Normalising (again)

[Shaun]

I know there's loads of different software that normalise audio tracks. Audacity is great, but I'm looking for something that will scan my gig HDD and batch normalise the entire drive with a few mouse clicks. Is there anything on the market that will do that?

[ppentertainments]

I believe mediamonkey will do the job, but never tried it myself.

[MikeW]

Hi Shaun

Would this not do the job?

http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/download.php

[WWDJ]

Another vote for mp3gain although I do not use it now as Traktor seems to be pretty good anyhow at sorting levels

[Shaun]

Thanks. I'll give mp3gain a try. I just need something that wont need me to go into all the hundreds of individual folders that's on the HDD and manually select the files. I just require something that will scan the entire hard drive and normalise every file in a few simple steps.

Cheers again, I'll have a look at mp3gain.

[Corabar Steve]

MP3Gain will do that. Open it & Click Add Folder, set the level & click Track Gain.

You can add multiple folders.

[paull]

Traktor is my favoured tool, it does a very good job. I usually only have to EQ some very old tracks

[Corabar Steve]

Traktor is my favoured tool, it does a very good job. I usually only have to EQ some very old tracks
I may be missing something here, but what does that have to do with the original question?

[Shaun]

MP3 gain worked a treat. Thanks to all who replied. :)

[DAVESOUNDS SERVICES]

Am i missing something here?
As a "DJ" and a music lover
why would i want to destroy
what the studio might have spent
hours days eveb weeks and months
producing?
Ive allways enjoyed Music as opposed to Muzak!
( Im certainly not going to block normalise all
my beloved Mp3 files!)
Regards

[Corabar Steve]

Am i missing something here?
As a "DJ" and a music lover
why would i want to destroy
what the studio might have spent
hours days eveb weeks and months
producing?
Ive allways enjoyed Music as opposed to Muzak!
( Im certainly not going to block normalise all
my beloved Mp3 files!)
Regards
Then you clearly have no idea what we are talking about.

It doesn't destroy anything :muppet:

[DAVESOUNDS SERVICES]

Yes it does!!!
http://www.hometracked.com/2008/04/20/10-myths-about-normalization/

maybe a poll here ?
to normalise or not?
cheers

Myth #6: Normalizing can’t hurt the audio, so why not just do it?
Best mixing practices dictate that you never apply processing “just because.” But even setting that aside, there are at least 3 reasons NOT to normalize:

1.Normalizing raises the signal level, but also raises the noise level. Louder tracks inevitably mean louder noise. You can turn the level of a normalized track down to lower the noise, of course, but then why normalize in the first place?
2.Louder tracks leave less headroom before clipping occurs. Tracks that peak near 0dBfs are more likely to clip when processed with EQ and effects.
3.Normalizing to near 0dbfs can introduce inter sample peaks.

[funkymook]

why would i want to destroy
what the studio might have spent
hours days eveb weeks and months
producing?


my beloved Mp3 files!
Regards

But you already have to some extent by using Mp3's

[Corabar Steve]

Most of us tend to lower the volume though.

& it takes nothing away from the track.

Especially handy when certain sites seem to insist on selling MP3s at louder & louder volumes that the track is already clipping.

"MP3Gain does not just do peak normalization, as many normalizers do. Instead, it does some statistical analysis to determine how loud the file actually sounds to the human ear.
Also, the changes MP3Gain makes are completely lossless. There is no quality lost in the change because the program adjusts the mp3 file directly, without decoding and re-encoding."




This thread was asking for the best software to normalize tracks, not whether or not you would. By all means start your poll if you want on another thread




& the first person who mentions WAVs in this thread gets banned! :sj:

[spin mobile disco]

As Steve said mp3 gain simply alters the whole file in either + or - volume it does not lower parts and raise other parts it makes the whole sony roughly the same volume as the next song the same way they do it when them produce studio compilation albums so track to track they are similar and dont make you reach for volume control every track you play.

It is not a compression program like adobe audition for example that will even out lows and highs to provide a contant level.

Sorry forgot to say i use mp3 gain as well to lower volume i tend to use around the 94db mark for mine as it lowers peak distortion

[SoundONE]

I'm interested to know what others have set the target volume to and what made you "spin mobile" select 94db and not the default.

[Daryll]

I have played around with different setting on MP3 gain , bit I use the default 89.0 db , works for me.

Daryll

[SoundONE]

Thanks Daryll, what about others?

[Corabar Steve]

I use 90.0 (just because I have to go one better than default)

It never ceases to amaze me how many new tracks come in at 100+ db & show as clipping when you run the analysis part of the software

[Totally Plucked]

I've always found this to be very good, it also trims the 'Dead air' at the beginning and end of each track so effectively normalizes and trims in one go, pretty quick too on batch mode :)

http://www.mptrim.com/mpTrimPRO.html

[spin mobile disco]

94db was chosen as it allowed better volume control on my system without distortion. I realise we all use differeing systems so the settings that work for me may not suit everyone.
I did find on my Dennon that 89db was to quiet and 96db allowed to many high peaks at clipping level.

[woody2]

the first person who mentions WAVs in this thread gets banned! :sj:

:sofa:

[Excalibur]

It never ceases to amaze me how many new tracks come in at 100+ db & show as clipping when you run the analysis part of the software

Good heavens!! As a person who doesn't understand all these complicated things, I'd always assumed that downloads were "standardised" as it were. Just goes to show, eh?

I'd hazard a guess that since so many of these tracks will only ever be played on portable devices, they are set at a high level so that the machinery doesn't have to work so hard to get them up to the required level of sound output.

I yearn for the good old days of Minidisc, as if you recorded tracks digitally, it automatically ran them up to the same level each time. So easy, so reliable. Ah well, I suppose that's progress.

And I'm still trying to work out how I can ask Steve a question about WAV files and make it look as if I'm asking a genuine question, with no hidden agenda. :whistle: :D :D

[SoundONE]

Thanks Corabar Steve and spin mobile. I also thought 90db was a little low and normalising one or two as a test with mp3 gain and comparing them ment the faders on the mixer needed to be pushed a little higher to obtain the same output on the amps. The only problem i have with this is the more the faders are pushed the more interference is induced via inductive paths and eddy currents from the various connecting and power cables. Although this is not noticeable when music is playing in a quiet room with the gains open on the mixer and amps, there is an increased interference albiet very minimal. Like you say spin mobile what suits one may not suit another, I think this will take some hours of testing to find a good overal setting for personal preferences. I suspect the default 89db was done on an average of files tested by the dev's and probbaly covered a good range of files tested, but again suspect it depends on what they were testing them on, portable mp3 devices with/or without headphones, home audio equipment or higher power pa amps.

Thanks for the feedback

[Corabar Steve]

but again suspect it depends on what they were testing them on, portable mp3 devices with/or without headphones, home audio equipment or higher power pa amps.

More than likely. The combination of HD2500, X500, P3000s & whatever speakers I decide to use for the job gives no problems. The faders rarely go much over half way & gain is set quite low.

[spin mobile disco]

You could always check the sensitivity of your playback devices as well. For example the numark DDsS system claims 97.1db the dennon x500 is 98db. So allowing headroom I would stay at least 3db below this to prevent destortion on peaks i.e clipping.
But it would depend on your system KAM cd players for example were only 84db at 1.2% distortion where Dennon total harmonic distortion is under 0.001db. It just goes to show when you push the systems that the differences become apparent between value and pro equipment.

[Excalibur]

More than likely. The combination of HD2500, X500, P3000s & whatever speakers I decide to use for the job gives no problems. The faders rarely go much over half way & gain is set quite low.

It's sometimes surprising how much difference one link in the chain can make. I've been using an American DJ mixer lately, and last night I set the Denon up instead. The difference in output was amazing. I noticed something similar when we used John's MC6000 recently with my PA. The higher output from these mixers does seem to make a difference.