Is There A Way To Make All Songs The Same Level?

[Kwal]

Am I crazy for skipping to the middle of my next track and pre setting my gains that way? It takes 4 seconds in Traktor.

[bisco]

Autogain works by altering the Gain of a track so that it is 0:0db - lowering or increasing a track so that it is at that level.
When the Gain knob has a blue LED against it then the Autogain setting in preferences is turned on but you can alter the gain by moving the knob even if the track is locked.
If you click on the knob and turn it orange the knob then it shows the Gain value that Traktor has applied to the track during analysis. If the track is locked the gain knob becomes greyed out.

So I could load a track with the gain in orange then set it accordingly in blue?
Or should I just leave it in blue and let Traktor do the work...?

[Scalage]

Am I crazy for skipping to the middle of my next track and pre setting my gains that way? It takes 4 seconds in Traktor.

Not at all, I do it too. The autogain feature is not reliable enough in my eyes. If you're always checking the gain, you might as well set it yourself.

[Kwal]

Not at all, I do it too. The autogain feature is not reliable enough in my eyes. If you're always checking the gain, you might as well set it yourself.

Yeah I would never rely on software to get me accurate readings. I always teach kids to just skip into the song and set it yourself... It's the best way.

[soundinmotiondj]

Autogain works by altering the Gain of a track so that it is 0:0db - lowering or increasing a track so that it is at that level.

My point was that the autogain is a "global" setting for the song. The loudest sections of the song are matched. So, any song with some dynamic range, or with loud and quiet passages will still have those different sound levels.

It is not the case that autogain will "ride the faders" automatically and adjust the whole song to the same level. This would be the job of a "compressor."

Not at all, I do it too. The autogain feature is not reliable enough in my eyes. If you're always checking the gain, you might as well set it yourself.

In what way is the autogain "unreliable"? Can you elaborate on that?

[Karlos Santos]

My point was that the autogain is a "global" setting for the song. The loudest sections of the song are matched. So, any song with some dynamic range, or with loud and quiet passages will still have those different sound levels.

It is not the case that autogain will "ride the faders" automatically and adjust the whole song to the same level. This would be the job of a "compressor."

The loudest settings are not matched. They are lowered.
The lowest are increased.

You totally misunderstood what I said. I never said it will "ride the faders" - you are misusing quotation marks.

Autogain holds one setting only (a global setting as you wrote), the average db across the whole track. It compensates for volume above or below 0:0db.
I didn't say it increases and lowers across the length of a track at all. It does it once during analysis. This is what the Autogain setting is.

In what way is the autogain "unreliable"? Can you elaborate on that?

Autogain is partly unreliable in the fact that it only takes into account the average gain of a track. This does not account for very quiet parts.

Autogain works well but it is not perfect and is and aid to be used with your ears.

[Scalage]

In what way is the autogain "unreliable"? Can you elaborate on that?

It's simple. If I use autogain only I get tracks that are too loud or too quiet every couple of tracks and that makes the transition worse than I can make it. But I'm a very picky guy when it comes to sound quality, so it might be that the audience wouldn't even notice these things. I've never tested it.
But even if it worked flawlessly, it never hurts to use your ears. If only for training purposes. It doesn't take that much time to do anyway.

[soundinmotiondj]

You totally misunderstood what I said.

Apparently I did.

Autogain holds one setting only (a global setting as you wrote), the average db across the whole track. It compensates for volume above or below 0:0db.

Did you mean: "It compensates for the average volume above or below 0:0db." ???

If you did, then all is good...because that is what I was trying (ineffectively) to describe. I was misinformed about the analysis considering the peak level -v- the average level.

I didn't say it increases and lowers across the length of a track at all. It does it once during analysis. This is what the Autogain setting is.

OK...this is what I was trying to say.

It does seem that any gain setting based on the average level runs a risk of clipping the final signal. Gain setting based on the peak values will prevent clipping in (almost) all cases.

Autogain is partly unreliable in the fact that it only takes into account the average gain of a track. This does not account for very quiet parts.

That seems like a "feature" to preserve some dynamic range in the music. Quiet parts do have an effect on the calculated average signal level, so there is some accounting for them, right?

Autogain works well but it is not perfect and is and aid to be used with your ears.

You statement that "autogain works well" seems at odds with your previous statement that "autogain is partly unreliable." Perhaps this is just a difference of definitions.

I actually trust the meters more than my ears...especially after a couple hours in the booth.

[ImNotDedYet]

Am I crazy for skipping to the middle of my next track and pre setting my gains that way? It takes 4 seconds in Traktor.

I'm with ya, but it's not really feasible to autogain vinyl. I still run into songs where there's a loud section where I find gain before and after that that is good, but it goes to +2 or so on the line during this loud part.

Actually, it shouldn't be hard at all to set the gains yourself with digital. You've got the wave in front of you. Find the highest amplitude spots, play a bit in those spots, set gain, then proceed cuing...this way you wouldn't have to worry about autogain potentially affecting sound quality, etc.

[dsquareddan]

it is a more expensive option, but I use Platinum Notes for this. the default settings are usually good, however turn OFF "add warmth" (no idea why that's on by default, so dumb). I also turn off Pitch correction. One of the things Platinum Notes does that autogain doesn't is that it actually applies a slight expansion to the sound while at the same time rounding off "clipped" peaks from poor mastering. You're left with a file that has more dynamic range, at a lower volume (you have gains on mixer to bring it back up), and all tracks are the same, so you just set the channels gains once at the start of your set and you don't have to touch them again.

Since I buy most of my music as lossless AIFF, I drag the file into Platinum Notes, export as AIFF, then add to Mixed In Key, then drop into Rekordbox after. it's a few steps, but this leaves me with all my tracks the same output level, plus they don't sound over compressed. While small, it still makes a difference when you are playing on a professional expensive sound system in a nightclub, which ultimately gives a better experience for your listeners and potentially a longer lasting impression of your performance

http://platinumnotes.com/