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Topic: Using garage band to eq music? (Read 5438 times) previous topic - next topic
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Using garage band to eq music?

As some of you know custom EQs on iTunes don't transfer onto the iPod. Yet if I eq songs by transferring the mp3 files into garageband, eq them, then put the eq'd file back into iTunes then I can have my custom eq on my iPod.

2 questions:

Will this cause the songs to lose quality, just from apllying a little eq then putting them back?if so how many Kbps will the mp3 files lose roughly during this process?

Is there any way to to apply eqs to many tracks at ones? (since I don't want to individually eq every song in my library)

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #1 –
You will have to encode them once again after you have EQ'd them in Garage Band but I do not know how many kbpsyou will lose by having to up the bitrate to preserve quality. It is better to EQ before you encode the first time to not face the problem with encoding twice but maybe that is not an option for you since you might not have them as lossless.

There was a topic here a while ago showing how much degradation several encoders suffer when encoding same file MANY times. If I remember correctly some encoders showed no audible difference even after, I am not sure, 100 times.

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #2 –
Or use a DAP that has an EQ, which is a much more sensible solution. Rockbox has one, and it works on the iPod Classic.

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #3 –
No no, I only will use the 31 band eq. 10 band eqs I don't like. Apps aren't an option since none have gapless playback except for 1 with just a ten band equalizer which isn't precise enough for me. I don't like carrying around amps with my iPod. No one knows how much Kbps ill lose in the process?

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Gintoh on
No one knows how much Kbps ill lose in the process?
In what process? Re-encoding while trying to preserve quality will likely force you to encode at a higher bitrate, or, with quality based encoding schemes (VBR), lead to higher bitrates.
It's only audiophile if it's inconvenient.

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #5 –
Quote
No one knows how much Kbps ill lose in the process?
Nobody can answer that...  Too many variables...  It depends on the format & bitrate you start with, the format & bitrate you transcode to, the program material, and your ability to hear compression artifacts...    Although you always theoretically loose quality, you may not notice any quality loss.  (You can calculate the average bitrate from the file size and playing time, but "kbps" isn't the issue, sound quality is the issue.)

You can try an ABX test (without the EQ) to determine if there is audible quality loss, or to help you decide if the potential quality loss is worth it.  (I guess you have already decided it sounds better with EQ and re-compression.)

Quote
Is there any way to to apply eqs to many tracks at ones? (since I don't want to individually eq every song in my library)
If all of the songs in your library seem to have have the same EQ problem, maybe you should try some different headphones/earbuds/IEMs???


P.S.
If you're not doing this already, it's a good idea to check your levels (and/or re-normalize) after applying EQ (and before saving) because EQ can boost your levels into clipping (distortion).  This will happen if you boost the bass and it can sometimes happen even when you only cut with the EQ, due to different phase shifts at different frequencies.  (I don't have Garage Band, so I can't tell you how to do that.)
 

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: punkrockdude on
There was a topic here a while ago showing how much degradation several encoders suffer when encoding same file MANY times. If I remember correctly some encoders showed no audible difference even after, I am not sure, 100 times.

This topic I must have completely overlooked! A search failed. Could someone please help me with a link to this thread?
This is HA. Not the Jerry Springer Show.

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #9 –
I should have been able to find it on my own.

Thank you very much, TomasPin!
This is HA. Not the Jerry Springer Show.

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #11 –
Well, if I apply EQ to a 320 mp3 file in foobar or garagbeband and export it back into itunes, as just an estimate, how much loss of quality would it be equivalent to. Are we taking 30 kbps or 200 kbps in terms of perceived quality change?

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #12 –
From another thread, which received one of the several duplicate copies of the above post, all of which were made only a minute apart:
Quote from: db1989 on
You want this extensive EQ, right? Then if, as might be the case, you have no other way but to write it into the audio data itself by decoding, applying EQ to the resulting uncompressed stream, and possible re-encoding: just try it and test how it sounds to you. Applying EQ to the uncompressed stream certainly should not introduce a degradation in quality, other than the change associated with the EQ itself, as long as the DSP in question is non-broken.

If this EQ is apparently so important to you, it may well offset any degradations in quality, which can be minimised if you leave the resulting EQd files uncompressed or re-compress them at a high enough bitrate. We have lots of previous threads on the audibility of transcoding and, I suspect, quite a few on the theoretical loss of quality associated with EQs, normalisation, and other transformations. There is plenty to read there that might allay your emphatic concerns about quality.

Again, you have to decide whether you want this 31-band EQ or whether you are going to worry about theoretical losses of quality without simply testing the proposition for yourself.

The duplicates have been split away to the Recycle Bin. Stop acting as if this minor issue, which you could easily evaluate for yourself with the only pair of ears that are relevant, is worthy of deluging our forum with multiple copies of the same question. Do not make another thread about this subject, and do not assume your posts are important enough that you’re entitled to duplicate them all over the place. Head-Fi apparently got tired of it, so you should avoid risking the same conclusion here.

Using garage band to eq music?

Reply #13 –
No one will be able to quantify the additional degradation.

It will be dependent on the sample being transcoded, the encoder used,  the specific EQ applied, the listener, his transducers, and the listening environment.