mp3 file volume variations..

Stevie9

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Hi,

I dont yet have a network player.. (not far off.. saving the last few silver pieces for an CXN).. but how do Network Players cope with volume variations with some mp3 files? I know for sure on my smart phone some audio tracks are far louder than others. I hope I dont have to keep fiddling with the Network Players audio control when I playback my files.

thanks..
 

mikeo

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I just started with my CXN and it doesn't volume level I can confirm

The PC route has certin software packages eg J River Media Centre that can analyse your audio and us that data to level volume output . That measn using a PC not a network streamer

Mike
 

mikeo

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Hi

Wow thats a breakthrough in technology !!

There are however software solutions called Digital Signal Processors that analyse the signal , its not unreasonable for a unit as sophisticated (read expensive) as the CA CXN to have such processing. If you chose the PC - DAC route rather than a Network Streamer you can spend $ 50 and get a full blown Media Player that does al that for you.

Funnily enough it makes for a better listening experience if you mix and match tracks across a range of albums !!

Mike
 

Stevie9

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Well I had a response from Cambridge Audio... They said there is no level matching system on their players yet. They are considering it but there is no timeline to implement it...
 

Stevie9

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mikeo said:
Hi

Wow thats a breakthrough in technology !!

There are however software solutions called Digital Signal Processors that analyse the signal , its not unreasonable for a unit as sophisticated (read expensive) as the CA CXN to have such processing. If you chose the PC - DAC route rather than a Network Streamer you can spend $ 50 and get a full blown Media Player that does al that for you.

Funnily enough it makes for a better listening experience if you mix and match tracks across a range of albums !!

?

Mike

Hi Mike,
Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean pc-dac route? Do you mean using the pc/laptop to plug into a dig audio converter then into the amp? The dac acting as a good quality sound card ?
 

MajorFubar

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iTunes supposedly does this via a feature called Sound Check, which you can switch on and off from the preferences. But I can't tell you how well it works from experience because I tend to turn all that weird jiggery pokery off. Again you'd need to go down the PC/Mac->USB DAC route to make use of that feature, rather than a streamer.
 

mikeo

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There are several options a for audio and video rendering of media files. The one you have chosen is the specific audio component thyat includes playback and a DAC.

Alternatively you can use a PC (laptop or really anything) with a USB connection to an external DAC (effectively a high quality stereo sound card). This route allows you to choose what replay software you use , the CXN route you get what the manufacturer gives you.

There are other devices like Dune or Mede8er which are more video aligned but they suffer from not being audio "Gapless" and I have found no real use for audio but they do video really quite weel for their price.

Out of interest my set up used to be PC based but I have now changed to give me a more convenient set up that doesn't require computer twiddling . There was nothing specifically wrong with the PC route , I just wanted ":a Box" to provide audio rather than constantly adjusting a PC

I have an Onkyo 838 AV Amp , Mede8er 1000x3D for video , A Samsung 3D BluRay player , the Cambridge Audio CXN for audio and an Audiolab M-DAC which I now use as a Headphone Amp for my Sennheiser DT800 headphones . Hopefully I can now settle down to enjoy it rather than play with it !!

Hope this helps

Mike
 

Stevie9

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Mike
Thanks for that.
I like yourself want to keep my music experience away from laptops or PCs.
I'll probably still go for the cxn.
Mind you, that mdac is a pricey headphone amp. You must use it for something else surely ? Did you buy the mdac first or the cxn? Why did you buy the mdac if you had the cxn?
 

MajorFubar

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Petherick said:
Can't you use some software to normalise all the files after ripping / storing them? Something like MP3gain or similar?

Depends. Most music is already normalised, in so far it has peaks that hit digital zero or close to, so doing it again will make litle to no difference. What differs the most is the RMS value, which is linked to the perceived loudness. Most modern cr-p is hovering around -10db or even slightly higher. This sounds very loud and lacks dynamic range. Older music, before they started maximizing the sh-t out of it, was about -16 or slightly lower, and its loudness was constrained (in lieu of a better word) by the fact a phono cartridge couldn't track anything that was maximized to death. Music with less dynamic range (particularly if it was bass-heavy) had to be cut quieter, which sort of defeated the object.
 

mikeo

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Hi Steve

You're right the M-DAC wasn't just for headphones. Originally I went the route of a PC , external HDD and then a DAC then Amp .

I am "computer savvy" , I am a retired developer amongst other things, but keeping the whole thing configured , backed up, monitored etc made this a "computer exercise" not a "listening experience". I seemed to spend more time playing computers not music. Add to that the navigation of the CXN is more acceptable to other family member than a PC. Adding the Mede8er simplified video in the same way and they are relatively cheap.

So that I could keep the M-DAC in use , I looked for DACless streamers / storage devices and found very few , those I did find where extortionate. So I bit the bullet , went for the CXN (with the DAC Magic Plus DAC built in) and accepted the fact that the M-DAC was only to be used on phones. Incidentally I found very few streamers with headphone sockets. My wife and I "disagree on 70's rock" so I spend 80% of my listening time on phones anyway so its too big an issue. If you look for Hi End headphone amps they are not that much different in price to the M-DAC anyway , check out the Sennheiser ones ! Incidentally the M-DAC drives my high impedance DT800 with ease which the DAC Magic Plus would not hence the choice. (Our choice of devices is fairly limited in South Africa)

All the trials and tribulations later I think I have done the right thing and have a proprietary "BOX" to run music.

Cheers Mike
 

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