do you guys normalize your mp3s?

[ManBearPig]

do you normalize the volumes? what dba do you have it set to? just wondering. i use mp3gain if anyone is wondering.

 

[screw3d]

I use foobar2000's replaygain.. set to the default -89dB

 

[Nohr]

I use MP3Gain to set album or track gain to 89dB.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: screw3d
I use foobar2000's replaygain.. set to the default -89dB

ditto

 

[NanoStuff]

I adjusted mine independantly (not album) to max no-clip gain.

 

[ManBearPig]

what dba do you all suggest?

 

[Nohr]

89dB is pretty standard. That's usually low enough that it will be below where most MP3s clip and will let you set them all to around the same average volume.

 

[ManBearPig]

what if i did something like 96? according to mp3gain analysis most of my songs are around 95-100 or so anyway, so im scared if i turn them down to 89 itll sound really low. it shows most of them as being clipped already, and i haven't changed them at all so they must already be like that.

 

[Gautama2]

Screw mp3, i use lossless FLAC cd rips

Also with 89db replaygain tho.

 

[Nohr]

Originally posted by: Heen05
what if i did something like 96? according to mp3gain analysis most of my songs are around 95-100 or so anyway, so im scared if i turn them down to 89 itll sound really low. it shows most of them as being clipped already, and i haven't changed them at all so they must already be like that.

It depends what your goal is. If you're wanting all your MP3s to sound a similar volume you're better off going with a lower dB.

If you're just wanting to maximize the volume without clipping you can do that to. In MP3Gain's Advanced Options check "Enable 'Maximizing' features". Then after a track analysis you can hit CTRL-X to set the max gain before clipping.

 

[ManBearPig]

thanks nohr!

 

[BFG10K]

I use volume auto leveling in WMP for my lossless WMAs.

 

[ManBearPig]

er, so a few questions:

1)is 89dba really low?

2)what exactly is clipping?

2)what the diff between clipping and clip (track)? some songs have one or the other, and some have both.

3)should i try to get as low amount of clipping as possible? if so, 95 is really bad and 89 is pretty good. just curious.

 

[itachi]

Originally posted by: Heen05
er, so a few questions:

1)is 89dba really low?

not really..

2)what exactly is clipping?

it's what happens when the amplitude of a wave is greater than the limitations of the system.

take, for instance, a sine wave.. if the entire signal can't be reproduced, the peaks will be flattened (clipped).

2)what the diff between clipping and clip (track)? some songs have one or the other, and some have both.

they're both the same essentially.. the latter occurs when a sample can't be represented by the sample size (8-bit, 16-bit, etc..).

3)should i try to get as low amount of clipping as possible? if so, 95 is really bad and 89 is pretty good. just curious.

yes.
95 isn't "bad," but it'll push your amp that much closer to clipping (you'd still have 5 dB to go before the output to the amp is effectively 0 dB).