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iTunes metadata and volume tagging

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  • Hotdog
    dBpoweramp Enthusiast
    • Nov 2015
    • 52

    iTunes metadata and volume tagging

    Before I began ripping my CD collection losslessly, it was all mp3. This is what my iTunes library consists of. A big problem, identified by others, is that recent editions of iTunes won't save volume adjustments for individual songs (under Get Info, with the slider). So a few years back I wasn't happy with the volume of my tracks, and I tried a few different things. I set the volume for the whole library to +100% (by selecting all the songs). I also downloaded mp3gain, and possibly something else which I forget. I think those settings got applied to the songs I had. It didn't seem to make much difference so I stuck to adjusting the volume slider to 100%. Then at some point in the past year I opted to leave the volume as it was, since all I probably needed was a decent pair of speakers, and it didn't really make a difference to playback on my iPod. Those maxed volume settings cannot now be changed. I complained to Apple, they tried lots of different things, but ultimately they didn't have a solution. I did realise it was something to do with tagging though, since converting the tags to v1.0 etc removed the volume setting and allowed me to change it again.

    Thanks to the DBPA ID-editor, I can see that these older files have tags from both MP3GAIN and REPLAYGAIN. Removing these allows me to reset the Volume Adjust back to 0. Many also have the Comment iTunNORM (and related) tags. I sometimes find that I need to remove this tag in order to reset the Volume Adjust. The question is, do I need it? Does it matter if I remove iTunNORM? I don't want to do anything that will make the program work abnormally...

    My aim is to replace the whole library with lossless versions ripped in DBPA's CD Ripper, using the recommended ReplayGain setting. Therefore they will have the correct iTunes Normalization already. To retain Playlist settings, Play Counts, etc, I've always replaced the file in the Library by putting the newer one in the same location. If I delete an old iTunes mp3, add the new lossless version ripped with DBPA into the same folder, and then play it, iTunes can't find the file, so it asks you to look for it, and I simply choose the new version put into the same folder. Anyhow, once the track is replaced, the volume slider is able to be reset once again. (Now I just hope iTunes will reintroduce the box to uncheck for Volume Adjust, so you can be sure it's completely 0!)
  • Spoon
    Administrator
    • Apr 2002
    • 44009

    #2
    Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

    iTunNORM is the apples version of replaygain.
    Spoon
    www.dbpoweramp.com

    Comment

    • Hotdog
      dBpoweramp Enthusiast
      • Nov 2015
      • 52

      #3
      Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

      Can l remove it without screwing up iTunes?

      The tracks will probably be replaced with lossless tracks that have ReplayGain applied anyway.

      Comment

      • Spoon
        Administrator
        • Apr 2002
        • 44009

        #4
        Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

        Removing it would not screw-up iTunes.
        Spoon
        www.dbpoweramp.com

        Comment

        • garym
          dBpoweramp Guru
          • Nov 2007
          • 5754

          #5
          Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

          Originally posted by Spoon
          Removing it would not screw-up iTunes.
          and if you ever wanted to re-add Soundcheck (iTunNorm tag) you can also do this without having to re-rip the files. So there is no problem with deleting these tags.

          Comment

          • Hotdog
            dBpoweramp Enthusiast
            • Nov 2015
            • 52

            #6
            Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

            Originally posted by garym
            and if you ever wanted to re-add Soundcheck (iTunNorm tag) you can also do this without having to re-rip the files. So there is no problem with deleting these tags.
            Ok, thanks.

            Comment

            • Hotdog
              dBpoweramp Enthusiast
              • Nov 2015
              • 52

              #7
              Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

              Originally posted by garym
              and if you ever wanted to re-add Soundcheck (iTunNorm tag) you can also do this without having to re-rip the files. So there is no problem with deleting these tags.
              How would I do that?

              Comment

              • mville
                dBpoweramp Guru
                • Dec 2008
                • 4015

                #8
                Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

                Originally posted by Hotdog
                How would I do that?
                Download and install the Replay Gain utility codec from here:
                dBpoweramp Codec Central: Utility Codecs

                You can run it using dBpoweramp Batch Converter

                Comment

                • garym
                  dBpoweramp Guru
                  • Nov 2007
                  • 5754

                  #9
                  Re: iTunes metadata and volume tagging

                  Originally posted by mville
                  Download and install the Replay Gain utility codec from here:
                  dBpoweramp Codec Central: Utility Codecs

                  You can run it using dBpoweramp Batch Converter
                  And with this in the settings for the RG codec, you can have it add itunes Soundcheck (itunnorm) tags. And if one adds files to itunes, has "soundcheck" turned on in itunes, and there is no itunnorm tag, itunes itself will add these tags.

                  p.s. having itunnorm tags *and* RG tags is not a problem. In my "mirror" mp3 library I use in my iThings, I have both RG tags and itunnorm tags (so that the iThings can use this for volume leveling since they don't recognize RG tags).

                  Comment

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