How can I correct this? Every MP3 ripped from "Collective Soul -Blender" clips (just when the track gets good too) and is generally louder than other ripped albums -it's overdriving my tweeters! Never experienced this at low volume b4.

The EAC manual says not to use Normalization, but is this an example where I should rip this CD over again with Normalization to tone it down a bit to releive clipping?

I noticed this with WMP9, then tried it with foobar. Foobar2000 does list the clipping error.

replaygain? or rip and fix clipping and then encode?

MP3Gain is another option. I like the "Max no-clip volume" option.

thx
I see ReplayGain foo_rgscan listed within foobar components, but do not see how to envoke.

Is MP3Gain an external utility?

Sorry, still a newb

Right-click the file(s) you want to replaygain and look in the Replaygain> menu option. Then you can select to replaygain them as singles, albums, etc.

MP3Gain is an application that will replaygain your MP3 audio files. However, instead of using metadata (storing info in tags), MP3Gain modifies the actual audio data and makes it louder/lower in volume. This is an undoable process since MP3Gain stores the original decibel information in APEv2 tags in the MP3 file so at a later time you can restore the MP3 file to its original volume if you wish. Since MP3Gain modifies the actual audio data that means that every MP3 player will play the MP3 at the replaygained volume.

Foobar2000 also has a replaygain scanner that will replaygain MP3s. Unlike MP3Gain, Foobar2000 does not modify the actual audio data. Instead it stores the replaygain information in tags in the MP3 file. Foobar2000 reads these tags and adjusts the volume accordingly. This process, however, limits the number of players that will be able to play the MP3 using replaygain. Currently only Foobar2000 and a plug-in for Winamp will enable you to use this type of replaygain on MP3 files. Personally, I think metadata replaygain tagging is the better of the two because if you don't want the replaygain information to have any playback effect you can always disable it via the player's settings. Plus I believe the idea of replaygain originally was to store information the tags of audio files rather than actually modify the audio data.

and yes, mp3gain is an external utility that changes the mp3 file's global gain value so that the file itself is 'replaygained' on any playback device.

edit - doh, beat me, and with more detail

In this situation, you may want to look into using wavgain prior to encoding (although it is not a *lossless* procedure).

THanks for the quick replies!

Oddly, I had to perform both procedures to eliminate the clipping: MP3Gain and Foobar Replaygain. Made no difference which procedure used 1st. The foobar console no longer indicates clipping, the VU chart appears to be in a normal range and the general volume level is in-line with other music.

Thing is -I can still hear the clipping, after more searching I assume this is inherent to the source CD. Guess will have to live with it.


:less of a noob every day.

That makes no sense at all. Using both should yeild the same results as only using foobar replaygain, if you mp3gained first, and it should lower the levels way too far if you used mp3gain second.

[quote]Thing is -I can still hear the clipping, after more searching I assume this is inherent to the source CD. Guess will have to live with it.[/qoute]

ARGH! another horribly squashed CD. hehe, there's plenty on this forum about squashed CDs

Did you check use ReplayGain/Album in the playback tab in Foobar's properties?

You may need to enable "Use peak info to scale down tracks that still clip after applying replaygain" in the fb2k Playback preferences.

Yes, used ReplayGain/Album in the playback tab in Foobar's properties.

The clipping is most obvious on "Vent" (Collective Soul), unfortunately one of the better tracks.

Going to copy a friends "Vent" MP3 to see if it sounds better.

otherwise I suppose I'll have to wait for the SACD re-release and a compatible CD drive. Wonder, is AAC required for SACD encoding. (thinking out loud)

I have Blender encoded with eac secure + lame .90.3 APS and no clipping at all.

Using MP3gain second shouldn't lower the levels 'way too far'. The result should be pretty much the same no matter what order you do it. In addition to changing the actual gain in the file, the current version of MP3gain also writes replaygain tags with correct info. So just replaygaining with MP3gain (with no-clip option) should be sufficient to make the file not clip either in foobar2k nor players not supporting replaygain.

Sounds very strange that doing both is the only way to get rid of this clipping....

i dont have any clipping going on at all anywhere on the cd , lame 3.90.3

I played this CD in the changer yesterday, it is 1 number louder than any other. Perhaps I got a bad glass image production run on this CD & "Vent" does clip straight off the CD. I'm doing a mass MP3/AAC transfer today, "Vent" is included so will see if any change from my encoding.

You guys are awesome, with all this great advice to help-out a noob. many thanks



edit: started the mass trx over LAN -said it had ~14hrs to go when I left. In any case I'll be sure to play Vent tomorrow evening on his 5.1.

OK, I wasn't aware of this. I didn't think it would right over the foobar tags.

Very interesting post and replies.

What it boils down to is this. If the cd was overmodulated @ the mastering stage or if the original recording was overmodulated, then the ripped output will be overmodulated too. There is no way around this. That's because the actual source you are encoding FROM is distorted. And sadly, this is far more common than you may think. Especially in modern pop/rock recording. In the insane "louder is better" world of radio airplay, recording engineers/producers are under tremendous pressure to make their product sound "hot". What this translates into more often than not, is audio that is either clipped or on the verge of clipping. Dynamic range is non-existent as the recording is compressed/limited to the point of absurdity. And that is also why so many true audiophile recordings sound "wrong" to the burned over ears of modern radio listeners.

IF in fact the source material is overmodulated, then programs such as MP3Gain and Replaygain will be of little or no assistance. Many people have a fundamental misunderstanding of what these programs are actually designed to do. They cannot elminate overmodulation of the source recording. They were designed to reduce/increase the overall gain of a signal to a preset level, thereby eliminating the wide variation in volume between mp3s taken from different sources. That way you don't experience such wide variances in playback level from one song to another. In other words, they do exactly what they say they do...adjust playback gain.

However, I did notice that some others in the thread stated that they have ripped the same cd with excellent results. So that would indicate an issue other than overmodulation of the source recording. Perhaps the cd itself was overmodulated during manufacture? At any rate, this could indicate a quality control issue that is more directly releated to manufacturing defect than to the ripping/encoding process itself.

Good post. Keep us informed of your findings.