I did a search here as well as read the contents of the helpfile in mp3gain and am trying to find out why it's still discouraged.

For me, I'd like to avoid clipping / distortion but still have the volume of each particular file (for assorted individual tracks) or the volume of an album (for an album) maximized. I listen to my mp3 cd's in my mp3 cd player and obviously portables don't have the best amplification. So why is it a bad thing to want mp3's as loud as possible without clipping?

From what I understand, running in radio mode @ 89 db for assorted tracks would equalize the volumes of all the tracks so that one isn't fiddling with their volume controls from track to track. For me this is not so much a consideration as having the volume of each file maximized without clipping.

Am I missing something here? Are the routines for max no gain clipping somehow inferior in what they produce to radio or album mode?

Thank you.

I should mention that for albums I run max no clip gain for album, and for folders containing various assorted tracks that aren't from an album (i.e. singles) I run the max no clip gain for each file.

it's not really BAD -You'll just have volumes of the files (I mean "heard" or "perceptible" volumes) all mixed-up, but if for You it's not of a concern, then use it as often as You wish - it's not going to ruin the files

Great. Like I said I don't really mind if there is some variation from track to track (I tend to collect vinyl rips/remixes and live mixes) just so long as there isn't distortion in the track / mix itself or that clipping occurs.

Yeah, maximizing isn't "bad", it's just not a good way to make different files the same volume. The underlying gain change process is exactly the same as the rest of the program, though.
Perhaps I should re-word that little note in mp3gain that pops up when you enable maximizing features...

-Glen

Thanks for the response and the great software.