Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

[lemonato]

Hi, here's what i need to do and i'm not sure if it's possible in one step.

I want to rip a cd, encode in wma lossless and apply replaygain to the actual output file itself (not the tags). Oh and also use albumgain.

Is this possible with dbpoweramp cd ripper and what do i need to download (and buy) to do it.

Thanks for your help!!

[LtData]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

Yes, but you need to install the DSP effects (http://dbpoweramp.com/dbpoweramp-dsp.htm) and run the "Volume Normalize" effect. Choose "ReplayGain", but note that it is track gain, not album gain.

[TechVsLife]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

1. Do you know if there are players that will read the ReplayGain tag added to a WMA lossless file and use it? (I ask b/c REplayGain tag is not yet supported by wmp, and I think is not part of the wma format.) **(I just noticed that winamp claims to use ReplayGain in WMA, but don't know about others.)
2. If I convert to mp3 from a file with ReplayGain, what is the best way of having a mp3 player use the ReplayGain info? I assume e.g. car mp3 players don't know what to do with the replaygain, so I should use mp3gain? Does dbpoweramp have an "apply mp3gain" option? Should i avoid using both? (Wouldn't there be a problem if a player used both replay gain and mp3gain adjustment, i.e. doubling the effect)

Thanks.

Yes, but you need to install the DSP effects (http://dbpoweramp.com/dbpoweramp-dsp.htm) and run the "Volume Normalize" effect. Choose "ReplayGain", but note that it is track gain, not album gain.

[LtData]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

MP3Gain applies the gain directly to the file, so you would not need to do any other enhancements to the file.

As for how players would interpret ReplayGain, I don't know if any hardware players support ReplayGain. You would want to apply the ReplayGain to the file with the Volume Normalize DSP effect, or in another manner, so that the file is adjusted.

In short, MP3Gain and the "Volume Normalize" DSP effect adjust the gain of the file itself. ReplayGain just writes tags that supporting players read and adjust the file only while its playing and do not alter the file itself.

[TechVsLife]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

Thanks.
(1) As I understand it, of the processes that directly alter the audio data (rather than the tags), only mp3gain is reversible. Is mp3gain an option in dbamppro? I didn't see it, but it seems preferable than doing something that makes irreversible changes.

(2) I assume there might still be a problem using ReplayGain and mp3gain or other normalization, in that a player might do both (read the replaygain and apply it to the already-normalized file, thus doubling the effect). So it's better to not use replaygain if I already have used mp3gain to adjust the file?

(3) Are you saying that if I select the "ReplayGain" dsp effect directly, only the tags are changed, and if I select it through the "volume normalize" DSP submenu, then the ReplayGain is applied to the audio data itself and no ReplayGain tag is added? (Or if a tag is also added, then would a player possibly again double the effect, as in #2).

MP3Gain applies the gain directly to the file, so you would not need to do any other enhancements to the file.

As for how players would interpret ReplayGain, I don't know if any hardware players support ReplayGain. You would want to apply the ReplayGain to the file with the Volume Normalize DSP effect, or in another manner, so that the file is adjusted.

In short, MP3Gain and the "Volume Normalize" DSP effect adjust the gain of the file itself. ReplayGain just writes tags that supporting players read and adjust the file only while its playing and do not alter the file itself.

[LtData]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

1. No, MP3Gain is not an option in dMC, but dMC does about the same thing MP3Gain does, albeit dMC re-encodes the file and MP3Gain does not. Either change is irreversible, as you are altering the data of the file.
2. Yes, applying MP3Gain and ReplayGain to a file will result in undesirable effects. You only need to do one or the other, not both.
3. Yes, the ReplayGain DSP effect or utility codec only alter the tags. If you pick Volume Normalize and then pick the "ReplayGain" option, the ReplayGain values are calculated and then are applied directly to the file data. No tags are written with the second option.

[TechVsLife]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

1. No, MP3Gain is not an option in dMC, but dMC does about the same thing MP3Gain does, albeit dMC re-encodes the file and MP3Gain does not. Either change is irreversible, as you are altering the data of the file.
2. Yes, applying MP3Gain and ReplayGain to a file will result in undesirable effects. You only need to do one or the other, not both.
3. Yes, the ReplayGain DSP effect or utility codec only alter the tags. If you pick Volume Normalize and then pick the "ReplayGain" option, the ReplayGain values are calculated and then are applied directly to the file data. No tags are written with the second option.

2 & 3. Thank you for your patience in clearing that up. I'm still not sure about #1 however, because others explicitly claim that mp3gain is reversible (i don't know if they're right, but that's what they say). If so, then mp3gain should be added to the wishlist, since reversible would be an advantage over the dMC way of applying normalization to mp3. See for example, from
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...hp/t35635.html:

Mp3Gain does not really change the audiodata itself. An mp3 consists of "frames"(like sectors on a CD). Every of those frames has a preamp-modifier-variable. This modifier is stored in *addition* to the audiodata in the frame, and it can exceed the max volume. Thus, the modifier can be higher than the max volume and therefore can be reversed - if the undo-data is stored somewhere(mp3gain stores them in tags)

[LtData]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

Upon more research of MP3Gain, it does look like it is reversible. As for adding support for it to dMC, make a post in the Wishlist forum and we'll see how it goes.

[TechVsLife]

Re: Can cd ripper rip to wma lossless and apply RG permanently

ok, will do.