Anyone Volume level their Mp3's?

I swear by it, because that I have found that alot of mp3's, at least for me, are too loud and even distort. I use Mp3gain and have my entire collection leveled to 89db, this way I don't have any huge differences in volume of my music while listening to it. Only bad thing, is it will lower the volume during playback on your meizu as well, so I find that my listening level is somewhere between 32 and 38 now, even with shure e2c's...

Anyone else do this? Just curious....


http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/download.php

Yes all my mp3s are set on the same gain.

You have your volume up to 32-38!? That must kill your ears.
I never have mine past 20.

My usual volume is set to 11. Most I have to go to for a normal pair of earphones is 15. 32 is just way too much....

I don't do it, as it changes the audio data. Or do MP3gain-tags work on the M6? Well, it doesn't matter anyway, adjusting the volume manually is much more acurate for me. There's only one song that annoys, I have to put it to 25 and it still doesn't sound like others @ 12, maybe I'll try it on that.

Well, mp3gain is one of the few volume leveling programs that don't just do peak leveling, instead it analyzes the whole file, then makes an adjustment. Also, Since I lower my file to 89db to prevent distortion, it usually bring an mp3 down from anywhere around 95-100 or higher. maybe my ears are worthless after the years of going to events with large sound systems. If anyone if willing to try, could you lower a file of yours to 89 db and let me know what volume it is comfortable to listen too? Since my collection was already 89 db before I got my meizu, I have nothing to compare off of here. I know that I have some cd's in my car and the loudness is usually the same at level 16-18 as when I play my leveled music at 26-28....


Also, from the mp3gain faq...
Does normalizing the mp3 degrade its quality?

No. MP3Gain does not decode and re-encode the mp3 to change its volume. You can change the volume as many times as you want, and the mp3 will sound just as good (or just as bad!) as it did before you started.

mp3gain does NOT change the dynamics of an mp3.
89 dB is the default setting, and produces quite low output volume. I have found out that 91 dB is the best setting for the music I hear, and with quality productions it does not produce any clipping. Check it out with your Meizu. I have it set between 15 and 25 most of the time, depends on my mood and the surrounding noise (I use v-moda vibes in-ears)

Yes, I know it doesn't reencode anything. However, does the M6 support normilaztion by Replaygain tags?

greetz
mfb

I don't think the m6 will make any changes based on those mp3gain tags, as far as ive seen, they are only used by mp3gain when you go back over files to see that it has already done these files and this is what volume they are, to prevent having to be re-analyzed again, because its quite cpu intensive.

Since boobyq seems to listen up to 25 with a gain if 91 I am going to test out and try a few files at that level. I suspect, since 89db is quite a drop, that my hearing is still ok. Thank you for the info bobbyq, I'm going to try it out and let you know.

Originally Posted by mfb

Yes, I know it doesn't reencode anything. However, does the M6 support normilaztion by Replaygain tags?

greetz
mfb

M6 behavior described by djmesh suggests the M6 does support normalization by Replaygain tags:

Originally Posted by djmesh

...I use Mp3gain and have my entire collection leveled to 89db... Only bad thing, is it will lower the volume during playback on your meizu as well...

Ice-orange, moderator of the M6 product discussion forum at http://en.meizu.com, in November 2006 suggested Meizu might recognise Replaygain tags in future firmware http://en.meizu.com/userforum/forum_...p?TID=455&PN=1.

Originally Posted by ice-orange

...this is a useful function.we will consider it!pls pay attetion to us continue!

Maybe that's happened. Maybe it's incorporated in the M3 music card as well.

There's a similar function for WMA format in Windows Media Player 11 which appears to set a tag in a functional manner similar to replaygain for mp3. Most of my audio files are in WMA VBA format. I will try volume leveling in WMP 11 to see whether it carries over to my M3 music card. Don't hold your breath waiting for results; I have a life.

Harry

Hmm, interesting. Maybe I should try it out one of the following days. If it supports replaygain-tags it should also work with Vorbisgain, which is a similair kind of software for Ogg Vorbis files. There is no point in having just half of my collection normalized, although most of my own rips are pretty much of the same loudness.

so once again : mp3gain dos NEITHER reencode NOR use "ReplayGain" tags. It simply modifies a field named "global gain" that is an integral part of every mp3 frame to achieve volume normalization. The algorithm used is the same as in ReplayGain.
Just try it out and you'll see that the Meizu can in fact decode that the way it should be, since the Meizu plays mp3.

i have my volume at 35
that doesnt kill my ears as i use Shure's and they need more volume

if i put it on 10 there is no real sound

@ job: same for me.

I use koss porta pro and the sound is never to loud (with soundeffects set to flat).
I´m wondering if this is normal or does my player perform on extreme low soundlevel?

I have the volume set to 25-36 with my PT850s and OVC T11s. 15-25 before I fall asleep ^^

Originally Posted by BobbyQ

so once again : mp3gain dos NEITHER reencode NOR use "ReplayGain" tags. It simply modifies a field named "global gain" that is an integral part of every mp3 frame to achieve volume normalization. The algorithm used is the same as in ReplayGain.
Just try it out and you'll see that the Meizu can in fact decode that the way it should be, since the Meizu plays mp3.

Not the whole story according to this thread 'Difference between Mp3gain and Replaygain' at hydrogenaudio http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...topic=24527&hl:

"MP3Gain determines the Replaygain values for the MP3 file. MP3Gain then writes to the global gain header of every block, adjusting them all up or down by the same amount in order to achieve those Replaygain values. MP3Gain also writes a Replaygain header which applies to the whole MP3 file. Since MP3Gain has adjusted the global gain field for each block to give the right volume, the volume adjustments in that Replaygain header will be small. This MP3 file will then play at the right volume in all players, whether or not they are Replaygain-aware."

The writer proceeds to describe a situation where the end result is mp3's played at such low volume the listener is forced to turn volume way up:

"It is potentially easy to screw this up.

For example, let's say we have a file which is VERY LOUD. We use Foobar2000 to adjust the Replaygain header, which of course writes a value which tells a Replaygain-aware player to turn everything down a lot.

Now suppose we use MP3Gain to adjust the playback volume. And suppose that this time MP3Gain is set to IGNORE tags in the file (i.e. "Options" > "Tags" > "Ignore (do not read or write tags)" is checked). It will still adjust the global gain field of each block (and turn them all down), but it will ignore the Replaygain header, i.e. leave it at the setting which Foobar2000 used.

If we then play our MP3 file in a player which is NOT Replaygain-aware, everything will be fine - the MP3 file will play at the right volume because the global gain field for each individual block has been turned down.

BUT what happens if we then play the MP3 file in an Replaygain-aware player? Now the file will be played much too quietly because the global gain field settings for each block have been turned down AND the Replaygain header for the whole MP3 file is still telling the player to turn down the whole file.

The safest solution to all this is to make sure that if you use MP3Gain on your files, it is NOT set to ignore tags in the file. Then it won't matter which you use to adjust the Replaygain (Foobar2000 or MP3Gain, in any order) since either will set the value of Replaygain correctly."

djmesh described a similar effect in his opening message of this thread:

Originally Posted by djmesh

...Only bad thing, is it will lower the volume during playback on your meizu as well, so I find that my listening level is somewhere between 32 and 38 now, even with shure e2c's...

I'm persuaded to believe the Meizu players are Replaygain functional.

Harry

Interesting, I didn't know MP3 had a gain field. I thought it was using replaygain-tags. Replaygain-tags would be better to have though, as it works on all file formats that support tags and it's a proposed standard.

:eek:


I use the EP630 atm, mylarone X3 will be here in a couple of days, but atm I use my volume at 8, max, when it's quite I use a max of 6 or something, often lower than 6 though. 6 is, when it's quite still pretty loud. How can this be ? yes they're only 16 ohm, but still, can some1 explain this to me?


EDIT: Haven't done anything with the mp3 files, didn't use mp3gain or something. Is that why? Still a big difference.

Originally Posted by retiredhench

I use the EP630 atm, mylarone X3 will be here in a couple of days, but atm I use my volume at 8, max, when it's quite I use it at 6 ot something. How can this be ? yes they're only 16 ohm, but still, can some1 explain this to me?

Just for comparison:

I use a volume of max. 15 (at which point my ears are starting to freak out), 7-9 when at home and 3 when laying in my bed at nigth. And sometimes I got to bring some extra hearing loss, to counteract the hearing loss I experience everyday during breaks at school, which results in a volume of max. 20. I never take it beyond 20 because I'm afraid my ears will fall off. :P

Somehow all my classmates suffer from permanent hearing loss, and they can only hear it from 30 upwards....

This is with the standard PT-850's from Meizu (32 Ohm if I'm correct) and without any gain. Will be getting Mylarone classic's next week, I will need to see what volume I use then.

Intresting stuff here guys, thanks for all the info. The shure e2c's are 16 ohm as well. Tomorrow when I'm off work I will try different db levels on the same mp3 file and drop them all on the m6 to see what the differences. Ive never run into the problem if anything interpreting the gains that are set by mp3gain however, and I would suspect that the m6 interprets them correctly as well.

Originally Posted by Job

i have my volume at 35
that doesnt kill my ears as i use Shure's and they need more volume

if i put it on 10 there is no real sound

Maybe you need an SPL meter for a true heart attack. :D

Shure's do not need more volume, you need to train your ears on lower listening volumes. 35 exceeds safe SPL levels for most IEMs (unless your audio files have an extremely low gain, which I wouldn't like to think is the case).

Just protect your ears, you only have one pair to use for the rest of your life. If you sleep at night and have ringing in your ears, that may already be a sign =P.