Stupid MP3Gain questions!
PG
[669 byte] By [carnage6] at [2007-11-11 16:51:46] 
I have a couple questions about MP3Gain. Do I put my MP3s through MP3Gain before I put them in itunes? Will the MP3Gain files I converted take the place of the old files before conversion so I don't have to delete double files? Lastly, if I have to send files through MP3Gain first before the itunes software, how can I convert the files I rip from CDs before they go into itunes? You see, itunes is my default music player so whenever I try to rip a CD itunes wants to do it. I guess I'm trying to say, can I use MP3Gain on files which are already in my itunes list and will my ipod update the old files with the new MP3Gain converted files?
PG
# 2 Re: Stupid MP3Gain questions!
You can do it either way. The only thing that might make it preferable to run MP3Gain before adding tracks to your library is the scan to determine volume levels that iTunes performs if you have Sound Check turned on. (If you import first and then run MP3Gain, the sound level set for Sound Check will no longer be accurate.) But I assume that if you're going to use MP3Gain, you won't be using Sound Check, so that probably isn't an issue. (Make sure it's turned off, though.)
MP3Gain won't create duplicate files -- the rewritten files with tag info added will be stored in the same place with the same file name as before.
wyneken at 2007-11-15 17:14:40 >
# 3 Re: Stupid MP3Gain questions!
Yes I'm not planning to run soundcheck. So just to be clear, I can rip my CDs into my itunes library and then run MP3Gain on them right? Then I will be ok?PG
carnage6 at 2007-11-15 17:15:49 >
# 4 Re: Stupid MP3Gain questions!
Yes, that will work fine. You could process your whole library at one swoop that way. If MP3Gain encounters a file it's already analyzed, it will just skip over that and go on to the next one.wyneken at 2007-11-15 17:16:44 >
# 5 Re: Stupid MP3Gain questions!
So just to be clear, I can rip my CDs into my itunes library and then run MP3Gain on them right? Then I will be ok?One caveat... if you're using iTunes with an iPod and sync freshly-ripped tracks to your iPod before running MP3Gain then simply running MP3Gain on the tracks won't trigger a re-copy of the tracks to your iPod -- iTunes doesn't know the files have changed. In this case you'll need to change *something* about the tracks (like year, comment, whatever) and apply the changes, even if you change the data right back. This makes iTunes flag the track as changed and it will copy the MP3Gain'd version to your iPod on the next sync.Easy way around this hassle is to always immediately MP3Gain your rips before you sync your iPod.
And yeah, you definitely are on the right track not using Soundcheck... it really, really sucks. Produces distortion by overdriving the volume on many types of tracks. Plus, even in cases where you don't have distortion, it isn't anywhere near as good as ReplayGain is at deciding what a track's "perceived loudness" is, so it doesn't properly adjust volumes to where loudness is constant from song to song... which after all is the whole point.
By the way, I'd recommend you install EAC and look into REACT, a frontend for EAC. That combo of utilities lets you rip and apply ReplayGain all in one step, and uses the LAME MP3 encoder, the best MP3 encoder available... i.e. higher quality than the encoder built into iTunes.
atreyu at 2007-11-15 17:17:43 >
# 6 Re: Stupid MP3Gain questions!
Great. One final question. After I've used MP3Gain on my tracks how do I know that it worked and saved it?PG
carnage6 at 2007-11-15 17:18:53 >
# 7 Re: Stupid MP3Gain questions!
Great. One final question. After I've used MP3Gain on my tracks how do I know that it worked and saved it? MP3Gain will display an error if it fails. Once the progress bar stops moving after you click "Track Gain"/"Album Gain" (if you don't see an error message) you can safely conclude that it has applied the correct gain to your tracks.atreyu at 2007-11-15 17:19:46 >
# 8 Re: Stupid MP3Gain questions!
yeah ...dont load a huge amount of files and think you can walk away. if it crashes ... you can sort out basically where you were in the game but you should toss the last file it processed and redux the file. if i recall it does go go in strict a-z so can be a nightmare to sort out.better to load abou 500mb and run it at one go.
if you can rip thru audio grabber you can adjust there. also, i have found media monkey have gain control.
yeah and do all this b4 loadingto ipod sure
jinjok at 2007-11-15 17:20:45 >
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