Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

[Bespin1138]

I plan to replace my computer within the next couple of months and I have created a backup file of my ReplayGain settings to add when I re-install dBpoweramp on my new computer. My questions about ReplayGain are intended for future reference. My reasons for asking these questions are incase I have to create a new ReplayGain file due to reasons such as the backup file getting lost or corrupted or if I decide I want to apply new ReplayGain settings to all of my songs and albums. I prefer to use a single ReplayGain file with the intended settings and apply it to all of my songs and albums. My questions are as followed:

1. I have completed ripping my audio CD collection to FLAC. I have also used the ReplayGain settings which include the Track and Album Gain during the ripping process. Now, someone can correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that ReplayGain does not alter the audio file itself. It just adds a data tag to tell ReplayGain-capable players to use the specified track and album volume adjustment properties. If the player does not have ReplayGain capabilities, then the song plays using its default audio properties. In addition to FLAC, does this ReplayGain rule apply to other lossy and lossless formats like MP3, AAC, and ALAC?

2. If my understanding to question 1 is correct, can ReplayGain (including Track Gain, Album Gain, etc)be removed?

3. If ReplayGain can be removed, will the audio files revert to their default properties (e.g. FLAC files sounding the same as their sources such as CDs and MP3 and AAC files on their default lossy properties)?

4. If ReplayGain and its associated properties can be removed, how do I perform that process? Is there a way where I can have all of the songs and/or albums selected to remove the ReplayGain properties at once instead of having to go individually song-by-song or album-by-album? If so, how?

5. Without having to re-rip my CDs, how do I apply new ReplayGain settings to the songs? Is there a way where I can have all of the songs and/or albums selected at once to apply the new ReplayGain settings instead of having to do it individually song-by-song or album-by-album? If so, how?

Thanks.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

1. I have completed ripping my audio CD collection to FLAC. I have also used the ReplayGain settings which include the Track and Album Gain during the ripping process. Now, someone can correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that ReplayGain does not alter the audio file itself. It just adds a data tag to tell ReplayGain-capable players to use the specified track and album volume adjustment properties. If the player does not have ReplayGain capabilities, then the song plays using its default audio properties. In addition to FLAC, does this ReplayGain rule apply to other lossy and lossless formats like MP3, AAC, and ALAC?

Correct. ReplayGain (RG) is just a set of tags (album RG, track RG, peaks, etc.). Audio is NOT altered. And one can add RG to FLAC, other lossess files such as ALAC, and lossless files like mp3, AAC, etc.

2. If my understanding to question 1 is correct, can ReplayGain (including Track Gain, Album Gain, etc)be removed?

Yes, just delete the RG tags in the file.

3. If ReplayGain can be removed, will the audio files revert to their default properties (e.g. FLAC files sounding the same as their sources such as CDs and MP3 and AAC files on their default lossy properties)?

Note the answer to No. 1 above. The audio was never modified to begin with. But if one deletes the RG tags, and then plays on a RG capable player, obviously without the tags, the RG info can't be used. But also keep in mind that most players that use RG values also have a setting to ignore the RG tags. So no need to delete the tags. Just don't turn on RG in the player.

4. If ReplayGain and its associated properties can be removed, how do I perform that process? Is there a way where I can have all of the songs and/or albums selected to remove the ReplayGain properties at once instead of having to go individually song-by-song or album-by-album? If so, how?

The RG info is just tags. Use dbpa ID TAG editor, load up all your files, and delete the RG tags in a single batch.

5. Without having to re-rip my CDs, how do I apply new ReplayGain settings to the songs? Is there a way where I can have all of the songs and/or albums selected at once to apply the new ReplayGain settings instead of having to do it individually song-by-song or album-by-album? If so, how?

Use dbpa CONVERTER, but instead of converting to another CODEC, use the ReplayGain utility DSP and convert to that, adding the RG tags. Other programs can do this too (foobar2000 for example). Easy to do in a giant batch, with each album being treated separately based on album name, etc.

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks for the info. Where would the ID tag editor be located? Is it in the Batch Converter program? And for the dbpa converter, are you referring to the Batch Converter? And is the ReplayGain Utilitiy DSP also located in Batch Converter?

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks for the info. Where would the ID tag editor be located? Is it in the Batch Converter program?

yes, batch converter, then convert to: ID TAG UPDATE

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks. I had just edited my previous question while you posted your reply. I would appreciate answers to those questions as well.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

yes, batch converter, then convert to: ID TAG UPDATE

Yes, both ID TAG UPDATE and REPLAYGAIN utility DSPs are useable in batch converter "convert to" process. These DSPs may not be installed by default. See codec central link below to install.

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks again for the information. I have looked over the link and dBpoweramp features that were mentioned. My questions are as followed:

1. In the Edit ID Tags options, to remove ReplayGain, do I just delete ReplayGain_Album_Gain, ReplayGain_Album_Peak, ReplayGain_Track_Gain, and ReplayGain_Track_Peak? Is there any other property related to ReplayGain that I delete?

2. It appears that the only way I can select all of my FLAC songs in my desired folder to remove ReplayGain is using Windows Explorer in Windows 10. The Batch converter appears to only list songs from an album folder not an from entire folder with subfolders. Is there a way I can get Batch Converter to list all of the songs from the selected folder and subfolders instead of just one album folder?

3. After I remove the ReplayGain properties from the FLAC songs, would I use the Convert option on the Batch Converter? If so, since I want my songs to still be FLAC, I would select FLAC and the desired DSP Effects. Am I correct? If yes, will I be essentially creating new copies of my FLAC songs with the new ReplayGain settings and whatever other DSP Effects I might wish to add? Is there a way I can just add DSP Effects to the existing songs without having to create new copies? If so, how?

4. In relation to question three, my understanding is if I convert from one lossless song format to another, whether it be FLAC-to-FLAC, ALAC-to-ALAC, or FLAC-to-ALAC or vice versa, I will not lose any sound quality because whether the lossless formats are identical (e.g. FLAC-to-FLAC) or different (e.g. ALAC vs FLAC)they are lossless and will retain the full sound quality of the source file whether it be copying audio from a CD or converting audio from a different lossless format. If I convert a FLAC song to FLAC, will the audio quality and its properties be identical to the source audio file?

5. On the subject of DSP Effects, if a file I plan to convert already has a DSP Effect such as ReplayGain, would that DSP effect be automatically transferred over to the new converted format even without a DSP Effect listed in the conversion setting or no? Would the answer be the same or different if I was converting to an identical format such as FLAC-to-FLAC or a different format such as FLAC-to-AAC? Am I correct in understanding that DSP Effects such as ReplayGain work with both lossy and lossless audio formats?

6. Also on the subject of DSP Effects and dependent on the answer to question 5, if a file that I am converting already has a DSP Effect and the conversion setting has a different DSP Effect, would the DSP Effect on the converter overwrite the DSP Effect on the source file or would the the converted file have the DSP Effects from both the source file and the converter process? Does it matter if the process is from FLAC-to-FLAC or FLAC-to-AAC?

7. On the Batch Converter's Output To menu:

a. Does the source drive, source path, and source file name mean that the converted copies of songs will be sent to the same locations as their source songs? If yes, will this delete the source songs or will the source locations have two copies of the songs with one copy being the original and the other copy being the converted song?

b. Does the Output To menu allow me to send the converted songs to an alternative folder of my choosing?

Thanks.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

You talk about a "single ReplayGain file". I have no idea what that would be. ReplayGain is written as tag info to a file, based on an assumed level (e.g., 89db). There is no "ReplayGain" file.

1. In the Edit ID Tags options, to remove ReplayGain, do I just delete ReplayGain_Album_Gain, ReplayGain_Album_Peak, ReplayGain_Track_Gain, and ReplayGain_Track_Peak? Is there any other property related to ReplayGain that I delete?

Yes. just those 4 tag fields. Nothing else.

2. It appears that the only way I can select all of my FLAC songs in my desired folder to remove ReplayGain is using Windows Explorer in Windows 10. The Batch converter appears to only list songs from an album folder not an from entire folder with subfolders. Is there a way I can get Batch Converter to list all of the songs from the selected folder and subfolders instead of just one album folder?

You're not doing something correctly. If all your music files are under a top directory, with lots of artist/albums subdirectories, one can select the top directory and all the subdirectories (even 1000s) are selected as well.

3. After I remove the ReplayGain properties from the FLAC songs, would I use the Convert option on the Batch Converter? If so, since I want my songs to still be FLAC, I would select FLAC and the desired DSP Effects. Am I correct? If yes, will I be essentially creating new copies of my FLAC songs with the new ReplayGain settings and whatever other DSP Effects I might wish to add? Is there a way I can just add DSP Effects to the existing songs without having to create new copies? If so, how?

You do NOT need to convert to FLAC again. Just "Convert" to "ReplayGain" (select this from the list for "encoder" instead of FLAC). Then you won't be creating new files. You'll just be analyzing and adding RG tags to the existing files.

4. In relation to question three, my understanding is if I convert from one lossless song format to another, whether it be FLAC-to-FLAC, ALAC-to-ALAC, or FLAC-to-ALAC or vice versa, I will not lose any sound quality because whether the lossless formats are identical (e.g. FLAC-to-FLAC) or different (e.g. ALAC vs FLAC)they are lossless and will retain the full sound quality of the source file whether it be copying audio from a CD or converting audio from a different lossless format. If I convert a FLAC song to FLAC, will the audio quality and its properties be identical to the source audio file?

Yes, any lossless to any other lossless is identical. Nothing is lost in converting a lossless file to any other lossless file.

5. On the subject of DSP Effects, if a file I plan to convert already has a DSP Effect such as ReplayGain, would that DSP effect be automatically transferred over to the new converted format even without a DSP Effect listed in the conversion setting or no? Would the answer be the same or different if I was converting to an identical format such as FLAC-to-FLAC or a different format such as FLAC-to-AAC? Am I correct in understanding that DSP Effects such as ReplayGain work with both lossy and lossless audio formats?

Yes, doing nothing, if the RG tags are already in the file, then converting the file and transferring all the tag info will also transfer over the RG tags. And yes, RG tagging works with lossy and lossless.

6. Also on the subject of DSP Effects and dependent on the answer to question 5, if a file that I am converting already has a DSP Effect and the conversion setting has a different DSP Effect, would the DSP Effect on the converter overwrite the DSP Effect on the source file or would the the converted file have the DSP Effects from both the source file and the converter process? Does it matter if the process is from FLAC-to-FLAC or FLAC-to-AAC?

Yes, the new RG would OVERWRITE the RG info that was already there. It won't have it twice. and works with all lossless.

7. On the Batch Converter's Output To menu:

a. Does the source drive, source path, and source file name mean that the converted copies of songs will be sent to the same locations as their source songs? If yes, will this delete the source songs or will the source locations have two copies of the songs with one copy being the original and the other copy being the converted song?

Yes. But it won't delete old file, you'll have both, unless the new file overwrites the old file. Better to put the new files from conversion in a different top directory, but still retain directory structure/naming.

b. Does the Output To menu allow me to send the converted songs to an alternative folder of my choosing?

Yes, and this is best.


This all begs the question. If you have lossless files containing RG tag info, why do you want to delete it and add it back?

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks for the info.

With regard to your question. This is intended for future reference incase I decide I wish to use a different ReplayGain value in the future or if I have to create a new ReplayGain value file because my current file gets either lost or corrupted. I prefer to use a single ReplayGain value setting across all of my FLAC songs.

Now on the subject of the Batch Converter, my music folder structure layout is as followed: M:/My_Music_Collection/FLAC_Music. M: is my hard drive dedicated to my music collection, My_Music_Collection is where the folders to my FLAC songs and other song folders that I have copied and purchased over the years are stored, and FLAC_Music is where all of my ripped audio CDs are stored.

I have selected the FLAC_Music folder with the folder & sub-folders icon highlighted in the box. The display window to the right does not list anything when the FLAC_Music folder is selected. It is only after I go through an artist subfolder and then that artist's album subfolder that songs display in the window. It only displays the songs for that one album. It does not display the songs from all of the artist's other albums or all of the other artists' songs in the FLAC_Music folder despite the fact that I have the folder and sub-folders icon selected. My questions are as followed:

1. If I can use Batch Converter to remove ReplayGain from the songs, is there a way to list all of the songs in the FLAC_Music folder at once in the Batch Converter's window instead of having to go individually album by album?

2. Or if I have the the folder & subfolder option selected for the FLAC_Music folder, if I select an album from one of the artists within the FLAC_Music folder, will the ReplayGain changes that I make to the songs in that one album through Edit ID Tags be applied to all of the other songs and albums within the FLAC_Music folder?

3. I found the ReplayGain setting in the Convert menu that you mentioned in the Batch Converter. Am I correct in understanding that with the folder & sub-folder option selected for the FLAC_Music folder, whatever settings that I apply in the Convert menu, be it ReplayGain or a lossy or lossless audio conversion such as AAC or ALAC, those settings will be applied to the FLAC_Music folder and all of its subfolders?

Thanks again.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

With regard to your question. This is intended for future reference incase I decide I wish to use a different ReplayGain value in the future or if I have to create a new ReplayGain value file because my current file gets either lost or corrupted. I prefer to use a single ReplayGain value setting across all of my FLAC songs.

I think I understand your reasoning, but I hope you realize that this is not the way RG works if you're trying to get playback that more or less equalizes volume on playback. The way RG works is it creates RG track and album values relative to a constant external volume reference (e.g. 89db). To make songs/albums with different volumes sound similar, RG tag values make required adjustments to get everything back to that benchmark volume. These adjustments (RG tag values) will be quite different across tracks/albums depending on the loudness of the source material. If you simply give every track the same RG value, then you'll end up with vastly different playback volume (some tracks will be over adjusted and some under adjusted).

Now on the subject of the Batch Converter, my music folder structure layout is as followed: M:/My_Music_Collection/FLAC_Music. M: is my hard drive dedicated to my music collection, My_Music_Collection is where the folders to my FLAC songs and other song folders that I have copied and purchased over the years are stored, and FLAC_Music is where all of my ripped audio CDs are stored.

I have selected the FLAC_Music folder with the folder & sub-folders icon highlighted in the box. The display window to the right does not list anything when the FLAC_Music folder is selected. It is only after I go through an artist subfolder and then that artist's album subfolder that songs display in the window. It only displays the songs for that one album. It does not display the songs from all of the artist's other albums or all of the other artists' songs in the FLAC_Music folder despite the fact that I have the folder and sub-folders icon selected. My questions are as followed:

Something is odd here. If you select the "FLAC_Music" folder, in batch converter, every subdirectory under this should be selected. It seems that this is not happening. I assume you are giving it time to load up all these tracks. How many tracks do you have? I recall that with my approximately 115,000 tracks, it takes some time before batch convert locates these and returns a screen with all available to convert. Have you given it some time after selecting?
1. If I can use Batch Converter to remove ReplayGain from the songs, is there a way to list all of the songs in the FLAC_Music folder at once in the Batch Converter's window instead of having to go individually album by album?

Yes, see above. it should be easy. not sure why you're not seeing this unless you're not waiting long enough.

2. Or if I have the the folder & subfolder option selected for the FLAC_Music folder, if I select an album from one of the artists within the FLAC_Music folder, will the ReplayGain changes that I make to the songs in that one album through Edit ID Tags be applied to all of the other songs and albums within the FLAC_Music folder?

No. They should all show up as selected first. See the first response. Something not working right for you in this regard.

3. I found the ReplayGain setting in the Convert menu that you mentioned in the Batch Converter. Am I correct in understanding that with the folder & sub-folder option selected for the FLAC_Music folder, whatever settings that I apply in the Convert menu, be it ReplayGain or a lossy or lossless audio conversion such as AAC or ALAC, those settings will be applied to the FLAC_Music folder and all of its subfolders?
Yes, that's what should happen.

[schmidj]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Make sure you are opening the batch converter, not the music converter. There should be a list of all your mapped drives/directories by drive letter (and a few other locations.) Before each one should be a + sign in a little box. If you click on the +, it should turn into a - sign and an indented list of all the folders and music files in that directory should appear, again with boxes with plus signs. You can keep opening folders until you see the files, but if you are sure of the directory contents, you don't have to.

Next to the box with the plus or minus is an empty box, at each level. If you click on that box, it will get a red border and some little reddish arrows inside. The first time you click, you select the folder and all the sub folders, clicking the box again selects the folder but not the sub folders Clicking a third time undoes it, the box border becomes black again and nothing is selected.

See the circle with a blue question mark at the top far right of the screen, that takes you to a help screen that explains this and much more, you need to read that.

I'd also suggest making copies of a few of your folders elsewhere on your drive and experimenting on them to make sure you are doing what you want.

I also agree with Gary, there is no reason to do anything just because you are getting a new computer. the replay gain tags are not a file or files. They are bits of data stored as a part of each music file that had the replay gain DSP run on it, either when you ripped the file or subsequently. Each of the tags contains a number the replay gain DSP has calculated. The number may be a positive number, a zero or a negative number, depending on whether the audio is louder, equal or software than your chosen loudness target. Your computer does nothing with the tags or the numbers in them. Your player (not your computer), if it is replay gain aware and that feature is turned on, reads the number in the tag and turns the gain of the playback system up or down to compensate for differences in how loud the original audio was recorded at, just like you might do by adjusting the volume control when you play music. The actual music data in the file is not changed when the tag is written or when the file is played.

The only reasons you might want to change the replay gain tags are either because they were written inconsistently (or not at all) on some files, or that a new player (not computer) needed a different reference setting to get the tracks to play at a volume setting you were happy with. Then you could just run the batch converter DSP for replay gain with the new settings you have chosen. You don't have to erase the old settings/tags, the old tags will be overwritten with the new values. None of this does anything to the actual audio/music on the file. It just changes the number stored in each of the tags with the music file.

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thank you both for the info. I first want to clear up that when I said using a single ReplayGain setting for all of my songs, I meant that I wanted to use a single ReplayGain file that I created and saved on my computer through dBpoweramp's DSP creation feature in CD Ripper and apply that saved file to all of my songs. I had already suspected it, but I would appreciate confirmation that I understand this correctly. Essentially from what you guys have described about the ReplayGain tag is that it does not alter the audio file itself in any way (which you guys confirmed earlier), instead in a way it analyzes the individual song and/or album and decides what volume adjustment setting should be applied for at least a similar loudness level across all songs for a ReplayGain-capable player to read in either a playlist or album, and during playback the volume is adjusted to a level applied by the ReplayGain tag to reduce the number of times that I have to adjust the volume on my player to listen to my music or audio at a comfortable level. Unless the ReplayGain tag has seriously messed up the volume adjustments, there is no need to alter or remove the ReplayGain tag. Is my understanding correct?

Also, to display all of my songs from my FLAC_Music folder, it took Windows Explorer in Windows 10 under 10 minutes to list all of my FLAC songs. In Batch Converter, I selected my FLAC_Music folder with the folder and subfolder option highlighted and waited an hour to an hour and a half for it to list my songs. Nothing appeared. I have roughly 7200 FLAC songs in the mentioned folder. If it helps, I use an Intel i5-7600K CPU with 16GB of RAM. Do those specs impact song-list load time?

I will review the help section on the Batch converter like you guys recommended. Thanks again.

[schmidj]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

I had already suspected it, but I would appreciate confirmation that I understand this correctly. Essentially from what you guys have described about the ReplayGain tag is that it does not alter the audio file itself in any way (which you guys confirmed earlier), instead in a way it analyzes the individual song and/or album and decides what volume adjustment setting should be applied for at least a similar loudness level across all songs for a ReplayGain-capable player to read in either a playlist or album, and during playback the volume is adjusted to a level applied by the ReplayGain tag to reduce the number of times that I have to adjust the volume on my player to listen to my music or audio at a comfortable level. Unless the ReplayGain tag has seriously messed up the volume adjustments, there is no need to alter or remove the ReplayGain tag. Is my understanding correct?

Yes basically. However if the replay gain settings are messed up, no reason to clear the tags, just run the replay gain DSP in batch converter (once you solve your access problem) again, it will overwrite the old Replay Gain tags with the new numbers. I will mention, one limitation to be aware of. An increase in gain to make a soft number louder will be limited by the software to avoid so much gain that the output would be clipped in the player (distorted). So a soft number with a bit of loud material may not be made as loud as other music. I think there is a checkbox in the replay gain DSP to override that, but you probably don't want to. The only solutions for that issue are either to find a player with a built in limiter/compressor (in which case you can safely override the clipping limitation, as the player will avoid clipping) or to actually process the audio files through a limiter/compressor (which will change the actual stored audio, so best done to a copy of the files, not the original). Note, when you run the DSP, you want the replay gain, not the replay gain APPLY (or whatever they called it) DSP which actually does change the files.

Now your other issue: My music, about 90,000 tracks in about 9000 folders, is on a not horribly fast NAS drive. On this laptop, connected by gigabit Ethernet, but I think Wifi would be about as fast for this test. The music is down a few levels of folders on the mapped drive segment here on this laptop. I open Batch Converter. Instantly, I see all the mapped drives, and a few other locations, the same locations that windows explorer can see, in a list with the small plus signs and empty check boxes for each item. I click on the plus sign ahead of the mapped location that contains my music. Instantly I see all the top level directories on that segment of the NAS, indented, with their own set of plus signs. I click on the plus sign in front of the one labeled "Main Music Library", the directory name I assigned on the NAS to store my music in, and where the ripper stores the music. It took a little over one minute of waiting before the 9000 or so folders displayed, the same length of time it takes Windows Explorer to display them. And then if I click on the plus ahead of one of the folders listed there, essentially instantly it displays, indented one more level, the files for the tracks in that folder. So if you are doing this right, within a minute or two, you should see everything.

One thing to check before you open the batch converter, open Windows Explorer and make sure the mapped "drive" letter for the location of your files is green, not red. If it is red, it is not mounted and Batch Converter can't see it. Click on the red drive letter and it should turn green, and Explorer should display all the top level folders. Then you can open the Batch Converter and the drive should appear in the list.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

[...]Unless the ReplayGain tag has seriously messed up the volume adjustments, there is no need to alter or remove the ReplayGain tag. Is my understanding correct?

Yes, your understanding is correct. And as @schmidj notes and we've said earlier, to change your RG tags, just redo those as previously described, no need to re-convert to FLAC, etc.

Regarding your access to the files in batch converter mode, something is wrong, but not sure what. Remind me again, where are these files stored On a internal drive to your PC (windows?) or a USB drive connected to your PC, or on a NAS on your network. In my own case, I just tested, and with about 116,000 files on a USB 3.0 drive connected directly to my PC, when I go to windows explorer, select the top level music directory, right click and select "batch converter" it almost immediately opens Batch Converter and shows me the parent directory and ALL the subdirectories (thousands of artists and album directories). And all of these are "selected" for conversion. I can click the + next to any of these and they immediately expand to show me contents. But it still takes about 5 or 6 minutes for the Batch Converter program to "index" all these files (I see a popup screen that tells me how many files it has indexing). After about 6 minutes, it is done indexing, and then the popup screen shows my options for these files (the screen where I would choose the conversion, FLAC, ReplayGain, TESTCONVERSION, etc.) So bottom line, with 116,000 files, we're talking 5 to 7 minutes My windows machine is a fairly new intel i7, with 16GB of ram.

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks for the input guys. My music is stored on an internal hard drive. My music hard drive does appear in my "This PC" section of Windows Explorer. The drive and folders appear in Windows Explorer, but their color
appears only in black. There is no option to select Batch Converter in Windows Explorer. If you have any suggestions on how to fix that issue, I would appreciate it.

I want to achieve the highest sound quality AAC audio files possible. I did read over the Batch Converter conversion instructions and these are the questions that I have:

1. Preserving Folder Layout

Instructions say setting converter settings to [origpath]\[origfilename] preserves source folders and source file names. I wish to preserve the layout of my song folders and files and send the converted copies to my AAC_Music folder. How would I set this? Could you provide an output path example with my folder name? Will my FLAC files remain where they are?

2. Converting A lossless library to MP3:

Instructions say Output to choose 'Edit Dynamic Naming and set to : [origpath]\[origfilename] and set Base Location to a unique location to store MP3s. Is this the same as Preserving My Folder Layout?

3. Converting to AAC process questions:

A. Bitrate

- For best sound quality, would I use Quality (VBR) or Bitrate (CBR)?

- Is 512 kbps the highest sound quality I can get for AAC Compression?

B. Advanced Settings Section

- Profile: What are LC AAC, HE AAC (128 kbps and below), and HE v2 AAC(56 kbps and below)? Which should I choose?

- Gapless Signaling: What are iTunSMPB, ISO (edts + sgpd), and iTuneSMPB & ISO? Which should I choose?

C. Output to: How do I set the destination to my AAC_Music folder and keep the folder and file names and layout the same like my FLAC source files?

D. DSP Effects: Just to double check, if my FLAC source files already have ReplayGain or any other DSP Effects, will they automatically transfer over to the converted AAC copies without applying DSP Effects in the conversion settings? And DSP Effects are compatible with both lossy and lossless audio files and any DSP Effects applied in the conversion settings like ReplayGain will overwrite those same DSP settings from the source files during the conversion process?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks