Apathy

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | // .-=""=-. | unmitigated v\ -|--, /v---|---|- |\ // .'\__/ \_\ | irrelevant / \\ || / // \ || || | \ // /__/ \__/ \__.oo | anti-news /___\\ ||_/ //___\ || ||__| V/ ._/___\__/__\__(____/ | episodic / \\|| // \|| || | // /__|/ \|__\ ` | orchard / V' // ' ' // ______________________|_____________________//________________// //////////////////// what?? / link / older / feedback / mp3 // -- -- -- -- // < 5 ? / logs / # 5 > / a portal / me // ______________________________________// //////////////////////////////////////// __________________________________________________________ | | 03/13/2000 | mp3 knows how you feel | |__________________________________________________________| | | opener | | | Delve into the deep, dark secrets of mp3 | | normalization and other goofy things. Although I | | intended to concentrate on automatically equalizing | | audio, the exploration spread to other things. | | Particularly distracted by AVS for WinAmp -- a high | | level music-seeing plugin. | | | | | look west | | | First, a few technical sources to read on the | | subject. | | | | How CDs work at the lowest level | | | | Overview of the mp3 techniques | | | | Ars Technica: Do MP3 encoders sound different? | | | | alt.binaries.sounds mp3 FAQ | | | | MPEG 3 Layer Sounds technical page [frames] | | | | | loss of | | limb | Two sites for this sort of technical jive are down | | at the time of this writing. Check them later, | | perhaps: mp3bench.org + mp3info.org | | | |__________________________________________________________| __________________________________________________________ | | | Client-side plugins | |__________________________________________________________| | | taking the | | easy way | The simplest way to fix an mp3 that's too quiet is | out | to filter it on the client side. As I use WinAmp | | (and I know some other players are capable of using | | its plugins) I looked for DSP filters to | | automatically check the audio and crank it up if | | it's too soft. | | | | There are a few old plugins that do this, but in my | | experience RockSteady blows them all away. There | | are some options which I don't understand; just | | check the "Smart limiting" box in the configuration, | | and you should be set. | | | | Note that this also cranks the soft portions of | | songs somewhat, so this doesn't work perfectly on | | quickly-changing jazz and classical tunes. | | Nitpicking. This operates as advertised with most | | rock and pop music. | | | | | no need to | | find | Of course, you might notice there are many other | paradise | plugins on the WinAmp site. Some that looked handy: | | | | MuchFX2 allows WinAmp to "stack" DSP effects, so you | | can use RockSteady at the same time as any other | | filter. | | | | BPMeter attempts to measure the current tempo, but | | failed miserably with every song I threw at it, | | except an extremely simple techno song. | | | | Chronotron is your standard time stretching slider. | | Doesn't alter pitch, just makes the music faster or | | slower. Handy for DJ applications, covered below. | | | | NT Pitch is the opposite of the chrono plugin; it | | adjusts pitch without altering tempo much. | | | | Wide and Dynamix works like those goofy 3d expanding | | stereo modes on minisystems. Makes for some | | interesting tweaking. | | | |__________________________________________________________| __________________________________________________________ | | | Actual normalization software | |__________________________________________________________| | | no more | | quick outs | This is the correct way to fix volume problems: when | | the mp3s are created. No direct-to-mp3 encoder that | | I know of can operate on the sound simultaneously, | | so a WAV file is necessary. | | | | AudioCatalyst [encoder of choice] will automatically | | normalize its output, as long as the intermediate | | WAV file is enabled. The major downside to this? | | It's much, much slower to write out the WAV file. | | | | LinearTeam Normalizer operates directly on WAV | | files, is free, and could be used just prior to | | encoding the sound into mp3. | | | | MP3 Educator is shareware that decompresses the | | mp3s, normalizes them, re-encodes them up, and even | | renames the files if you like. | | | |__________________________________________________________| __________________________________________________________ | | | Other handy and/or silly tools | |__________________________________________________________| | | | Vinyl to CD Wave Corrector is more shareware that | | eliminates hissing and popping if you're turning | | your vinyl collection into mp3. | | | | MP3Trim lets you strip off frames from your mp3. | | Great for those songs that have just a bit of the | | previous song attached to their front, a loud click, | | and so on. | | | | OK Uncooker is by far the easiest uncooking | | application for when you download an mp3 and it | | sounds all garbled. | | | |__________________________________________________________| __________________________________________________________ | | | Full mixing/DJ software | |__________________________________________________________| | | trading a | | train for | Now, as my soundcard is too old and ugly to do true | volume | duplex playback, I have not actually used any of | | this software yet. Soon, my pretty... soon. | | | | *Muahahaha!* Er, yeh, here you go: | | | | WinAmp Crossfader | | | | MP3 Surgeon | | | | Internet Audio Mix | | | | Mixman | | | | Tactile12000 | | | | MJ Studio | | | | Virtual Turntables | | | | PCDJ Phat | | | | Mp3 2000 Studio - Highly unrecommended. Changes | | your browser start page on install with no option. | | | |__________________________________________________________| __________________________________________________________ | | | | eh? | This is the log of a faceless entity. Me. I wander | | around the web, and point out what are most likely | | completely useless things for you to visit. It's | | where I have been, what I learned there, and what I | | plan to figure out in the future. All in the palm | | of your hand. | | | the daily | Technically speaking, this is a "weblog". There are | surfing | many weblogs. You can probably find one that suits | tools | your tastes pretty closely in the morass below, but | | if not, use the pitas system to track yourself. | | | contact | D Fitch dgfitch@yahoo.com ICQ:363803 AOL:dguyfitch | | | |__________________________________________________________| /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// old archives: dots are interstitial weekly posts silly queries: how not to find this page ... useless sky: staring at old links . legos and robots: designing electrical companions and other nonsense . grid puzzles: waste time with boxes and their brethren . chip music: listen to the sound of the FUUUUUTURE . lewis carroll: charles dodgson wrote some happy tales . opinionation: how do you do, capitalism? how do you? ........ defunct rock: amf, grammatrain, jawbox, poor old lu, roadside .. ascii games: to quote salon, @ <- you are here . voicemail: automated telephone systems . bach and tone: the endlessly rising canon of links . eigenspace: eigen wha? ... /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// possible subjects: feel free to suggest or help out falling pod: zoooooming through the earth's crust . occam's razor: computational reflection . bad art: clean up old gallery . demoart: art disks, ansi conversion, zoomscope . WFMU hunt: scavenge a radio site . cardboardic: disposable release . collage: photographic and non, preferably non-digital . stupid cartoons: sg, c+c, r+s, brak . pita wrapper: perl posting app to hide/change interfaces /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// __________________________________________________________ | | on mp3 | Hey kids. Bunches of you seem to be finding my site | | with queries involving mp3. If you can't find what | | you are looking for, mail me because I'm almost | | positive I will have it. | | | |__________________________________________________________| __________________________________________________________ | | | Ancient Art of the Three Player Band | |__________________________________________________________| | | | | #.# | This number is the rock index. Higher means it is | | likely to be louder or more annoying. Arbitrary | | numerical scales are not real helpful, eh? | | | 9.3 | A Minor Forest - Cocktail Party.mp3 [6.3mb] | 2.7 | A Minor Forest - Discoier.mp3 [7.0mb] | 6.1 | Neutrino - Sure Are Shiny.mp3 [3.4mb] | 8.2 | Neutrino - Bring On The Super Desserts.mp3 [4.6mb] | 1.8 | 33.3 - Miles.mp3 [5.9mb] | 2.4 | 33.3 - Rancho Diablo.mp3 [7.8mb] | 5.2 | Silkworm - Empty Elevator Shaft.mp3 [3.5mb] | 5.6 | Silkworm - Waiting on a Train.mp3 [3.5mb] | | | 8.3 | Arcwelder - Captain Allen.mp3 [3.2mb] | 6.3 | Arcwelder - Finish My Song.mp3 [4.5mb] | 8.9 | MxPx - Sometimes You Have To Ask Yrself.mp3 [2.4mb] | 8.6 | MxPx - Let It Happen.mp3 [3.2mb] | 0.6 | Low - Lullaby.mp3 [7.8mb] | 1.3 | Low - Over the Ocean.mp3 [3.2mb] | 2.9 | Ativin - Riding and Roaming.mp3 [4.1mb] | 3.2 | Ativin - Cy.mp3 [5.6mb] | | | 5.8 | Hugh - Ruby Cruiser.mp3 [2.8mb] | 7.1 | Hugh - Little A.mp3 [3.6mb] | 3.2 | Codeine - Cave-in.mp3 [3.3mb] | 4.8 | Codeine - Cigarette Machine.mp3 [4.4mb] | 6.3 | Jawbox - Consolation Prize.mp3 [3.5mb] | 8.8 | Jawbox - Tools and Chrome.mp3 [2.5mb] | 4.2 | Starflyer 59 - Wasting Your Whole Life.mp3 [4.9mb] | 3.5 | Starflyer 59 - All The Time.mp3 [2.8mb] | | | ?.? | Shellac - Didn't We Deserve a Look...mp3 [11.2mb] | 9.2 | Shellac - A Minute.mp3 [3.3mb] | 9.9 | Frodus - Deviant Recovery Network.mp3 [1.5mb] | 9.6 | Frodus - Invisible Time Lines.mp3 [2.8mb] | 7.2 | Trans Am - Extreme Measures.mp3 [4.1mb] | 4.7 | Trans Am - Home Security.mp3 [4.7mb] | 2.8 | Sebadoh - Total Peace.mp3 [2.7mb] | 3.9 | Sebadoh - Not a Friend.mp3 [2.7mb] | | | 4.6 | Grammatrain - Need.mp3 [5.9mb] | 9.8 | Grammatrain - Jerky Love Song.mp3 [0.6mb] | 7.2 | Roadside Monument - OJ House Auction.mp3 [6.5mb] | 9.3 | Roadside - Trophies for Optometry.mp3 [5.3mb] | 3.8 | Buddyrevelles - I'll Sell You a Picture.mp3 [4.8mb] | 3.3 | Buddyrevelles - Port Riga.mp3 [4.4mb] | 0.8 | Labradford - Everlast.mp3 [4.1mb] | 1.1 | Labradford - S.mp3 [5.6mb] | | | |__________________________________________________________| ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////