minor rolloff, everything still sounds great, and no clipping! Add a save choosing Same as Source for all. Run the batch. Each track takes about 1 min to open, batch and save.

[mhoutman]

Quote: Originally Posted by djtex

I might be able to help, i wanted to boost the volume coming from my ipod, just for normal listening on headphones and on the Hifi at home, I found a bit of software called EuPod Pro. You can download it for free at the link below.

Link

You have to ensure that you have Itnes closed before you use it, but it worked a treat for me, if you use the sound normalisation control in Itunes as you mentioned then crank the volume to max using this software it should have the desired effect.

Good luck.

The Euro iPod comes in a different sound volume configurtion as the US iPod. Due to French legislation the Euro iPod volume is tempered with a couple of dB.

There are some apps to lift this barrier like goPod. d.l at: http://gopod.free-go.net/

See for all details about volume restrictions at www.ipodlounge.com and search the forum for "volume restriction"

[Kaelaria]

I'm aware of that, however mine is US spec, and the volume cap is only headphone out, nothing to do with my problem.

EDIT - sorry I didn't see the quote in question from the email notification - didn't realize that was for the other poster.