MP3 volumes low in iTunes after bounce from master

Question

MP3 volumes low in iTunes after bounce from master

I know this is an old question but I am still baffled by this. When I bounce an mp3 from my mastered file It sounds great if I run it from my mac desktop. Drag it into iTunes and the volume cuts in half - at least. To make a test, I took my WAV master into Audacity and boosted and clipped the waveform until it was completely black and distorted beyond recognition - in other words completely maxed out the volume. When I exported that to an MP3 and dragged it onto itunes I got the same result. The volume was cut off at the knees. So I am not convinced this has anything to do with, gain, limiting, mastering etc. I think it has to do with iTunes. Has anyone figured this out? When I put my song up for sale I don't want it at less than half the volume of the competition.

Best, Steve

Toronto

www.myspace.com/stevenixontunes

Posted on Jul 11, 2014 10:18 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 11, 2014 11:34 AM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

I'm not directly familiar with exporting to iTunes. After you've exported the track to iTunes as an MP3, what does the actual MP3 itself look like in Audacity? If the volume is halved, then clearly the trick is to not export directly to iTunes, bounce your mix to a WAV or AIFF file and let iTunes do the importing and conversion.

But when you say 'put your song up for sale', via what outlet? The reason I ask, you shouldn't really bounce down straight to MP3 if you intend selling your wares. Bounce down to the highest-quality lossless format available, so that's generally AIFF, WAV, FLAC and ALAC, and let the digital distributors deal with the conversion. If you upload your tracks as MP3s then the quality of the MP3s potentially becomes the limiting factor should the distributors you're using decide to offer lossless downloads in the future, because you can't get back what's already been lost.

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Answer 2

Jul 11, 2014 11:55 AM in response to Cruurakd778

Hi MF, thanks for your reply. I'm not exporting to iTunes directly, I'm just exporting the file to my desktop then dragging the file onto an iTunes library and then playing it. As I mentioned, the volume from the desktop is normal but the volume when the same file is played in iTunes is under half the volume.

Thanks for the tip on uploading formats for the vendor - well noted.

Best, Steve

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Answer 3

Pancenter

Level 6

14,644 points

Jul 11, 2014 12:01 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

Open iTunes, go to Preference/Playback and make sure all of the sound altering options are disabled.

Sound enhancer, Sound Check...etc.

Also, I'm using an older operating system (Snow Leopard) so I'm not familiar whether the most recent operating systems are using any software "enhancements". Might look under the computers System Preferences/Sound to make sure any type of leveling is not active. Most likely it's iTunes.

This is what happens when a company does too much for the user... 99% of the people are hearing music under Apple's limitations.

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Answer 4

Jul 11, 2014 12:01 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

As an added note: the I uploaded the file to MySpace and it sounds completely normal. Not sure why there is such a dramatic difference with iTunes especially when it's normal from the desktop of the same mac computer.

Best, Steve

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Answer 5

Jul 11, 2014 12:03 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

Thanks Pancenter, I'll check that out and get back.

Best, Steve

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Answer 6

Jul 11, 2014 12:04 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

Pancenter is right. Make sure all the sound 'enhancements' are turned off. At least it sounds like the file itself is not getting physically corrupted by iTunes, which is good.

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Answer 7

Jul 11, 2014 12:08 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

I think it helped a bit, but it's still much lower than the same desktop file.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Best, Steve

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Answer 8

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Jul 11, 2014 12:12 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

Playing from the desktop (using Spacebar) uses only the System volume.

Playing from iTunes uses the volume in iTunes as well as the System volume.

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Answer 9

Jul 11, 2014 12:22 PM in response to Chris CA

Ok, I think I understand this now. The maximum volume in iTunes is equal to the desktop volume. So iTunes is throttling the system volume. My only concern left is the relative volume of my song to the other purchased songs which I have to attribute to vastly superior mastering.

I'm going to call this case closed, thanks for the help everyone.

Best, Steve

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Answer 10

Eriksimon

Level 6

15,416 points

Jul 11, 2014 12:31 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

Hey KimberSteve, there's another option nobody mentioned: in iTunes you can set relative levels, and equalizer presets per song. Just select a title and hit cmd-I.

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Answer 11

Jul 11, 2014 12:33 PM in response to Eriksimon

Hey thanks Erik, I'll try that out. Greatly appreciated.

Best, Steve

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Answer 12

Jul 11, 2014 12:46 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

Incidentally, here's the song - a rough mix. Hey Julie.

https://myspace.com/stevenixontunes/music/songs

Best, Steve

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Answer 13

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Jul 11, 2014 3:58 PM in response to kimberleyfromtoronto

kimberleyfromtoronto wrote:

Ok, I think I understand this now. The maximum volume in iTunes is equal to the desktop volume. So iTunes is throttling the system volume.

No. Other way around.

The system volume is throttling iTunes volume (and all other volume on the computer).

Regardless of iTunes volume, the sound out of the computer only be as loud as the system volume.

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