mp3gain
what do you normalize your collection to and why?
-94 is what i use mate. Seems to be a good level that doesn’t alter the tracks too much.
I have already used PN to adjust my Gain, however I remember it being mentioned that PN tends to set the level to low. If I decide to re run my tracks via Mp3gain at a later stage will I have a quality loss as opposed to having just run them via Mp3gain initially.
i.e Having been normalised twice!
@xolunt
I noticed on a club system that my PN_tracks seemed to be a bit low in comparison to my beat port tracks that have yet to be processed
i was wondering the same thing about re-processing my tracks. according to the folks at mp3gain the process is lossless because no decoding or encoding is necessary.
Mp3 gain doesn’t re-encode tracks or anything, so putting them through after PN is fine. But TBH if you’ve used PN already there’s really no need, but i did it as i found the volume to be too low.
Still not got PN or MP3 Gain, if you were to recommend either of these programs which would it be? rather than put them through PN then have to redo them because they are too low?
I use Platinum Notes 2.0 myself, and love it. It normalizes my files all to -13dB and from there, I just adjust the gain on my mixer to whatever is appropriate for adequate sound output. Everything is pretty much at the same volume.
Also, the new Platinum Notes 3.0 beta is bad ass:
More settings, customization, etc. Yakov is on the ball with this stuff 
ok might check that out, I do need to run my collection via this sort of program as I have noticed some v loud tracks and some downright quiet ones, admittedly I do EQ when mixing and most times it comes out okay, but would prefer things to be on an even playing field
For sure, I myself like everything to be untainted EQ wise (no augmented frequencies which drown out detail) and like my dB levels to be as flat and stable across the board as possible, Platinum Notes is great for that
The newer version really pushes it to the next level by making the process user specific as opposed to a minimal interface which automates a static set process.
A question about PN: I got the impression from their website that processing files with their software re-encodes files. Is this true? If it does dynamics processing, eq processing and whatnot, I don’t see any way around a re-encode. That’s not a problem for lossless files, but with MP3s that’s a big no-no. I know MP3Gain doesn’t re-encode. What’s the final word??
Iv had two dj’s almost blow my huge PA system due to bringing in tracks with WAY to much gain with out adjusting anything, hah they couldn’t even tell, even using my mixer with bright red LED peak meters! I’m deff going to make them seek out one of these programs before getting back on my set///
You can actually select to have them re-encoded into mp3, or left in wav format to be burned directly to CD after the processing has been done.
^^Furthermore, you could just go from mp3 to wav after processing (or pre-processing). Of course the bits lost during the original mp3 encoding will never be recaptured but you won’t lose anymore after processing in PN.
Here’s what i’m considering for my legacy (mp3) titles as I don’t own PN.
mp3>Audacity export to wav>PN>MiK>Audacity export to flac
I would use mp3 gain but it only supports mp3 which i’m moving away from.
After a recent spate of crappy files from Beatport (see images) i’ve been searching for other places to find music that cannot be bought on whatpeopleplay which is where I buy most of my stuff.
Can you say clipping?
Looks like someone rammed this track through a planer.
I’m going to continue watching the dev of PN until I feel like it’s worth it as i’m not comfortable with one-size-fits-all processing.
danny
goddamn dude, now thats some hardcore clipping lol
Take it from me lads, its worth it.
Jester I do trust your judgement.
What could PN do to the above clipping? Do you know if it interpolates across the clip like Audacity or are those technical details not for public consumption or not apparent while using the program? Sorry for the detailed question regarding the inner workings of a program you may not be involved in. What single aspect of PN makes it indispensible–not to put words in your mouth but you do seem to like PN so…
How long have you used PN?
thanks,
danny
Well at first i ran a few of my old trance tracks through it. 1994-96 ish era. quite low quality (around 160-192 kbps mostly) and obviously they sounded a bit “thin”. I think the combination of the clipping and dynamics adjustment feature really made them sound a lot fresher and cleaner. Then i ran some vinyl ripped D&B through in it and wow did it make a diference wth those tracks. Most of them were clipped like crazy beforehand and sounded pretty crap generally. after that i bit the bullet and ran the whole dj collection through. Remember it doesn’t do anything to your original copy, it makes a clone and it shows with a “_pn” after it so you know its been processed. If you have any experience with ozone for production, this is what it uses i think.
Hey thanks for the input.
I’ll plop down the credit card here pretty soon and get back with my results. I am a tad concerned with losing my grids, cues and loops though.
Danny
Ahh yeah you will lose them mate.
But again, with PN unless you want to re-encode your MP3s, (which I hope nobody here who gigs professionally does), you have to save the modified files as wavs, right? I would love to do this but just don’t have the HD space to keep my library as wavs…