Hey guys. I'm currently stepping up from mp3 to AIFF / WAV for djing. When it comes to gigs, I prefer having my tracks at a similar volume so that there aren't any unexpected jumps in volume. Of course, I'd use the gain to adjust the volume beforehand, but would rather make fine adjustments and focus more on mixing. I use CDJs with USB sticks pens when I play out.

I was wondering if any of you use a program to normalize the volume of lossless files before playing them out. If so, what are they? I have a program that does a decent job for MP3s called mp3gain. A similarly simple and preferably free program would be great. I already spend enough on music.

Your feedback would be appreciated

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yeah for real dont be such a pussy

That's what I do, except I don't have to adjust the gain too much for tracks that are much louder or quieter. If I'm in a situation where the monitors / acoustics aren't the best and the mixer is redlined, I'd rather not resort to cranking up my headphones to match the gain. I usually mix with earplugs in and take other steps to take care of my hearing. Not having to keep my headphones on longer than necessary in poor monitoring situations is one of them.

That being said, if you don't have anything constructive to post, then don't post. Any helpful feedback would be appreciated.

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quote:

Originally posted by jad That being said, if you don't have anything constructive to post, then don't post. Any helpful feedback would be appreciated.

This is pretty easy to do within Traktor, but as far as manipulating the audio files, 'normalize' isn't what you want because the tracks should already be peaking at 0db. What you're going for is perceptual consistency. One way to do this would be to start with a track as a baseline, lower the volume to like -5db, then A/B all your other tunes to that track and adjust the volume/eq accordingly. The way I see it thats just a monumental pain in the ass for something that is quite easy to do on the fly. Might want to try in ear monitors at a low volume in lieu of ear plugs.

quote:

Originally posted by meriter What you're going for is perceptual consistency.

That's right. That's what the program called mp3gain does and that's what I'm looking for now.. except for wav and aiff files. Thing is mp3gain doesn't alter the actual file itself. It only changes the code for its volume. I know that this won't be possible for lossless, but I don't mind having the files altered and having back ups of the originals.

I came across platinum notes that seems to do that. Has anybody used it or a similar program?

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I use Platinum Notes

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quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Levels is...decent...damn better than a lot of the shite dominating the charts at the moment. It sounds absolutely nothing like...a billion and one similar tracks in this big-room style. I always had a soft spot.

quote:

Originally posted by Adam420 I use Platinum Notes

yeah me too, can i be your friend?

No.

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quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Levels is...decent...damn better than a lot of the shite dominating the charts at the moment. It sounds absolutely nothing like...a billion and one similar tracks in this big-room style. I always had a soft spot.

Shocking, wish i was!

You can do this extremely easily with even the most basic audio editing software. Just bump or lower the volume for any especially loud/quiet tracks and play the results against a couple of "normal tracks" to make sure they're about right. No need to overthink this.

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I know i'm not an audio guy but say your recording an external instrument and you got a small waveform. Increase the gain rather than double the size of the waveform?

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J You can do this extremely easily with even the most basic audio editing software. Just bump or lower the volume for any especially loud/quiet tracks and play the results against a couple of "normal tracks" to make sure they're about right. No need to overthink this.

That is a good option. To be honest, I'd rather have a program that processes batches of tunes together rather than me adjusting each track. Even if the results aren't quite as accurate, that's alright.

quote:

Originally posted by Adam420 I use Platinum Notes

Yeah I remember you telling me about this before Adam. How do you find it? Would you recommend it?

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