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Music, Audio, and Podcasting
How can I boost the volume of a song before adding it to my iTunes library?
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<blockquote data-quote="dc2bluelight" data-source="post: 1813310" data-attributes="member: 399729"><p>You can do this with a selection of multiple tracks too...BUT...in Apple's infinite wisdom they've made the "volume" control a linear control. That means their so-named "+100%" position all the way to the right is a gain of +6dB (called +100% because its a doubling of output voltage), not even enough to perceptually double the volume. On the other hand, -100% is essentially off, making that an useless position! Mid-position between "none" and "-100%" is about a -10dB change and about half way between there and -100% is a -20dB change. So for ever incremental slider movement you get a different amount of volume change. </p><p></p><p>Volume controls out in the real world have an audio/log taper, meaning for equal increment movement you get an approximately equal volume change in dB. This ain't that, so it's stupid. Now, if all you need is a +6dB gain, you're fine. I'm betting that's not enough.</p><p></p><p>Then there's the Equalizer within the Get Info > Options pane. Wow. Talk about dumbing something down. You get a hand full of presets, settings something thinks are correct for music types and genres, none of which is likely to be "right" because there is no such thing as equalizing for a genre! But there are no actual equalizer controls. Bad choice on Apple's part, and bad choice for the user too. </p><p></p><p>So yeah, "not perfect", sort of an understatement. And Apple does know better. </p><p></p><p>Correct, the Equalizer (Window > Equalizer) is a global playback setting, affects everything through iTunes equally. Again, fairly useless. I'm not sure why Apple doesn't include a "detail" or "pro" equalizer mode that lets you tune bands, but they don't. It's not a question of resources, it's what they think we need, or that we're all too stupid to deal with something better. </p><p></p><p>If you can't get adequate results from Sound Check/Replay Gain, likely because the needed correction is out of range, the only option is to open the track in another audio application that can process it and make the required changes. Then, since these are permanent changes, use the app's Save As or Export functions to get the corrected track saved to a new file without over-writing the old. </p><p></p><p>Several apps have been suggested.</p><p></p><p>If you've read this far, I should clarify that when I bash Apple, it's not done as a hater, but a wisher. I've been an Apple user and supporter since the Apple ][ Plus through to current products of all sorts, and I know they could be doing SO much better. In fact, they have. They have some really powerfully smart people there. If you want to hear me bash something as a hater, get me started on Windows (or should I say "start me up").</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dc2bluelight, post: 1813310, member: 399729"] You can do this with a selection of multiple tracks too...BUT...in Apple's infinite wisdom they've made the "volume" control a linear control. That means their so-named "+100%" position all the way to the right is a gain of +6dB (called +100% because its a doubling of output voltage), not even enough to perceptually double the volume. On the other hand, -100% is essentially off, making that an useless position! Mid-position between "none" and "-100%" is about a -10dB change and about half way between there and -100% is a -20dB change. So for ever incremental slider movement you get a different amount of volume change. Volume controls out in the real world have an audio/log taper, meaning for equal increment movement you get an approximately equal volume change in dB. This ain't that, so it's stupid. Now, if all you need is a +6dB gain, you're fine. I'm betting that's not enough. Then there's the Equalizer within the Get Info > Options pane. Wow. Talk about dumbing something down. You get a hand full of presets, settings something thinks are correct for music types and genres, none of which is likely to be "right" because there is no such thing as equalizing for a genre! But there are no actual equalizer controls. Bad choice on Apple's part, and bad choice for the user too. So yeah, "not perfect", sort of an understatement. And Apple does know better. Correct, the Equalizer (Window > Equalizer) is a global playback setting, affects everything through iTunes equally. Again, fairly useless. I'm not sure why Apple doesn't include a "detail" or "pro" equalizer mode that lets you tune bands, but they don't. It's not a question of resources, it's what they think we need, or that we're all too stupid to deal with something better. If you can't get adequate results from Sound Check/Replay Gain, likely because the needed correction is out of range, the only option is to open the track in another audio application that can process it and make the required changes. Then, since these are permanent changes, use the app's Save As or Export functions to get the corrected track saved to a new file without over-writing the old. Several apps have been suggested. If you've read this far, I should clarify that when I bash Apple, it's not done as a hater, but a wisher. I've been an Apple user and supporter since the Apple ][ Plus through to current products of all sorts, and I know they could be doing SO much better. In fact, they have. They have some really powerfully smart people there. If you want to hear me bash something as a hater, get me started on Windows (or should I say "start me up"). [/QUOTE]
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How can I boost the volume of a song before adding it to my iTunes library?
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