this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
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60
Why is audio track volume normalization always awful? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 2 days ago by onslaught545@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 22 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Because not enough people are using the free compressor TDR Kotelnikov

https://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-kotelnikov/

Thorough rundown of the art of compression through the lens of TDR kotelnikov plugin.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tx6SRCwWug

another review and demo of mastering and mixing

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xS5Y8OOCkaM

Also more people need to produce audio using the LUFS measurement of loudness.

Youlean has a very nice free LUFS Loudness Meter.

https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/

video rundown of tool

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ld11Be_ixzY

[–] Lasherz12@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Nice, I had no idea they've been working on normalizers like they're the cure for cancer. My experience has been the same as OPs, pretty crap.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 days ago

The can of worms goes deeper, signal analysis...

[–] Lasherz12@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It has to do with compression. The levels are more active to correct than an EQ and often result in clicks of louder volume. Also it's worth mentioning that virtually all media utilizes volume for effect, nullifying it tends to sound uninspired.

[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

That needs to be done with a combination of hardware and OS. The hardware needs to allow setting the maximum analog audio voltage delivered at the audio outputs. The OS needs to let users make that choice and then enforce it.

Of course, more highly-compressed audio will still sound louder. For that you'd need to be able to measure the average delivered voltage and compensate for it. Also easy to do in hardware. Audio has always been an after-thought in consumer electronics (since TV's came along anyway) and computers have continued that tradition.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 3 points 2 days ago

I've had no problem with various tools to compute ReplayGain levels. I currently use bs1770gain.

What about volume normalization is problematic for you?

[–] jeanofthedead@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

Sound Check for iOS normalizes music without any compression. ˙ᵕ˙

[–] DemBoSain@midwest.social 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You need a program to calculate Replaygain and update the tags. Then make sure your player settings use the Replaygain during playback. Replaygain just adds a tag and doesn't change the audio in any way.

I use Foobar (because I've used Foobar forever), but I'm sure there are programs dedicated to Replaygain calculations.

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

Thank you. My player has a blurb about the audio tracks having volume information in the metadata, but I couldn't find the right keywords to get the right results on how to add it.