Apple silently introduces album normalization in iOS 8.4.1

Oops! Sorry about that.

 

Hmmm... So maybe I should stick with iVolume after all. I shuffle pretty often, and I don't want Fitter Happier to come on super loud no matter what, which is what sound check will do. The way I have it now is all of my tracks have a gain applied to make the average loudness of the album as a whole around -92dB. So even when I shuffle everything, since all albums are similar volumes, quiet tracks never get too loud.

 

Changing the volume in the digital domain DOES degrade the sound - just Google it if you want to know how and why. It's nothing to do with clipping - as far as I know, which isn't very far, you can't increase volume in the digital domain, you can only decrease it, and whenever you do that, you degrade the signal and introduce noise. That's why computer audiophiles try to keep all volume controls in the analogue domain. It's very likely that the degradation may not be audible and in that case the disadavantages are outweighed by the advantages, but it's as well to know that the disadvantages are there and then you can make an informed decision - except that Apple now seems to have taken it for you!

 

I wasn't well informed on the topic but this is what I presumed to be the case so, I'm glad to know I was pretty much on base. Now that it's been established that this is true, is this normalization feature in iTunes only active if Sound Check is left on? Or is it something which is always active and can't be deactivated, in either iTunes or iOS? that's a real shame if that's the case

 

Only relates to Sound Check being on.

 

Phew… okay that's good news, thanks for the clarification. There's no right or wrong way to listen to music, this is all for entertainment afterall and we all have preferences, so options are always a good thing now if we could just get them to start letting us add FLAC files to our libraries

 

It's very easy to add FLAC files to your iOS music library--even hi-res FLAC files. They reside in the "Apps" section, where you can transfer them to your player of choice; e.g., use FLAC Player or Onkyo HF Player to play them rather than Music app. I usually don't, though, and just transcode them to ALAC.

 

I don't think there's such thing as "Apple fanboys" anymore. Considering the dominance of iTunes in the music world--for better or for worse--the people you mean should just be called "consumers."

 

Although it's hard to believe given the hype, the iPhone only accounts for 14% of worldwide smart phone sales. So while those are mostly a captive audience for iTunes, the rest of the world is still in play...

 

Very true, there are a number of 3rd party apps which are capable of flac playback and I use one actively for music on my iPhone (for files of all resolutions) but iTunes is really stellar at playback, tagging & cataloging and keeping an organized, easy to browse library. It's also a pretty damn good piece of audio playback software. So I look forward to the day that they can be integrated into the iTunes library without the need for conversion to ALAC. And I also very much look forward to the day that they can be played in the native iOS music app, for all the convenience and performance improvements that will bring. It's not impossible to play FLAC on iOS these days, but it's not as good an experience as it can and should be.

 

It's not even the dominant player among forum members (poll).

 

That's good news - it's a useful feature that many will like and as long as we have the ability to choose, I'd see it as a plus.

 

Those figures include primitive barely-smart phones running Symbian and Android 1.0, sold in massive numbers in China and the third world. iTunes remains the largest music seller in the world. Like I said, there aren't really "Apple fanboys," just "music consumers." If you believe otherwise, you are fooling yourself. I don't deny there are some "Apple haters" and "Apple lovers" out there, but most people don't really care who makes their devices. They buy from iTunes and Apple because they are the market leaders, with the most music and apps.

 

We are old white men with funny tastes in music, though. Not a representative sample.

Anyway, in that poll, Foobar is the leader with 107 votes, while iTunes is in second with 103 votes. A statistical tie, even in this pool.

 

That was the point - even in this forum, which has a higher percentage than the general populous of Apple/MAC users, it doesn’t dominate.

And I couldn't care less about a few points swing in either direction, as clearly your claim of “dominant player" is laughable.

 

I don't care either way, but facts is facts.

Remember what Foobar said on their own website?

http://mobile.foobar2000.com

 

If this place was the norm, it would be a totally different world out there.

(That should be its own thread - "What would a world dominated by SHTV members be like?")

 

LOL! The facts are, that doesn’t equal dominant. Thanks once again for proving the error in your statement. You have a very small view of the world.

 

Again, that was the point.

 

I share my view of the world with Foobar.

Not that it matters, but I don't like iTunes as a music player. I don't have a dog in this fight. I don't even use album normalization. Heck, I shouldn't even post in this thread.

 

My point was that the numbers in the forum poll isn't a good stat to use. But that doesn't mean iTunes isn't the dominant music player for consumers. It doesn't really mean anything at all.

Honestly, I have no idea what the dominant music player is for consumers these days. Anyone got hard data on that? Five years ago I would have said iTunes, but give Apple's "post-PC" world where iTunes is no longer required for your iPad / iPhone, I'm not so sure.

 

You make a good point. For an ever increasing number of consumers, streaming is their choice. It's a totally different playing field than five years ago. CNBC sees it as an area ripe for domination by Apple:

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/30/how-apple-could-become-a-dominant-player-in-music-streaming.html

 

Rhapsody has been around for 14 years??? Man, I am getting old.

 

Well, music would be mastered much better.

(I don't want to think about the rest!)

 

I didn't think it was that low. This stat may account for relative ratios of Android vs. iOS users, but I'm curious how individual brands (Samsung, HTC, etc.) compare to Apple. I know that Oppo (they license the name to the US hardware maker that we're familiar with) is a significant player in the Asian phone market.