At risk of asking a heretical question...has anyone else experimented with dynamic compression for ripped (AAC, MP3, etc.) tracks? I've been trying recently to produce separate versions of my small collection of symphonic music for more casual listening in the kitchen. The problem with the originals is the large dynamic range for much of this music makes it difficult to use as background music. Quiet passages are lost when the volume is adjusted to keep the loudest passages from overwhelming conversation (or scaring the wee kiddies). I've grown accustomed to listening to public radio broadcasts of classical music, but lately have found the selections rather off-putting (ie. lots of John Williams and other hollywood soundtracks). The music is being played through a Tivoli PAL radio, so high fidelity in the source is large wasted.
I've tried importing tracks to Audacity and compressing at -12bd and -18db using a 2:1 or 2.5:1 ratio. I'm exporting the processed file as a VBR MP3 (200-250 kbps). Depending on the content of the track, the results have been promising, but I'm curious if anyone else has done this and might offer some tips.
Thanks,
Squib
I've tried importing tracks to Audacity and compressing at -12bd and -18db using a 2:1 or 2.5:1 ratio. I'm exporting the processed file as a VBR MP3 (200-250 kbps). Depending on the content of the track, the results have been promising, but I'm curious if anyone else has done this and might offer some tips.
Thanks,
Squib
I expect there's plug-ins for Winamp that emulate a compressor, but I presume you'd want something that works for a portable player. Maybe the "Rockbox" firmware includes that feature; Rockbox can be installed on a number of brands of MP3 player, including some Ipods.
Rockbox
(edit) No it doesn't, but someone might be working on it, or not.
dynamic range compression?
Rockbox
(edit) No it doesn't, but someone might be working on it, or not.
dynamic range compression?
Thanks for the suggestion, dangus.
It would be handy to have the ipod handle the compression. Creating multiple copies of even a small music library is daunting, and I'd just as soon skip it.
RE: Rockbox. I've been tempted in the past, mostly for Ogg support and because the Apple firmware continues to choke on their own hardware. I have to reset the Ipod at least once a month because it refuses to power down. One hiccup for 3rd party firmware is my DLO HomeDock. I don't think it will get along with RockBox, but I confess I've never looked into it. Looks like I have another date with google!
Thanks again,
Squib
It would be handy to have the ipod handle the compression. Creating multiple copies of even a small music library is daunting, and I'd just as soon skip it.
RE: Rockbox. I've been tempted in the past, mostly for Ogg support and because the Apple firmware continues to choke on their own hardware. I have to reset the Ipod at least once a month because it refuses to power down. One hiccup for 3rd party firmware is my DLO HomeDock. I don't think it will get along with RockBox, but I confess I've never looked into it. Looks like I have another date with google!
Thanks again,
Squib
Audio out, but no remote
Alas, for me that's a deal breaker. I don't see much advantage to using the HomeDock if the remote is non-functional.
As a side note: While googling for info on RockBox/DLO compatibility, I bumped into numerous posts from DLO owners complaining that the HomeDock is hosing their Ipods. Perhaps I was too quick to blame apple for my power down problems with my Nano.
I've downloaded a firmware update for the HomeDock and will see if that helps.
Thanks for the info!
Alas, for me that's a deal breaker. I don't see much advantage to using the HomeDock if the remote is non-functional.
As a side note: While googling for info on RockBox/DLO compatibility, I bumped into numerous posts from DLO owners complaining that the HomeDock is hosing their Ipods. Perhaps I was too quick to blame apple for my power down problems with my Nano.
I've downloaded a firmware update for the HomeDock and will see if that helps.
Thanks for the info!
Audacity will do compression, etc.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/features
Take your ripped .wav, run it through audacity with compression, and than convert to mp3. There may even be a way to set up a script to do it as a one-click operation.
I_F
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/features
Take your ripped .wav, run it through audacity with compression, and than convert to mp3. There may even be a way to set up a script to do it as a one-click operation.
I_F
That's what I've been doing so far (see 1st post). I was curious what settings other people have tried, assuming I'm not the only one attempting this...
Audacity does some pretty impressive processing. I've used it in the past to clean up digital rips of obscure music from 20-year old cassettes.
Thanks again for the input!
Audacity does some pretty impressive processing. I've used it in the past to clean up digital rips of obscure music from 20-year old cassettes.
Thanks again for the input!
Another thought: use a very small analog compressor between the Ipod and the headphones. The SSM2120 did pretty much everything in one chip, and was used by Rane and PAIA. Unfortunately it has been discontinued.
It might be worth looking at Rane's current product docs and seeing what chip they're using now.
It might be worth looking at Rane's current product docs and seeing what chip they're using now.
rane dc22
Dangus,
I just took a quick peek at the Rane catalog, and sure enough there is a decent looking compressor that would do the trick: (DC22)
However, $300 is more than the Ipod & PAL put together. Given my current needs, I'm going to press on with my Audacity experiments.
If anyone is curious, I'll post back when I have some useful observations on the Audacity compressor settings.
Squib
Dangus,
I just took a quick peek at the Rane catalog, and sure enough there is a decent looking compressor that would do the trick: (DC22)
However, $300 is more than the Ipod & PAL put together. Given my current needs, I'm going to press on with my Audacity experiments.
If anyone is curious, I'll post back when I have some useful observations on the Audacity compressor settings.
Squib
If you are thinking about scripting the whole procedure, you might want to check SoX, a command-line audio processor. Originally it is a unix SW but the author provides a pre-compiled .exe binary for windows. Specifically effect "compand".
http://linux.die.net/man/1/sox
http://sox.sourceforge.net/
http://linux.die.net/man/1/sox
http://sox.sourceforge.net/
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