Limiting/Normalizing dynamic range in already-encoded mp4 or avi Options

[bb002h]

Hi all, first post to Hydrogenaudio. Thanks in advance for reading.

I have several movies that I have previously ripped from my DVD collection to digital files, usually either MP4 or AVI container, with either AAC or MP3 audio tracks. My current setup for playback- I use various devices in different locations to playback files off external hard drives. (Currently, XBOX360 and Roku. Maybe primitive, but very convenient. I don't have capability yet to stream throughout, in which case something like XBMC may solve my problem down the road.) In the meantime, I've found that many of the files I play have ranges of volume much too wide. (Loud parts way too loud and soft parts too soft.) First, there is some confusion over the appropriate terminology- limiting vs normalizing, so I apologize if I use the wrong one. Clarification there may help. Also, I generally use Xmedia Recode for various recoding tasks but there is no limiter for audio, only a lowpass filter which wouldn't help me here. Foobar2000 has two limiters, the Advanced limiter and the Hard -6db limiter, and can load a video file and convert/extract (demux) the audio track in one step to create a new audio track with selected limits applied, which I can then remux as necessary. However, it is finicky and doesn't allow any specific settings, just whatever is preset with the 'advanced limiter' filter. I am looking for a program that can take a video file and apply whatever kind of filter may be needed to limit volume range in the audio track by scanning track for peaks and converting or re-encoding as necessary, to then be remuxed with video into a new file. Any suggestions?

Thanks again.

B