Would my songs be ok if i raised the volume?

ManBearPig

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2000
9,173
6
81
Would anything happen? MP3gain says there would be clipping, but from the files ive raised to 100db there is no diff. other than an increase in base volume. thanks
 

Allio

Golden Member
Jul 9, 2002
1,904
28
91
Yes there'll be clipping, and if you can't hear it I suggest you get better ears. Why don't you just raise your sound card volume?
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
Meaning, that if you make a change with MP3Gain, it stores undo information in the MP3 file, so MP3Gain can then be used later on to undo those changes, without messing up the audio data originally in the MP3.
Otherwise you'd do this:
Open an audio editor, raise the volume, and resave as MP3, degrading quality slightly during the recompression. "Nah, it's not high enough." Open, adjust, resave. More degredation. "Too high - it's staticky at loud parts." Well now you've introduced clipping into the file and saved it, so that clipping is a part of the file now. Only way to get rid of it is to dig up the CD and re-rip.

Interestingly enough, and rather a side-note, LAME includes native support for another feature called ReplayGain, which as I understand, sets the encoder to analyze the audio file during the encode process, find the peak volume, and put that information in a tag in the file. Then the decoder reads that data, and sets the volume accordingly. FLAC has it, and it's quite nice. Audio encoders I've seen generally don't make the ReplayGain feature available as a checkmark in the GUI - you'd need to use the commandline encoder to make use of it.
 

CKent

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
9,020
0
0
Clipping can harm speakers & headphones, and if you're like most ATers (listening to badly recorded nu-metal and without a clue about sound quality) you might not even realize it. Leave your mp3s alone.
 

ManBearPig

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2000
9,173
6
81
Originally posted by: RBachman
Clipping can harm speakers & headphones, and if you're like most ATers (listening to badly recorded nu-metal and without a clue about sound quality) you might not even realize it. Leave your mp3s alone.



Didnt know that...how?
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
Originally posted by: Heen05
Sweet...thanks for the info.

How do i make it go back to the original?

Highlight the file(s), right-click, and select Undo Gain Changes.