While resizing columns in MP3gain, I uncovered a column labeled Curr Max Amp -- extreme right, past clip(Album) -- which gives a 5-digit value for each listed track.

The included Help file doesn't seem to mention it, and I've searched around this site and can't find any reference to the Curr Max Amp value. Can someone point me to a thread where this topic has been discussed, or tell me what that value means?

Many thanks.

Edit: Let me add that I understand that it's an abbreviation for Current Maximum Amplitude. What I want to know is why this value display is included in the program, but not in the documentation, where it comes from, and what additional insights it provides into how to assess the relative loudness of different files. One thing I notice is that a lot of files with the same volume level have different Curr Max Amp values. Another is that applying the same Constant Gain change to various files produces different changes in the corresponding Curr Max Amp values.

Once again, if this topic has already been covered, my apologies, please point me to the thread.

Thanks again.

Curr Max Amp is the biggest (absolute) sample value found after analyzing (i.e. decoding) the MP3. It is needed for calculating Max no-clip gain. A non-clipping MP3 always has a Curr Max Amp below 32768.

Thanks Lodgikal! It appears to me that knowing this value might come in useful in assessing just how much over absolute clipping level a sample or samples would be if I were to decide not to reduce the gain on a particular song.

For instance, if Curr Max Amp were just a bit over 32768, I might surmise that relatively few samples are actually clipping, and I might further decide not to reduce the gain, in order to keep the song's overall loudness similar to other non-clipping songs in the same directory. ("Surmising" is just guesswork of course, but MP3gain doesn't indicate how many samples are in the red by any other means. A few here and there can be tolerated I think.)