I-Tunes question.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by ROLO46, Mar 31, 2007.

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  1. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Hi folks,

    Can a tortured genius explain Sound Check in detail.
    Does it operate only in the analogue outputs?
    I'm a Mac user , using the optical out digital to
    my pre.
    SC doesn't do anything to levels.
    Old cds are quiet, new loud.
    I use Apple Lossless codecs.

    Roger
     
  2. I've never thought Sound Check did much of anything, anyway. On my iBook, listening through headphones, it doesn't seem to equalize the volume among tracks, nor does it seem to do so on my iPod Shuffle nor my wife's Nano.
     
  3. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Hi,

    Don't use Sound Check! It really mucks up the sound. Leave audio settings on flat for audiophile usage. Sound Check adds distortion!
     
  4. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I have carefully checked 'Sound Control'
    I t affects levels considerably.(8-10db sometimes)
    What is it doing to quality ?
    Doesn't seem to compress.

    Roger
     
  5. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Sorry should read 'Sound Check'

    Roger
     
  6. thxdave

    thxdave "One black, one white, one blonde"

  7. So Sound Check is "normalization"? Sheesh, I'll pass. No compression for me--I don't want my digital files to sound any WORSE than they already do. (Apple Lossless and FLAC files excluded, of course).
     
  8. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Does it include Apple Lossless?
     
  9. Apparently not. To quote the Apple page linked above:

    1. Sound Check works with .mp3, .AAC, .wav, and .aiff file types. It does not work with other file types that iTunes can play.

    So, it will work with .mp3, .AAC (presumably, too, the AAC files that are wrapped in .m4a and .m4p containers such as those sold by the iTunes Store), .wav and .aiff. Strange that it will work with uncompressed, raw PCM data (.wav and .aiff) but not with an .m4a container that contains ALAC compressed lossless data (ie, an Apple Lossless file).
     
  10. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    But it was processing my Apple Loossless files.
    Reducing gain and limiting onset of clipping.

    Without Sound Check albums have more variable level between albums.

    Some sort of 'slugging' quality is also evident with Sound Check selected.

    How does one cope with changes of level per album in I-Tunes without
    compromise in quality?

    Roger
     
  11. thxdave

    thxdave "One black, one white, one blonde"

    Listen to it in a quieter environment!

    Seriously, I used to get complaints from listeners of the two podcasts I engineered when they couldn't hear the show hosts. I would try to engineer the shows with as little compression as possible, but after a while I had to give up and RMS Normalize the voice tracks to even out and amplify the voices. I hated (HATED!) to do it, but I also came to the realization that people listen to iPods in fairly noisy environments and I had to make it louder and more compressed just to get over the ambient levels.
     
  12. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    Don't Use It!
     
  13. munson66

    munson66 Forum Dilettante

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    How about adjusting volume in a wave-editing program? Would it make sense to use a program like Amadeus, that can analyze the average RMS volume of a track, and then use it to lower the louder tracks' volumes to a level closer to those of the quieter ones? (Heck, I think it even works with Apple Lossless files without having to convert to AIFF or WAV first.) Then import the volume-adjusted files into your iTunes music library?
     
  14. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I-Volume looks interesting.
    Any experience of it? it?ttp://www.mani.de/en/software/macosx/ivolume/index.html
     
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