Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

[garym]

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.Thanks

start dbpoweramp control center, at the bottom of that screen, click on Configuration > Advanced Settings. When this opens, tick all the windows explorer integrations option.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

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?

After you select the files and then choose convert, on the "convert" popup screen, on the "output to" row, click the down arrow, and then you have naming options. Select edit Dynamic Naming. Then for "base location" add your AAC folder (I assume: c:\AAC_Music). Then under dynamic naming use:
[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][]\[origfilename]

If this ends up putting too many higher level folders in front of "AAC_Music" then just experiment with adding more trimfirstfolders. For example,
[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][][]\[origfilename]

(notice that for every [TRIMFIRSTFOLDER] you add, you need to add another "[]" after [origpath])

Eventually, you'll have the same album/artist/name structure, but all under "AAC_Music" instead of "FLAC_Music"

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?

Yes, see my instructions in No. 1 above.

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?

I'm not an AAC user, but I like VBR. But you could use CBR too (files will just be larger for no particular good reason). In either case, just put the slider on the best selection.

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?

Why are you using these. You're not making AAC files < 56 or 128kbps. You should use the default profile, LC AAC. .

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

I'd use the default, iTunSMBP.

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?

See my answer to No. 1 above.

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?

Won't matter much, but I'd go ahead and add the ReplayGain DSP in this conversion and let it overwrite the FLAC RG tag values. When you use the ReplayGain DSP in the conversion, the RG tags will simply be overrwritten in the resulting AAC or mp3 files.

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks guys for the help. I have a question about the trimfirstfolder command you mentioned. My FLAC music folder location is Music (M/ My_Music_Collection / FLAC_Music. Inside that folder are my artist subfolders. My AAC_Music folder location is Music (M / My_Music_Collection / AAC_Music. That folder is currently empty. As you can see, the FLAC_Music and AAC_Music folders are located under the My_Music_Collection folder. With the trimfirstfolder command, would the command first trim My_Music_Collection folder or FLAC_Music folder during conversion? Under FLAC_Music is where the artist subfolders appear, that is how I want the AAC_Music folder to appear. How many trimfirstfolder commands would I need to achieve that?

Also, I have taken notes based on all of the information you have provided for me about both ReplayGain and AAC conversion which I intend to use as my personal future references for use with dBpoweramp if I need to make changes in the future. If you are willing, I would appreciate it if you could tell me if my notes are accurate and if I am missing anything important in either the general notes or AAC conversion notes. Thanks again.

dBpoweramp Notes
12/2/20
1. ReplayGain
&*8226; ReplayGain is a data tag that ReplayGain-capable players can use and make the modified track and/or volume adjustments based on the data tag(s). If player either does not have ReplayGain capability or it is switched off, the audio file plays as normal.
&*8226; ReplayGain is just a set of tags (Album_Replay_Gain, Track_Replay_Gain, peaks, etc).
&*8226; ReplayGain does not alter the audio.
&*8226; ReplayGain can be added to various lossy and lossless audio files like MP3, AAC, FLAC, and ALAC.
&*8226; ReplayGain Tags can be removed from audio files.
&*8226; If ReplayGain tags are removed from the audio file, the ReplayGain-capable player cannot apply ReplayGain values during playback.
&*8226; Most ReplayGain-capable players have an option to disable their ReplayGain reading options. There is no need to delete the ReplayGain tags from the audio files. Just turn off the ReplayGain option in the player.
&*8226; To remove ReplayGain tags, select either a single audio file or multiple audio files and use the dBpoweramp ID Tag Editor.
&*8226; In Batch Converter, use the ReplayGain utility DSP located in the convert button menu to apply ReplayGain tags to audio files that don&*8217;t have ReplayGain tags or to overwrite existing ReplayGain tags on audio files after selecting desired audio files for conversion. Each album is treated separately during this process based on album name, etc. There is no need to create new copies of songs.
&*8226; To remove ReplayGain in the Edit ID Tag Option, delete 1. ReplayGain_Album_Gain 2. ReplayGain_Album_Peak, 3. ReplayGain_Track_Gain 4. ReplayGain_Track_Peak.
&*8226; If a DSP Effect such as ReplayGain is already in the source audio file, it will automatically transfer over to the new copy of the audio file even if a DSP effect such as ReplayGain is not added in the conversion process settings. This occurs when converting to identical formats (e.g. FLAC to FLAC) or different formats (e.g. FLAC to AAC). DSP Effects work with both lossy and lossless audio files. A DSP Effect such as ReplayGain that is already on a source file will be overwritten in the conversion process if the converter has that DSP Effect added to its conversion settings. This applies when converting to identical formats (e.g. FLAC to FLAC), different formats (e.g. FLAC to AAC), lossless to lossless conversions, and lossless to lossy conversions.
&*8226; Unless there is inconsistency in the ReplayGain tags&*8217; where they produce unsatisfactory adjustments to the loudness of the songs (again ReplayGain does not change the audio file itself, it just adds tags for volume adjustments for ReplayGain-capable players to read) there is no need to change the ReplayGain Tags
2. Batch Converter
&*8226; On the Batch Converter&*8217;s Output to: option, source drive, source path, and source file name means that the converted songs will be sent to the same location(s) as the source songs. This means there will be two copies of each song with one being the original song and the other being the converted song. That is unless the new song overwrites the old song. The output to: option allows converted songs to be sent to different folder(s). It is recommended that the copied songs are sent to different folders, but keep the same directory structure and naming arrangement.
&*8226; With the folder and subfolder option selected in Batch Converter, any selected folder and its subfolder&*8217;s songs will be converted to the intended conversion settings put in place in the convert command menu settings.
3. Other
&*8226; When converting from one lossless audio file format to another lossless audio format, no sound quality is lost. This rule applies to all lossless audio file conversions whether the files are identical (e.g. FLAC to FLAC or ALAC to ALAC) or different (e.g. FLAC to ALAC or vice versa).
&*8226; To allow dBpoweramp to Interact with Windows Explorer, start dBpoweramp Control Center. At the bottom of that screen, click on Advanced Settings next to Configuration. Under Windows Explorer Integration, checkmark all boxes.

dBpoweramp AAC File Conversion Settings
1. Select the files or folders for conversion.
2. Press the Convert button.
3. On the "Convert" popup screen, on the "Output to" row, click the down arrow. 4. Select Edit Dynamic Naming.
5. For "Base Location," select a destination folder where converted songs will be copied and stored (AAC_Music in M: drive).
6. Under Dynamic Naming use:
[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][]\[origfilename]

If setting ends up with too many higher level folders in front of "AAC_Music" then experiment with adding more trimfirstfolders. For example,
[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][][]\[origfilename]
(Note that for every [TRIMFIRSTFOLDER] added, add another "[]" after [origpath]).

Eventually, you'll have the same album/artist/name structure, but all under "AAC_Music" instead of "FLAC_Music."
7. For Bit rate choose CBR and choose either 320 or 512 kbps.

8. Advanced Settings Section

- Profile: Use the default profile, LC AAC. .

- Gapless Signaling: Use the default, iTunSMBP.

9. DSP Effects: DSP Effects can be added to the conversion process where the effects can be added in if songs don&*8217;t have DSP Effects. If the source file has an identical DSP Effect setting that the conversion setting has, the conversion process will overwrite that DSP effect when creating the converted file. If source file already has a DSP Effect such as ReplayGain, then that DSP Effect will be automatically transferred to the converted file even if no DSP setting is listed in the conversion settings.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thanks guys for the help. I have a question about the trimfirstfolder command you mentioned. My FLAC music folder location is Music (M/ My_Music_Collection / FLAC_Music. Inside that folder are my artist subfolders. My AAC_Music folder location is Music (M / My_Music_Collection / AAC_Music. That folder is currently empty. As you can see, the FLAC_Music and AAC_Music folders are located under the My_Music_Collection folder. With the trimfirstfolder command, would the command first trim My_Music_Collection folder or FLAC_Music folder during conversion? Under FLAC_Music is where the artist subfolders appear, that is how I want the AAC_Music folder to appear. How many trimfirstfolder commands would I need to achieve that?

I think you need TWO "trimfirstfolder" items. Experiment with converting one of your artist folders to see that everything shows up where you want. Then you can run all of it in one giant batch. [NOTE: no matter what you do, I assume you have backups of your FLAC files stored somewhere else as well. Backups are KEY. I have several, in 3 different locations!

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Also, I have taken notes based on all of the information you have provided for me about both ReplayGain and AAC conversion which I intend to use as my personal future references for use with dBpoweramp if I need to make changes in the future. If you are willing, I would appreciate it if you could tell me if my notes are accurate and if I am missing anything important in either the general notes or AAC conversion notes. Thanks again.

All good. But if I was converting to m4a/AAC as CBR, I would NOT use 512kbps. I'd use 320. I suspect there are many players that won't play anything greater than 320kbps (that is the standard maximum bitrate size for AAC).

I'm not sure if you've tried any of this yet, but I can tell you from experience, that there is nothing better in learning this stuff than trying things and seeing if the outcome is what you want. Learn by doing. You can always experiment with a subset of your library to get things adjusted. And always have backups of your music files!

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Thank you guys for all the help. I will put the information that you provided to good use. If I have any further questions related to these topics, I will post them again. Thanks again for all of your help.

[Bespin1138]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Ok guys. I have one additional question related to both ReplayGain and the audio file location. I plan to use Media Monkey as my primary player to both play my FLAC and lossy songs and transfer them to my Sony mp3 player and use either Windows Media Player or Sony Music Center as a secondary way to transfer my songs if Media Monkey has issues importing certain songs into my music library. I also intend to create playlists in Media Monkey and export those playlists to a playlist folder for backup purposes. I am aware that if I delete a song from my computer, change its filename, or move it to a different location through Windows, the music player will still have the song listed in its library, but if I try to play it, the player will list a playback error message such as "error" or "file cannot be found." Now, if in the future I decide to remove or adjust the ReplayGain settings on my FLAC songs or other songs that have ReplayGain settings, but keep their filenames, folder names, and locations the same, would the music player such as Media Monkey or Windows Media Player still be able to play those existing songs listed in the library or would I get a playback error message and have to re-import the songs? Would I still be able to use the existing playlists or would I have to create new playlists?

On a side note, I will be building a new gaming PC within the next couple of months with a hard drive dedicated to music storage. If I give the new hard drive the same drive letter as the old hard drive (e.g. M and copied my music folder and its subfolders and songs to the new hard drive with the same folder layout, would the playlists that I created on the old computer work on the new computer or would I have to create new playlists? Also, if the ReplayGain adjustments or removals would not impact playback in terms of the music player still being able to play the songs without re-importing them, out of curiosity, which other tags can be modified or removed without having to re-import the songs to play them on the music player. I don't intend to mess with the tags that don't need messing with, I am just curious.

Thanks.

[garym]

Re: Questions About Adding and Removing ReplayGain from Song Files

Ok guys. I have one additional question related to both ReplayGain and the audio file location. I plan to use Media Monkey as my primary player to both play my FLAC and lossy songs and transfer them to my Sony mp3 player and use either Windows Media Player or Sony Music Center as a secondary way to transfer my songs if Media Monkey has issues importing certain songs into my music library. I also intend to create playlists in Media Monkey and export those playlists to a playlist folder for backup purposes. I am aware that if I delete a song from my computer, change its filename, or move it to a different location through Windows, the music player will still have the song listed in its library, but if I try to play it, the player will list a playback error message such as "error" or "file cannot be found." Now, if in the future I decide to remove or adjust the ReplayGain settings on my FLAC songs or other songs that have ReplayGain settings, but keep their filenames, folder names, and locations the same, would the music player such as Media Monkey or Windows Media Player still be able to play those existing songs listed in the library or would I get a playback error message and have to re-import the songs? Would I still be able to use the existing playlists or would I have to create new playlists?

You won't have any issues, changing just the tags, including the ReplayGain tags, and leaving file name/location, etc. the same will not cause any problems. Your playlists/player will find them OK.

On a side note, I will be building a new gaming PC within the next couple of months with a hard drive dedicated to music storage. If I give the new hard drive the same drive letter as the old hard drive (e.g. M and copied my music folder and its subfolders and songs to the new hard drive with the same folder layout, would the playlists that I created on the old computer work on the new computer or would I have to create new playlists? Also, if the ReplayGain adjustments or removals would not impact playback in terms of the music player still being able to play the songs without re-importing them, out of curiosity, which other tags can be modified or removed without having to re-import the songs to play them on the music player. I don't intend to mess with the tags that don't need messing with, I am just curious.

Thanks.

with same letter drive, folder structure, and file name, your playlists should find the same files with no issues. Also note that playlists are just text files. When moving to different drives, I've had no issues simply opening the playlist txt file, doing find and replace (e.g., find "C:\Music" and replace with "D:\Music"). This makes the playlist work with new drive location.

I haven't used mediamonkey (and I wouldn't let WMP touch my files, but that's another story), so can't speak directly to them, but there is no logical reason that changing TAGS or RG tags should change anything. Although I'm not 100% certain what happens if you change the tag for TITLE, ARTIST or ALBUM. This all depends on how the player/server works. My advice is to change a couple of tags like title or artist, but not the file NAME and see if your playlist still works.

I can say that in servers/players that I use, editing the tags (changing RG values or changing YEAR or GENRE, etc. didn't have any issues for my playlists.