Quoting Frank's text:


libmpp.so:
in_mpp.lib:
~~~~~~~~~~~
needed for using replay gain. Not needed for using secure clipping.


mppenc:
~~~~~~~
Bugfix: Can now read WAV files with a header size of 4n+2 (instead of 4n)
No speed increases. 3DNow! code is not ready tested so not used.

Don't use --scale to reduce level of albums, use replaygain tool.
Replaygain stores all values you need for title/album loudness equalization
and _secure_ clipping protection.

Store mppdec in the search path to work with replaygain.

for %i in *.wav do mppenc %i -xtreme -v
for %i in *.wav do del %i
replaygain --auto *.mpc
replaygain --listall *.mpc

For batch mode use two percent chars: %%i


mppdec:
~~~~~~~
Replay Gain is ready (switch --gain, also you can use --prot)
Shuffleplay is ready (switch --random)

Examples:
mppdec *.mpc no manipulations
mppdec --prot *.mpc clipping protection
mppdec --prot --scale 0.5 *.mpc half level and clipping protection
(very unlikely that clipping protection is needed here)
mppdec --gain 1 *.mpc album loudness equalization
mppdec --gain 1 --prot *.mpc ... again with clipping protection
mppdec --gain 1 --prot --scale 1.26 *.mpc
... and 2 dB louder
mppdec --gain 1 --prot --scale 99 *.mpc
... plays the album as loud as possible without clipping
mppdec --gain 2 *.mpc title loudness equalization
mppdec --gain 2 --prot *.mpc ... again with clipping protection
mppdec --gain 2 --prot --scale 1.26 *.mpc
... and 2 dB louder
mppdec --gain 2 --prot --scale 99 *.mpc
... plays every title as loud as possible without clipping

mppdec --gain 2 --prot --random *.mpc
A command line juke box

find . -name *.mp[pc+] -print0 | xargs -0 mppdec --gain 2 --prot --random
UNIX juke box


replaygain:
~~~~~~~~~~~
replaygain [numeric value] list_of_files

sets title replay gains

replaygain --auto list_of_files_of_one_allbum

automatically sets replay gain and ppeak values for titles and albums

replaygain --list list_of_files
replaygain --listall list_of_files

displays replay gain information

programm is still not perfect, it eliminates 80%...120% of the differences.
see also http://www.uni-jena.de/~pfk/mpp/index.html#replaygain



what is a dB:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+/- 0.3 dB minimum diffence hearable for constant tones
+/- 1 dB minimum hearable for normal music
+/- 3 dB clearly hearable
+/- 6 dB double/half volume at disco levels (110 dB)
+/-10 dB double/half volume at normal listening levels (85 dB)


biggest difference in albums:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ian Boddy: Odyssey (proposed +2.1 dB)
Fiddler's Green: King Shepherd (proposed -8.1 dB)

At disco levels this is three times the loudness of Odyssee


biggest difference in (modern music) titles:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andreas Vollenweider: Eolian Minstrel: Lake of Time (proposed +11.8 dB)
Leipziger Folk Session: Ballade von den Seeräubern (proposed -11.8 dB)

At disco levels this is 15 times the loudness of Lake of Time.

For this first test I have tested only 800 modern music files.
I the area of classic music I expect also values from +12...+25 dB,
but shuffling classic is a bad idea.

I've looked around on this board and Frank's site, but can't find any step by step guide on how to use replaygain.exe.

Is it used before or after encoding for instance? The info above does not tell me where, how and when to input the commands.

Sorry if this appears a bit dopey (sleepy)!

signed, Snow White

The idea of replaygain is to alter the volume level of already encoded mpc-files so, that the process is reversible (lossless). And as you can see from the commandline examples, you work with already encoded .mpc files and work in the command prompt (dos prompt)...

The idea: equalize loudness of titles or whole CDs while preserving the dynamic within titles and CDs (manually or automatically, as you like it)

automatic:
replaygain --auto *.mpc
automatically equalizes loudness for all mpc files in the current directory.

manual:
replaygain -2.15 *.mpc
replaygain -2.15 file.mpc file2.mpc
Manual level adjustment by -2.15dB, for either all MPCs or just file.mpc and file2.mpc. Level can be value in the range of
-327.00dB...+327.00dB

replaygain 0 *.mpc
All MPCs will be adjusted to their original state.
replaygain 0 file1.mpc
Only file1.mpc will be adjusted to its original state.

replaygain --list *.mpc
Lists individual level adjustment values for each MPC

replaygain --listall *.mpc
Lists also total level adjustment of group of MPC files.

*You need to have Frank's new mppdec.exe in the same directory with replaygain.exe
*You need to use Frank's WinAmp plugin or mppdec. Older decoders don't use level ajustments.

Frank's info on albumgain replay is in conflict with the help in mppdec:
--gain x replay gain control (0, 1: off (dflt), 2:title, 3:album)

This is not completely true as the Album gain setting (and the peak value) is not removed, only the Title gain is reset.

Too bad the WinAmp plugin can't be configured to choose between the 3 replaygain options (off, title, album)

This is a shame, but I'm sure it will happen eventually. The hypothetical GUI I show on my site...

http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~djmrob/replaygain/player.html

...would work well with the mpc implementation.

Cheers,
David.

If I just want to make sure my MPCs are clip-free, can I not use ReplayGain at all and just turn on clipping protection in the plugin?

I think clipping protection in the Winamp plugin doesn't work so well, because most people who report non-transparency with MPC files turn out to have clipping protection switched on. When they switch it off there no problem anymore

And also Frank Klemm recommends the use of replaygain for clipping protection.

OK, that's what I had heard before too so I was just checking. The problem is, the Winamp plugin does title gain only and I only encode full albums so obviously I'm more interested in album gain. In addition, I find that the files I run through 'replaygain --auto' are a bit quiet. I guess this is what you get for wanting no clipping, or am I mistaken?

Yeah, I agree, the Winamp plugin should get the same options as mppdec has. With mppdec you can play as loud as possible without clipping.