Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

[audiobug]

I have a Real Audio (.ra) file that I want to convert to mp3.

I am able to convert the .ra file perfectly on my desktop but when I try to convert the exact same file (or even any Real Audio file) on my laptop with the exact same dMC configuration the resulting .mp3 file is incredibly loud and does not match the amplitude as the original .ra file (however, the actual quality of the audio is identical to source). The conversion process is error-free on both computers and completes to 100%.

Below are screenshots of the two converted .mp3 files in Cool Edit Pro to highlight the difference in peak levels.

The .mp3 file converted correctly on my desktop:


The .mp3 file converted on my laptop showing that it seems to be twice as loud, if not more, than the above file:


I've followed all the instructions on here to calibrate dMC so that it is capable of doing Real Audio conversions. I have upgraded to dMC 13.3, installed Real Audio Helix and installed DirectShow Decoder. This is my dBpoweramp configuration:

Codecs Installed  
Encoders (write)  

[Audio Info]  
Apple Lossless  Release 5
.m4a  
FLAC  Release 14 (FLAC 1.2.1)
.flac  
m4a Nero (AAC)  Release 5 (Nero AAC May 26 2006)
.m4a  
Monkeys Audio  Release 9 (Monkeys Audio v3.99)
.ape  
mp3 (Helix)  
.mp3  
mp3 (Lame)  Lame 3.98.2
.mp3  
Musepack  Release 7 (SV7 mppenc 1.16)
.mpc  
Real Audio (Helix)  Release 6 - using Helix SDK v11 19/1/2009
.ra  
Shorten  Release 1 (Shorten Encoder v3.6.0)
.shn  
Test Conversion  
Wave  Release 13.3
.wav  
Windows Media Audio 10  Release 2 (WMA Pro 10)
.wma  


Decoders (read)  

Advanced Audio Compression Decoder  
.aac  
CD Decoder  Release 13.3
.cda  
DirectShow Decoder  
.mov, .ra, .ram, .rm  
FLAC Decoder  
.flac  
m4a / mp4 Decoder  
.m4a, .mp4  
Monkeys Audio Decoder  
.ape  
mp3 Decoder  Release 13.3
.m2a, .mp1, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpga, .mpx  
Musepack Decoder  
.mp+, .mpc, .mpp  
Shorten Compressed Audio File (*.SHN)  
.SHN  
Wave Decoder  Release 13.3
.wav  
Windows Media Audio Decoder  
.asf, .wma, .wmv  

Install on Demand  

Ogg Vorbis  .ogg
WavPack (read only)  .wv
Midi (read only)  .mid

That said, I have not installed Real Alternative and instead kept the official Real player installed on both computers (which I understand is contrary to instructions). This, however, has caused no problems; as you can see from above, my desktop correctly converts any .ra file into .mp3 so I do not think this is the issue.

I am also able to play the .ra file in Windows Media Player correctly on both computers. When I try to transcode .mp3s to different bitrates on my laptop using dMC and load the new files in Cool Edit Pro they look fine with proper peak levels. So it seems that my laptop only has problems directly converting .ra files to .mp3.

If you can tell me what is causing .ra to .mp3 conversions on my laptop to always be too loud and how to fix it then that would be great as I've tried everything possible. I just want conversions on my laptop to be exactly like the results I achieve when using my desktop.

[audiobug]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Hope this helps. Here is the music converter debug log file from my desktop that creates correct .ra to .mp3 conversions:

Splitting Command Line:Done
->->  [dBCoreConverter::ReaddBCommandFile]
<-<-  [dBCoreConverter::ReaddBCommandFile]
->->  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
    Checking Decoder 'C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\DirectShow.dll' for extension '.ra'
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
  <<< Match, using decoder
  Using Registry Cached Decoder: C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\DirectShow.dll
<-<-  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
BatchID  [clDecoder::Set]
->->  [cldBCodecHandler::LoadEncoder]
  Loading Encoder 'C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\encoder\mp3 (Lame).DLL'
<-<-  [cldBCodecHandler::LoadEncoder]
BatchID  [clEncoder::Set]
->->  [dBCoreConverter::StripCoreConverterCmds]
<-<-  [dBCoreConverter::StripCoreConverterCmds]
SendRawUnCompressed  [clEncoder::Get]
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
NeedHQAudio  [clEncoder::Get]
Decode As  [clDecoder::Set]
->->  [clDecoder::Open]
  Creating DirectShow For File:C:\Podcasts\12-2009.ra->->  [clDirectShow::Open]
    ->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
    <-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
    ->->  [clDirectShow::InitDirectShow]
    <-<-  [clDirectShow::InitDirectShow]
    Rendering File: Rendered  [clDirectShow::Open]
    Replacing Renderer with NULL: Done  [clDirectShow::Open]
    Inserting SampleGrabber: Done  [clDirectShow::Open]
  <-<-  [clDirectShow::Open]
  Created
  ->->  [clDecoder::FillAudioProps]
	Sample Count: 635,039,779
  <-<-  [clDecoder::FillAudioProps]
  ->->  [clDecoder::FillAudioInfo]
    Uncompressed WFX (sent to db): Format Tag: 1  Channels: 2  Bits per Sample: 16  Samples Per Second: 44100  Bytes Per Second: 176400  Block Align: 4  CB Size: 0
    Audio Length: 14399994 mili-seconds  117319168 bytes  0 kbps
  <-<-  [clDecoder::FillAudioInfo]
<-<-  [clDecoder::Open]
SendOverReplayGainTags  [clEncoder::Get]
->->  [clEncoder::BeginConversion]
  Converting to 'C:\Podcasts\12-2009.mp3.tmp.mp3' encoder settings ' -b="96" -freq="44100" -channels="stereo" -crc="1"'
  Lame encoder settings: -b 96 -p --noreplaygain -r --little-endian --resample 44.1 --bitwidth 16 - "C:\Podcasts\5LD116~1.MP3"
<-<-  [clEncoder::BeginConversion]
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
Encoding To: mp3 (Lame)
Encoder Cmd Line:  -b="96" -freq="44100" -channels="stereo" -crc="1"
============= CONVERSION BEGIN =============
============= CONVERSION END =============
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
->->  [dBCoreConverter::CloseDecoder]
->->  [clDecoder::Close]
  ->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
  <-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
<-<-  [clDecoder::Close]
->->  [clEncoder::EndConversion]
<-<-  [clEncoder::EndConversion]
  ->->  [dBCoreConverter::IDTagWriter]
    ->->  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
        Checking Decoder 'C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\mp3.dll' for extension '.mp3'
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
      <<< Match, using decoder
      Using Registry Cached Decoder: C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\mp3.dll
    <-<-  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
IDTags  [clDecoder::Set]
->->  [clDecoder::WriteIDTags]
  <-<-  [dBCoreConverter::IDTagWriter]
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
  Conversion completed in 1 hour 13 minutes x3.3 realtime encoding
->->  [clDecoder::Close]
  ->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
  <-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
<-<-  [clDecoder::Close]
->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
<-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]

Here is the music converter debug log file from my laptop that creates .ra to .mp3 conversions which are too loud:

Splitting Command Line:Done
->->  [dBCoreConverter::ReaddBCommandFile]
<-<-  [dBCoreConverter::ReaddBCommandFile]
->->  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
    Checking Decoder 'C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\DirectShow.dll' for extension '.ra'
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
  <<< Match, using decoder
  Using Registry Cached Decoder: C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\DirectShow.dll
<-<-  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
BatchID  [clDecoder::Set]
->->  [cldBCodecHandler::LoadEncoder]
  Loading Encoder 'C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\encoder\mp3 (Lame).DLL'
<-<-  [cldBCodecHandler::LoadEncoder]
BatchID  [clEncoder::Set]
->->  [dBCoreConverter::StripCoreConverterCmds]
<-<-  [dBCoreConverter::StripCoreConverterCmds]
SendRawUnCompressed  [clEncoder::Get]
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
NeedHQAudio  [clEncoder::Get]
Decode As  [clDecoder::Set]
->->  [clDecoder::Open]
  Creating DirectShow For File:C:\Podcasts\05-12-2009.ra->->  [clDirectShow::Open]
    ->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
    <-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
    ->->  [clDirectShow::InitDirectShow]
    <-<-  [clDirectShow::InitDirectShow]
    Rendering File: Rendered  [clDirectShow::Open]
    Replacing Renderer with NULL: Done  [clDirectShow::Open]
    Inserting SampleGrabber: Done  [clDirectShow::Open]
  <-<-  [clDirectShow::Open]
  Created
  ->->  [clDecoder::FillAudioProps]
	Sample Count: 635,039,779
  <-<-  [clDecoder::FillAudioProps]
  ->->  [clDecoder::FillAudioInfo]
    Uncompressed WFX (sent to db): Format Tag: 1  Channels: 2  Bits per Sample: 16  Samples Per Second: 44100  Bytes Per Second: 176400  Block Align: 4  CB Size: 0
    Audio Length: 14399994 mili-seconds  117319168 bytes  0 kbps
  <-<-  [clDecoder::FillAudioInfo]
<-<-  [clDecoder::Open]
Setting Priority: high  [dBCoreConverter::SetConversionPriority]
Priority  [clEncoder::Set]
SendOverReplayGainTags  [clEncoder::Get]
->->  [clEncoder::BeginConversion]
  Converting to 'C:\Podcasts\05-12-2009.mp3' encoder settings ' -b="96" -freq="44100" -channels="stereo" -crc="1"'
  Lame encoder settings: -b 96 -p --noreplaygain -r --little-endian --resample 44.1 --bitwidth 16 - "C:\Podcasts\5LF988~1.MP3"
<-<-  [clEncoder::BeginConversion]
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
Encoding To: mp3 (Lame)
Encoder Cmd Line:  -b="96" -freq="44100" -channels="stereo" -crc="1"
============= CONVERSION BEGIN =============
============= CONVERSION END =============
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
->->  [dBCoreConverter::CloseDecoder]
->->  [clDecoder::Close]
  ->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
  <-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
<-<-  [clDecoder::Close]
->->  [clEncoder::EndConversion]
<-<-  [clEncoder::EndConversion]
  ->->  [dBCoreConverter::IDTagWriter]
    ->->  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
        Checking Decoder 'C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\mp3.dll' for extension '.mp3'
Decodes  [clDecoder::Get]
      <<< Match, using decoder
      Using Registry Cached Decoder: C:\Program Files\Illustrate\dBpoweramp\decoder\mp3.dll
    <-<-  [cldBCodecHandler::FindDecoder]
IDTags  [clDecoder::Set]
->->  [clDecoder::WriteIDTags]
  <-<-  [dBCoreConverter::IDTagWriter]
Communicate  [clDecoder::Get]
Communicate  [clEncoder::Get]
  Conversion completed in 16 minutes 6 seconds x14 realtime encoding
->->  [clDecoder::Close]
  ->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
  <-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
<-<-  [clDecoder::Close]
->->  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]
<-<-  [clDirectShow::FreeDirectShow]

[Spoon]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Perhaps the RA filter is set to multiply the volume? are there settings for the real alternative?

[audiobug]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Thanks for your fast reply Spoon. Do you know how I can access the RA filter settings? All I can see is the settings for Real Audio in ffdshow audio decoder configuration state: the decoder for Real Audio is set to "libavcodec". You could be right about the RA filter being set to multiply the volume, I just need to know how to access the setting.

Regarding the real alternative settings, as stated in my posts above I have not installed real alternative as converting from .ra to .mp3 works fine without it installed.

Also, I should state that I have no DSP special settings added when I carry out .ra conversions.

[Spoon]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

I only know that Real Alternative can have option associated with it (there is a program which runs from the start menu).

[audiobug]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Hmm but I'm sure this problem has nothing to do with Real Alternative. I can convert .ra files to .mp3 without any problems on my desktop and that has the official Real player installed (Real Alternative is NOT installed), dMC 13.3, all relevant codecs, .ra file plays in WMP etc.

I can't see a difference in setup between my desktop and laptop; yet all .mp3 files that have been converted from .ra end up way too loud. There must be an option somewhere that I can access to find out what's causing this?

Don't the logs show anything? The only difference between the two is in the loud log where two extra lines state:

"Setting Priority: high [dBCoreConverter::SetConversionPriority]
Priority [clEncoder::Set]"

but I'm not sure whether that tells us anything.

[Spoon]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Just cpu priority, the lgos are identical otherwise.

[audiobug]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Just cpu priority, the lgos are identical otherwise.

Yes they are in effect identical which is why I can't understand what could possibly be altering the actual audio levels during the conversion process on my laptop? This is very strange...

[audiobug]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Does anyone else know what's going on? Surely there is a setting somewhere that controls this, I just can't figure it out :(

[audiobug]

Re: Convert Real Audio (.ra) to mp3 creates file that is much louder

Still hopelessly stuck and can't figure out what is causing this anomaly. I've tried everything :(.