Topic: how do I take advantage of per-track saved EQ?

[itazura]

Hello,

I've searched the FAQ and help files but am still baffled.  How do I access the following feature?

(quoted from the XMPlay website):
Per-track settings
Save default "Output Options" settings (eq/reverb/etc...) to be used each time a track is loaded, with a (also customisable) default setting for all tracks that do not have specific settings

Even a clear explanation of what the "ramping" and "auto amp reduction" settings do might help. Basically, I have loads of ripped CD's in mp3 format, some of which (jazz stuff mainly) are very quiet, others of which are quite loud and I would like to play them back with no perceivable jumps or swings in volume. I've tried to use "auto-normalization" plugins with WinAmp in the past, but was never happy with the results, hence the appeal of being able to set and save my own manual settings.  

But I can't seem to get it configured!

Thanks for your help,
itazura

[itazura]

oops.  OK, I just discovered that I can right-click on the "auto load settings" button on the "output options" screen for more options.

[Torkell]

First off, to enable per-track settings left-click the floppy icon (next to Output Options, assuming standard skin) once so that it's got a yellow tick on it.

Then, for each track adjust the output options to whatever you want, and then right-click on the floppy icon and pick "Save track settings".

Other stuff:

Ramping's supposed to avoid clicks when there's a sudden volume change, but I'm not sure what effect the different settings have.

Auto-Amp Reduction, or AAR, is designed to reduce the amplification when "clipping" occurs. There's four bands for the amplification: 0 = no output, 1-63 = deamplify, 64 = no change, 65-100 = amplify. For MP3s there's no point setting it below 64.
The different modes for the AAR are off, reduce only, fade in until clipping and then reduce only, and dynamic. For MP3s your best option is to play it once through on reduce only starting from 100, and then save it with the lowest value reached (an easy way of doing this: play it with set to allways loop once, and on the second time through disable AAR and save the settings).
Note that if you use the EQ or reverb, you will probably need to reduce the amp below 64 to prevent clipping.

[itazura]

Perfect, thank you.  Using the "auto amp reduction" routine as a guide for where to set EQ settings to maximize volume but avoid clipping is great.  In fact, now that I realize what AAR is doing, I see that coming up with a good balanced "default" saved EQ setting that has AAR enabled will suffice for most tracks...with only the really loud ones requiring manual presets.

Now I have a wishlist item though  , all of my mp3's are ripped from complete CD's, so rather than saving EQ settings for specific tracks, I'd sure love the ability to save an EQ setting to be applied to all the tracks from a particular album....

itazura

[Pike84]

Basically, I have loads of ripped CD's in mp3 format, some of which (jazz stuff mainly) are very quiet, others of which are quite loud and I would like to play them back with no perceivable jumps or swings in volume.

I believe, what you're looking for is Replay Gain. Read about it here: http://www.replaygain.org/. Basically, it tags the files to be played at equal loudness without changing the playback data itself. It seems that no players actually support Replay Gain, but it works if the player fulfills some requirements. Since I haven't used it myself, I'm not sure if XMPlay does, but here is a faq page about it: http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org/player.html

The people at Hydrogen Audio's forums seem to be really fond of this gimmick, so I guess it would be wise to support it .

About the settings per album, I think it would at least be quite easy to apply the settings per directory. I for one keep my albums in separate dirs, so this could be an ideal solution .

[Tsorovan]

I believe foobar supports replaygain, and probably XMMS too. Myself, I don't see the point unless you're having a radio station or whatwhat, but oh well.

[itazura]

Thank you for the replay gain suggestion.  I had heard it mentioned before but I will read up now.

I also have each album in a separate directory, so giving a directory setting would work for me, as well.

As for "the point" Tsorovan, in my case, I own all the CD's, so when I want to listen to a whole album all the way through, I just do it with the CD on my stereo. The thing I love about using computer software to manage my collection, though, is that I can set up random play through tracks from 500+ albums, often pleasantly surprising myself with tunes I had forgotten or overlooked for a long time...etc.  So I guess that I am, in effect, setting up a random play radio station for myself that only plays albums and artists I really like!  For that sort of thing, it is great to have a reliable way to normalize volume.

itazura

[Pike84]

Tsorovan: Yeah, I don't need it either. But Hydrogen Audio is the biggest audio forum in the net, and if they say it's cool, supporting it would be a good idea. I can imagine one of those Foobar fanatics saying something like: "XMPlay doesn't even have a support for Replay Gain? Foobar2k has it.." or so :-/.

[Ian @ un4seen]

http://www.geocities.com/mp3gain/

The changes are made to the MP3 data in the file (no tagging/etc required), so work with any player.


Anyway, regarding saved settings applying to multiple tracks (eg. an album)... not a bad idea. May be a bit late for 2.8 now, but I'll make a note of it for the next release

[itazura]

http://www.geocities.com/mp3gain/

The changes are made to the MP3 data in the file (no tagging/etc required), so work with any player.


Anyway, regarding saved settings applying to multiple tracks (eg. an album)... not a bad idea. May be a bit late for 2.8 now, but I'll make a note of it for the next release

Thank you for the link to mp3gain, sounds like it does exactly what I want to do, though I get a bit nervous at the thought of actually altering all the original files.

And thanks also for considering an "apply EQ setting to entire album/directory" for a future release.  As for being a bit late with suggestions for ver 2.8...sorry!  But I'm late to the party.... I just downloaded XMPlay this week (but have already set it as my default player).

itazura

[Pike84]

So Mp3gain only works for Mp3s, right? Replay Gain works for MPCs too - perhaps that's why Hydrogen Audio prefers that one. Are they otherwise similar, or is one better than the other?

[itazura]

Based on what I read over at the hydrogen audio forums, mp3gain uses the replaygain engine, so they're not exactly two competing products.  Replaygain seems to refer to the the program that scans individual files or files grouped into albums to calculate not just peak levels, but something that approximates "perceived loudness" of the overall track or album. My understanding is that it can process a range of file types.  Mp3gain, however, uses the output of replaygain to then make changes to the mp3 files themselves -- causing them to actually play back at the "normalized" volumes on any player. But players such as foobar2000 can use the replaygain data to adjust playback gain during playback without alterations to the original files (the pertinent data is stored somewhere in the tag, I think) so mp3gain wouldn't be needed in that instance.

Mind you...you're getting this information from someone who didn't know anything about either replaygain or mp3gain until a day ago, so I'm sure someone here can better explain the details, but that is what I took away from reading the relevant info on the hydrogen audio sites.

itazura

[Pike84]

Well, that's just cool. I know, I could have gotten the info myself ie. from Hydrogen Audio, but I like to discuss stuff here on my favourite forum . Besides, it's good to have some info about different topics on more than one place, so people who don't know about or otherwise wouldn't go reading Hydrogen Audio's forums, get some knowledge too .