Equalizing volume on burned CDs

Soundcheck does not do it's job well. I don't know which criteria it is based on, but I don't like it either.
The best (in my opinion) application for burning CDs is Jam (Roxio.com).
This program allows you to normalize a CD, adjust gain of individual tracks, create crossfades etc. Perfect!
There are two disadvantages.
Jam cannot burn purchased music and it is not cheap.
Despite that, I do not regret having purchased it. It is fully Red Book compliant and creates perfect audio CDs.

Other applications which burn Audio CDs are Dragon Burn and DiscBlaze
Both offer a trial download, but I don't know if they allow normalizing or adjusting gain (I didn't try them yet).

Hope this helps.

M

17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.6) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

You can transfer the songs from your iTunes Library. When you create the playlist, clicking on the + icon opens a file search box where you navigate to the applicable files. If you choose, you can save the selections for future use.

In addition to Hawaiian_Starman's reply.
You can also select all tracks in the iTunes playlist and drag and drop them in the Jam window.

M

If your source files are MP3s or unprotected AACs, you can use MacMP3Gain to apply ReplayGain adjustments to the files prior to burning. This works better than any "normalization" routine, and it's free.

If you don't want to make permanent changes to the files in your iTunes library, you can copy the playlist you want to burn to disc and then run MacMP3Gain on the copied files prior to burning. If the source files are from different CDs (i.e. not just a collection of complete albums), then you would want to use track (radio) gain instead of album gain, and set the target gain value to 89 dB. After you burn the desired disc(s), you can just delete the new playlist you've made and move the files to the trash. You'll still have your unaltered files just where they were in your iTunes library.

Thanks NoName, that's very helpful information. I appreciate your contributions to the forums.

A big wave to Hawaii 🙂

What I'm really waiting for in terms of an easier solution is the addition of ReplayGain utilities to Max. I'm actually thinking of e-mailing the author with a proposal/request regarding this.

If there were ReplayGain utilities in Max, this really would be ideal. For real audio enthusiasts, they can rip their CDs perfectly and archive them in a number of lossless formats, including (but not limited to) FLAC and Apple Lossless. ReplayGain could scan a user's music archive based on some defined rules (as a single album, multiple album by tags, single tracks, etc.) and simply write some ReplayGain information to the files without altering the audio. Then, when using Max as a file encoder/converter, one would have the option to apply the ReplayGain adjustments specified in the tags of the lossless source files. So, ultimately, iTunes users could have all their volume/gain adjustment needs taken care of during encoding, so they could just leave Sound Check switched off for playback and CD burning.

For the moment, though, MacMP3 Gain is a good solution, though users need to be sure what they're doing before they make permanent changes to their files. That's why it's important to make a copy of the files to be process prior to applying the adjustments, since the process is irreversible.

For the moment, though, MacMP3 Gain is a good solution, though users need to be sure what they're doing before they make permanent changes to their files. That's why it's important to make a copy of the files to be process prior to applying the adjustments, since the process is irreversible.

Thanks again. I'll be sure to make copies of the affected files before surfing this path~~~~~~!

If you made copies of the songs, where would you put them? Alongside the original in the Library (with a modified title)?

Well, if you are burning music files outside of iTunes, then simply set up a separate folder in the top level of your Music Folder (keep it out of the iTunes folder). Next, drag this file into the Sidebar of the Finder so you can easily locate it for the next step.

Then simply click on each song file you want to burn (located in your iTunes folder) - then while holding down the option key drag the song to the new folder in the Finder's sidebar.

The result is a fresh copy of the music file, leaving the iTunes files intact, while giving you a duplicate file to modify. Also, you won't have to change the song title, since the duplicate is now in a different folder than the original.

Once completed the copying, you can begin the process of burning in Dragon Burn, modifying the volume where necessary following NoNames suggestions above.

When you're finished, you can either retain the copied song files for possible future use, or trash them.



iMac G5 Rev C 20" 2.5gb RAM 250 gb HD/iBook G4 1.33 ghz 1.5gb RAM 40 gb HD Mac OS X (10.4.6) LaCie 160gb d2 HD Canon i960 printer

Message was edited by: Hawaiian_Starman

So what I'm wondering is what the procedure is for making copies of the songs I want to modify with MacMP3 Gain -- and then subsequent burning in iTunes from an iTunes Playlist. Again, I believe the "songs" in an iTunes Playlist, are not copies of the songs in the iTunes Library, but just aliases linking to the song files in the Library, so I don't see how simply copying the Playlist for modifying with MacMP3 Gain would work without permanantly modifying the originals, too.

If you are making copies of songs per my instructions, those songs will reside outside of iTunes. Now, here's a trick for keeping them physically out of the Library.

After establishing the songs in a separate folder, go to iTunes preferences>advanced>general and uncheck "copy files to iTunes Library when adding to Library".

Next, File menu>Add to Library (select the songs you want to import). Now, it becomes a matter of moving those songs into a playlist and voila. So the iTunes data base now points to the song's location, which is outside of the iTunes Library. If you cmd I in iTunes on one of these songs, you'll see this.

When completed with the import, remember to return to iTunes Preferences and recheck the "copy files to..." box. Otherwise, the next time you import, only the song titles etc. make it into iTunes.

To readily identify the songs you just imported while eliminating duplicate titles, add a slight modification to each song title via the Finder and copy/paste prior to importing. This helps you distinguish the song file from its iTunes original. You could probably use Automator or an Apple Script to speed up this process, especially if you have a lot of song titles. If you have any questions about using either, you can post the question in the Automator forum.

For example, if a song were titled "I'll be there" - you could use (without quotes) "( ) I'll be there" or "I'll be there ( )" for the modified version. Then it becomes easy to find the songs when moving it to the playlist in iTunes. For example you simply type ( ) in iTunes Spotlight window. All Songs with ( ) appear - highlight them, right click for the contextual menu>add to playlist (assuming you have already created the Playlist folder), and you're good to go.

Again, creating these song tracks outside of iTunes leaves your originals unaffected by any modifications.



iMac G5 Rev C 20" 2.5gb RAM 250 gb HD/iBook G4 1.33 ghz 1.5gb RAM 40 gb HD Mac OS X (10.4.6) LaCie 160gb d2 HD Canon i960 printer

Don't know the answer to the MacMP3 question, as I haven't used it. I look forward to hearing about the results of your experiments. I've been wanting to modify the volume on some of my playlists but haven't quite found the time to do so.

Seems we're on the same wavelength about modifying the song titles. As I mentioned, make sure you deselect the preference setting prior to import to keep the physical files out of the iTunes Library.