[plug] Altering Gains on Multiple Audio Files

[Daniel Pittman]

Jason Posavec <jasonposavec at iinet.net.au> writes:
> Daniel Pittman wrote:
>> "jasonposavec at iinet.net.au" <jasonposavec at iinet.net.au> writes:
>>
>>> I tried the command "vorbisgain -g 5 *.ogg" in my music folder
>>> (vorbisgain apparently being an ogg offshoot of mp3gain) which
>>> according to the man page *should* raise the volume off all files in
>>> that folder by 5dB. I didn't seem to notice any difference in volume
>>> afterwards. Am I reading that flag correctly?

[...]

>> Um, question though: did they come from original media?  If so, you
>> might want to consider repeating the capture process and encoding
>> correctly the first time, rather than trying to post-process and fix it.
>
> The files were originally ripped from cd's using Gnome Rhythmbox. By
> "encoding correctly" did you mean going to mp3 in the first place, or
> increasing the volume in the first place?

Actually, I meant "not decreasing volume in the first place", since
I have not encountered a lot of CD-Audio discs that were encoded at too
low a level.

[...]

> I'm sure the files are more than loud enough on the iRiver when using
> headphones. But when I have a lineout going to my home theatre I find
> I'm turning the volume up a LOT to get a decent sound out of it.

Are you sure that is using compatible voltage at both sides?  You
haven't plugged the headphone out into the line in, have you?

> By the way, the app I was using to play the flagged ogg file was vlc -
> the one player I would have thought would support it.

Dunno.  I have no idea what supports replaygain style tags, as I don't
bother to use them myself.  Sorry.

> The plan at this stage is to transcode to mp3, normalise all the
> files, then up them by 1

Well, if you are set on transcoding I would advise something other than
MP3, which is a technical generation behind Vorbis or AAC audio; the
later is probably a better choice for hardware device support, the
former is actually free...

> I'll see how that goes.

*nod*  If it works for you, great. :)  I would rip from CD again,
possibly using something other than Rhythmbox if that seems to have done
a bad job.

Assuming that the problem isn't something like a mismatch of output vs
input, or something else in the stereo setup...

Regards,
        Daniel