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ALAC gain normalization

Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 8:11 pm
by alaxala
Hi all,

I'd like to change ALAC gain like MP3GAIN for MP3 with XRECODE3.
My goal is simple: to solve the sound cracks in the many ALAC files I have now.
To do that XRECODE3 would be need re-encode ALAC to ALAC, I think.

Am I understanding this correctly?
If so, what are the recommended settings for the most transparent ALAC conversion?

Thanks,
alaxala

Re: ALAC gain normalization

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 6:49 am
by admin
Normalization is about the sound level, i.e. making it louder or quieter, but it will not remove the cracks from the audio. Where do those sound cracks come from?

Re: ALAC gain normalization

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 8:31 am
by alaxala
If the gain is too loud, the peaks will be squashed and the sound will be distorted.
When I converted my distorted ALAC file to normalize ALAC, it's resolved.
However, I want to avoid unnecessary ALAC conversion and change only the GAIN possible.

Re: ALAC gain normalization

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 12:43 pm
by admin
It depends on the player, i.e. whether it is able to use the normalization information saved in the Metadata.
If it does, then you can do this https://imgur.com/x7nGq0f
If it doesn't, then the transcoding is the only option.

Re: ALAC gain normalization

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 3:13 pm
by alaxala
Thanks.
iTunes cannot understand that saved Metadata, I confirmed.
I'm considering to buy XRECODE seriously for encode with normarizing from CD.

I have 3 questions:
1. Will XRECODE3 start ALAC encoding then rollback ALAC to WAV when encode ALAC to ALAC?
2. Where is if it encode CD to ALAC, normarized metadata? Is it in ALAC only? Or both of WAV and ALAC?
3. Is there XRECODE3 manual? I think some lack information still wiki and forum. Such as ALAC output configuration.

Re: ALAC gain normalization

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 5:05 pm
by admin
ALAC to ALAC encoding (as all other ones) is performed one the fly, i.e. no intermediate WAVs are created.
There's nothing much to configure for the ALAC, so you can just use the default settings - https://imgur.com/bEPxOno
Normalization will be applied to the resulting ALAC files.
There's no manual per se, but you can read the wiki https://xrecode.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Also, if you want to normalize the Audio, please make sure that "Apply to Audio" is enabled - https://imgur.com/QAUUtOy