Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase - User contributions [en]

Replay Gain

2005-03-12T16:20:29Z

SamSam: /* Linux */

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without losing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistent over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistent over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins (e.g. [http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Otachan's in_mpg123] - if your japanese is not that good, you can find details [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=18530 in this thread])

and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. Reads replaygain from FLAC, MPC, ogg ..
For mp3, use the CVS version of the [http://http://xmms-mad.sourceforge.net/ xmms-mad] mp3 plugin (it's not yet released as binaries, furthermore not available in distribs' versions for now. Meanwhile binaries are available there : [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom binaries])

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[JuK]]) might support that kind of replaygain tags in the near future.

==Portable devices==
Sadly, none that I know of. So re-encoding (or using mp3gain) to attenuate the audio-data is the only solution.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as replaygain, but doesnt provide an Album Gain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)
* audio engineer Bob Katz's many interesting pages (e.g. [http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=93/ this one]) is the best source to understand why replaygain is useful, and understand all that digital audio stuff. This actually was in part responsible for the design of replaygain by David Robinson in the first place, IIRC.

Topic Index

2005-02-20T16:41:01Z

SamSam: /* Digital Audio */ added replaygain here. (it's not a software in itself, but an algorithm. so ..)

Currently most of these links lead nowhere due to the fact that we are considering how to best convert the [http://doc.hydrogenaudio.org/wikis/hydrogenaudio/FrontPage old material] and how to reorganize things in a more efficient manner.

* Please see [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=12979&st=25&p=247441&#entry247441 this thread] for a discussion of the future structure of this wiki. If you have thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc., please join in this discussion. In the meantime, please feel free to fill in gaps in the information below.
* See also [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=28658 style related discussion]

==General Information==
===Guides===
* [[Create_LongTerm_Archive|Create a long-term archive]]

===FAQ's===
*[[FAQ General Audio Compression|General Audio Compression]]
*[[FAQ Lossy Formats|Lossy Formats]] (MP3, WMA, AAC etc.)
*[[FAQ EAC|EAC]]
*[[FAQ Secure Mode Ripping|Secure Mode Ripping]]
*[[FAQ Offsets|Offsets]]
*[[FAQ Protected Audio CD|Protected Audio CD]]s
*[[FAQ Various|Various]] (SACD, DVD-A, Vinyl, Cassette etc.)

===Glossary===

* [[Glossary_Of_Audio_Terms|Glossary of Audio Terms]]

==Specific Information==

===Audio Software===
----

''Note: We need to figure out a good way to denote the distinction between software available on different platforms.''
''Why not add supported platforms after the name of the tool?''

====Encoders/Decoders====

=====Lossless=====

* [[TTA]] (True Audio) (Win32/Posix)

* [[FLAC]] (Win32/Posix)

* [[LA_Encoder|LA]]

* [[Monkey's Audio]]

* [[OptimFROG]]

* [[WavPack]] (Dos/Win32/Posix)

=====Lossy=====

* [[FAAC]] ([[AAC]]) (Win32/Posix/MacOSX)

* [[LAME]] ([[MP3]]) (Win32/Posix)

* [[mppenc]] ([[Musepack|Musepack]])

* [[oggenc]] ([[Ogg_Vorbis]]) (Win32/Posix)

====Rippers====

* [[Exact_Audio_Copy|Exact Audio Copy]] (EAC)
* [[iTunes]] (Win32/OsX)
* [[cdparanoia]] (Posix)

====Players====

===== Windows =====

* [[foobar2000]]

* [[Winamp]]

* [[iTunes]]

* [[wxMusik]]

* [[Quintessential Player]]

* [[Windows Media Player]]

=====Linux/BSD=====

* [[Amarok]]

* [[BMP]]

* [[JuK]]

* [[Muine]]

* [[Music Player Daemon (MPD)]]

* [[Rhythmbox]]

* [[wxMusik]]

* [[XMMS]]

=====Mac OS X (Non-BSD Specific) =====

* [[iTunes]]

\[Whamb]]

=====Other=====

* [[CL-Amp]] (BeOS)

====Editors====

* [[Adobe_Audition|Adobe Audition]] (Previously known as CoolEdit)
* [[Audacity]]

====Testing Software====

=====Subjective Perceptual=====

* [[ABC/HR]]

* [[PCABX]]

=====Objective=====

''Note: Might be good to put something here about the problems of quality comparisons using graphs, frequency sweeps, etc.''

* [[EAQUAL]]

* [[Rightmark_Audio_Analyzer|Rightmark Audio Analyzer]]

===Audio Hardware===
----

====PC Audio====

====HiFi====

====Digital Audio Players====

'''Portable Flash'''

''(These players make use of a internal flash drive.)''

* [[Creative MuVo]]

* [[iRiver iFP Series]]

* [[Rio Carbon]]

* [[Neuros]]

* [[Apple iPod shuffle]]

'''Portable HD'''

''(These players make use of a internal harddrive.)''

* [[Apple iPod]]

* [[iRiver H-Series]]

* [[Rio Karma]]

* [[iAudio M3]]

* [[Neuros]]

* [[Archos Jukebox with Rockbox Software]]

'''Portable CD'''

'''Car Players'''

''(Car stereos that can read MP3, Vorbis, WMA, etc.).''

* [[Aiwa CDC-MP3]]

===Audio Theory===
----

====Analog Audio====

====Digital Audio====
[[replaygain]]

====Compression Technology====

'''Lossy'''
*[[MP3]]

*[[AAC]]

*[[Ogg Vorbis]]

*[[Musepack]]

*[[WMA]]

*[[ATRAC3]]

'''Lossless'''

*[[Apple Lossless]]

*[[TTA]]

*[[FLAC]]

*[[LA]]

*[[Monkey's Audio]]

*[[OptimFROG]]

*[[WavPack]]

*[[Shorten]]

====Testing Methodology====

===Audio Development===
----

====Getting Started====

====Tools====

====Resources====

===Audio Resources===
----

====Websites====

''Note: Let's include a small description to the side for now, so that we have something to work with when this section becomes large enough for it's own page''

* http://www.audiocoding.com (Page with a wiki on technical audio topics, homepage of FAAC and FAAD2, also has an AAC forum.)
* http://www.ff123.net (Lots of general information on various MP3 implementations, test samples, testing methodology information, homepage of ABC/HR)
* http://www.head-fi.org (general information/board about head phones and portable audio players)
* http://www.rarewares.org (Downloads for many audio and media tools)

====Articles====

====Listening Tests====

===Other Topics===
----

====Video====

* [[MPEG-4 Visual]]
* [[Theora]]
* [[Real Video]]
* [[Windows Media Video]]
* [[VP6]]

====[[Container Format]]s====
* [[Matroska]]
* [[Ogg]]
* [[AVI]]
* [[MPEG-4 Systems]]

====[[Metadata]]====
* [[ID3]]
* [[APE Tags]]
* [[Vorbis Comment]]

Replay Gain

2005-02-20T10:41:34Z

SamSam: /* Windows */

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins (e.g. [http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Otachan's in_mpg123] - if your japanese is not that good, you can find details [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=18530 in this thread])

and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin] can read RG info from APEv2 tags.

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[JuK]]) might support that kind of replaygain tags in the near future.

==Portable devices==
Sadly, none that I know of. So re-encoding (or using mp3gain) to attenuate the audio-data is the only solution.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as replaygain, but doesnt provide an Album Gain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)
* audio engineer Bob Katz's many interesting pages (e.g. [http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=93/ this one]) is the best source to understand why replaygain is useful, and understand all that digital audio stuff. This actually was in part responsible for the design of replaygain by David Robinson in the first place, IIRC.

Replay Gain

2005-02-19T20:08:01Z

SamSam: /* Linux */

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins (e.g. [http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Otachan's in_mpg123] - this one parses RG info in ''id3v2 tags'', not APEv2 ..)

and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin] can read RG info from APEv2 tags.

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[JuK]]) might support that kind of replaygain tags in the near future.

==Portable devices==
Sadly, none that I know of. So re-encoding (or using mp3gain) to attenuate the audio-data is the only solution.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as replaygain, but doesnt provide an Album Gain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)
* audio engineer Bob Katz's many interesting pages (e.g. [http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=93/ this one]) is the best source to understand why replaygain is useful, and understand all that digital audio stuff. This actually was in part responsible for the design of replaygain by David Robinson in the first place, IIRC.

Replay Gain

2005-02-19T20:06:04Z

SamSam: /* Windows */ winamp's otachan plugin parses id3v2 RG tags

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins (e.g. [http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Otachan's in_mpg123] - this one parses RG info in ''id3v2 tags'', not APEv2 ..)

and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin]

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[JuK]]) might support replaygain metadata in mp3 files in recent future.

==Portable devices==
Sadly, none that I know of. So re-encoding (or using mp3gain) to attenuate the audio-data is the only solution.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as replaygain, but doesnt provide an Album Gain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)
* audio engineer Bob Katz's many interesting pages (e.g. [http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=93/ this one]) is the best source to understand why replaygain is useful, and understand all that digital audio stuff. This actually was in part responsible for the design of replaygain by David Robinson in the first place, IIRC.

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T14:46:37Z

SamSam: /* Portable devices */ a bit more details

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins ([http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Shibatch's in_mpg123] - a nice occasion to test your CJK fonts ;-)
and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin]

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[JuK]]) might support replaygain metadata in mp3 files in recent future.

==Portable devices==
Sadly, none that I know of. So re-encoding (or using mp3gain) to attenuate the audio-data is the only solution.

The iPod features ''Soundcheck'', which seems to produce roughly the same normalization gains as replaygain, but doesnt provide an Album Gain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)
* audio engineer Bob Katz's many interesting pages (e.g. [http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=93/ this one]) is the best source to understand why replaygain is useful, and understand all that digital audio stuff. This actually was in part responsible for the design of replaygain by David Robinson in the first place, IIRC.

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T14:10:49Z

SamSam: /* Additional reading */ link to Bob Katz

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, ogg, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins ([http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Shibatch's in_mpg123] - a nice occasion to test your CJK fonts ;-)
and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin]

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[JuK]]) might support replaygain metadata in mp3 files in recent future.

==Portable devices==
none that I know of.
the iPod supports some kind of replaygain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)
* audio engineer Bob Katz's many interesting pages (e.g. [http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=93/ this one]) is the best source to understand why replaygain is useful, and understand all that digital audio stuff. This actually was in part responsible for the design of replaygain by David Robinson in the first place, IIRC.

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T13:48:57Z

SamSam: /* Linux */ typo

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, ogg, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins ([http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Shibatch's in_mpg123] - a nice occasion to test your CJK fonts ;-)
and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin]

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[JuK]]) might support replaygain metadata in mp3 files in recent future.

==Portable devices==
none that I know of.
the iPod supports some kind of replaygain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T13:43:12Z

SamSam: /* Windows */ typo

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, ogg, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins ([http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Shibatch's in_mpg123] - a nice occasion to test your CJK fonts ;-)
and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin]

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[juk]]) might support replaygain metadata in mp3 files in recent future.

==Portable devices==
none that I know of.
the iPod supports some kind of replaygain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T13:39:21Z

SamSam: /* Windows */

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, ogg, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins ([http://www3.cypress.ne.jp/otachan/in_mpg123.html Shibatch's in_mpg123] - a nice occasion to test your JKS fonts)
and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin]

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[juk]]) might support replaygain metadata in mp3 files in recent future.

==Portable devices==
none that I know of.
the iPod supports some kind of replaygain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T13:22:16Z

SamSam: added Players support section

=Introduction=
Replaygain calculates the average perceived loudness of either a track (track gain) or an album (album gain) and uses this information to properly adjust the volume of tracks, that are mastered at different volume levels, during playback. This will make sure that you will have a similar volume levels on all of your tracks or albums without loosing any dynamic range of your music. In the case of Album Gain, it will even make sure that more quiet tracks of an album will sound more quiet and tracks that where meant to be louder, louder.
It shouldn't be confused with algorithms that adjust playback volume dynamically within a single track.

=Implementations=
There are different replaygain implementations, each with its own uses and strength. Most of them use [[meta data]] to indicate the level of the volume change (Volume is adjusted on playback; needs player/decoder support) others modify the Audio Data itself. Generally it is recommended to use an implementation which uses [[meta data]] and does not touch the audio itself.

Replaygain has significant advantages over normalizing. It allows the peak loudness of a song to be consistant over an entire collection of audio, much like normalizing (this is called 'Track Gain'). However, it also allows the peak loudness of an album to be consistant over a entire music collection, allowing the dynamics of album to remain (This is called 'Album Gain'). In a [[meta data]] based solution, information on both types of replaygain can be stored, and the desired playback effect can be switched back and forth in the appropriate player. However, if the audio is permanently modified, only one type of raplaygain can be chosen.

==MP3Gain==
[http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ MP3Gain]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Audio or Meta

* In Meta mode, the tags are written in [[APEv2]] tags.
* In Audio Data Mode, the gain is applied to each frame's gain byte, and the process can be perfectly reverted.

Limitations: Limited to 1.5db steps in Audio Data mode

==LAME==
[http://lame.sourceforge.net/ LAME]

Format: [[MP3]]

Method: Header ([http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html mp3infotag])

Notes: Added during encoding; not supported by any player yet; Track Gain only

==Replaygain==
[http://rarewares.org/mpc.html MPC replaygain]

Format: MPC

Method: Header (similar to Meta data method. See "notes".)

Notes: Replaygain values are stored in the header and replaygain is part of the Musepack specifications; therefore any Musepack decoder that does not support replaygain can be considered broken.

==Vorbisgain==
[http://www.sjeng.org/vorbisgain.html Vorbisgain]

Format: [[Ogg Vorbis]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==FLAC/metaflac==
[http://flac.sf.net FLAC]

Format: [[FLAC]]

Method: Meta (in [[Vorbis comment]])

==foobar2000 replaygain scanner==
[http://foobar2000.org Foobar2000]

Format:
* [[MP3]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] or [[ID3v2]] tags.
* [[MPC]]: Values written to header as decribed under "replaygain".
* [[Ogg Vorbis]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[AAC]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[MP4]]: Uses its own itunes-compatible tagging system (though itunes does not support replaygain).
* [[FLAC]]: In [[Vorbis comment]].
* [[APE]]: Values written to [[APEv2]] tags.
* [[WAV]]: Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.
* Modules ([[MOD]] etc.): Optionally saved into [[APEv2]] tags; otherwise the foobar2000 database is used.

You can also choose to only have the replaygain values saved in the foobar2000 database and leave the files untouched.

All other formats are supported but the replaygain values are saved to the foobar2000 database.

==Wavegain==
[http://www.rarewares.org/files/others/wavegain.zip Wavegain]

Format: PCM Wave

Method: Audio

Limitations: Irreversible

=Players support=
Replaygain being present in the specs of flac, ogg, mpc and ape formats, any player that support those formats usually support replaygain.

The situation with MP3 is rather different, as it was not part of the mp3 specs. The APEv2 tags metadata implementation is somewhat becoming the de-facto standard.

==Windows==
* [[Foobar2000]] supports replaygain in all possible aspects. (it can also calculate replaygain)
* [[Winamp]]. MP3 replaygain support with adequate plugins (e.g. [http://www.xs4all.nl/~walterln/replaygain/ walterln])
and probably others.

==Linux==
* [[XMMS]]. MP3 replaygain with [http://perso.crans.org/~krempp/xmms-mad/ custom plugin]

and possibly others, since [http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/taglib.html TagLib] added support for APEv2 tags in mp3 files, players using this library (like [[amarok]] and [[juk]]) might support replaygain metadata in mp3 files in recent future.

==Portable devices==
none that I know of.
the iPod supports some kind of replaygain.

=Additional reading=
* [http://replaygain.hydrogenaudio.org Original replaygain website] (this hasn't been updated since 2001, and everything there is outdated except for the description of the algorithm - but know that the 83dB SPL reference has since then be changed to 89 dB SPL ..)

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T12:48:50Z

SamSam: /* Additional reading */

Replay Gain

2005-02-18T12:46:15Z

SamSam: /* Introduction */ correction about 'normalization'