Tried searching for this topic but did not find anything.
Why are the tracks ripped by VB much quieter than tracks ripped by other software and much quieter than streaming audio from the web?
I do see an album volume adjustment value for VB tracks that I do not see for other tracks.
Is there a way to adjust this?
By default, the VortexBox AutoRipper (ripit) computes Replay Gain tags and embeds them in the FLAC music files. If you do not want Replay Gain tags, you can disable their generation as follows:
1. Log into your VortexBox as root.
2. Edit /etc/ripit/config
3. Change
flacopt=–replay-gain –padding=8192
to
flacopt=–padding=8192
4. Save your changes to /etc/ripit/config
5. Bring up the VortexBox web GUI at http://vortexbox-ip
6. Click on the "CD Ripping Status" icon on the left.
7. Click on "Restart Auto Ripper".
8. New CDs will be ripped without generating Replay Gain tags.
However, I think having Replay Gain tags is a good idea and I do not recommend turning off this option.
So if you have FLAC files on your VortexBox with Replay Gain tags, you can deal with them as follows:
If you are playing the tracks through SqueezeBox Server on your VB, you can specify the volume adjustment for each player in your system as follows:
1. Bring up the SqueezeBox Server web GUI at http://vortexbox-ip:9000
2. Click on "Settings" on the lower right corner of this page. This will open a new web page for the SBS Settings.
3. Click on the "Player" tab on the Settings page.
4. Select your player from the drop-down menu on the left.
5. Select "Audio" from the drop-down menu to the right.
6. On the Player-Audio menu, go down to "Volume Adjustment/Replay Gain".
7. Select the desired volume adjustment from the drop-down menu:
No Volume Adjustment
Track Gain
Album Gain
Smart Gain
The definitions of these terms can be seen by hovering the mouse over the "i" icon.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each player in your system.
I have my Squeezebox players (2 Duet Receivers, 2 Transporters) set up to use Smart Gain.
If you are using a different player than SqueezeBox Server, you'll have to see what options that player provides for dealing with Replay Gain tags embedded in the music files.
I will take yiour advice and leave the VB settings for now. I am using SBS however I do not have the options you describe for my SB Player, Under Player>Audio I only have Power On Resume, Volume Control, Audio Start Up Time, Bitrate Limiting and Lame Quality Level. I do see the option when I switch to the VB player but not with my player, which by the way is an older original SB1, could that be why? I am on the waitlist for a Touch.
The SB1 does not support Replay Gain; the SB2 and newer players do.
You are running into limitations due to old hardware, and I don't think there is anything you can do to equalize volume levels between different sources on that device.
Also, the SB1 does not support native FLAC decoding, and the SBS must transcode to a supported format before streaming the music to that device. I presume you are playing FLAC files and are finding low volume levels on those files, since FLAC is what VortexBox rips to by default.
You could try asking your question about volume levels on the SB1 on the slimdevices forum ( http://forums.slimdevices.com ); you will likely get a good answer there.
I suspected it might be a limitation of the SB1, as is the inability to play flacs nativly. I am on the list for a Touch.
I am learning a bit about Replaygain now.
I assume the default setting in VB is the best way to go for SB2 or newer players, and for portable mp3 players?
I can live with the lower volumes for now until the Touch arrives.
It's a good idea to have the Replay Gain tags in your flac and mp3 files. You can choose to use them or not if your player supports them.
The default VB option is to generate Replay Gain tags in flac files; this does not have to be changed for optimum player performance.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks