pump up the volume

January 5, 2006 10:15 PM

Any suggestions for programs that can turn up the volume on quiet mp3s for Mac Tiger?
posted by dgaicun to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

This feature is built into iTunes, although admittedly it doesn't allow you to turn up the volume enough on some of the really quiet ones. Right click (or ctrl+click) on the song in your iTunes library, go to the "Options" tab, and use the volume adjustment slider.
posted by teem at 10:20 PM on January 5, 2006

Response by poster: Wow, thanks a lot. QED.
posted by dgaicun at 10:26 PM on January 5, 2006

How about if you dont use itunes? Or use a mac? Any windows apps that can do this?
posted by gergtreble at 10:34 PM on January 5, 2006

Response by poster: You know what, as long as I'm here, one more itunes related question. The tracks fade into one another, which is a nice effect generally when I'm listening, but some tracks have beginnings and endings that are important - can I tell it to not fade in and/or out on the beginnings and/or endings of individual tracks?
posted by dgaicun at 10:35 PM on January 5, 2006

dgaicun, Yes, uncheck "Crossfade Playback" in the Playback section of iTunes preference pane.
posted by qwip at 10:49 PM on January 5, 2006

Response by poster: Sure, but that's for all tracks. I mean can you tell it to chill on just individual tracks.
posted by dgaicun at 10:54 PM on January 5, 2006

gergtreble, I don't know if the Windows version of iTunes would make a permanent change the the mp3 file or not. You could try it and see.
posted by qwip at 10:56 PM on January 5, 2006

er..., sorry about that, I misread your comment. No, I don't think you can. You could get all fancy-schmancy and use an audio editor to add a second or two of silence to those particular tracks. You can also adjust the overlap on Crossfade to something shorter.
posted by qwip at 11:00 PM on January 5, 2006

I swear by mp3gain.
posted by hilker at 11:35 PM on January 5, 2006

A second vote for mp3gain, for the general solution.
posted by JZig at 12:40 AM on January 6, 2006

Third for mp3gain.
posted by futility closet at 5:36 AM on January 6, 2006

On the crossfading question, if you leave the crossfading slider enabled and simply slide it to 0 seconds, it will continue to prebuffer the next song and just not affect the volume, but it will mostly eliminate that gap between songs.
posted by softlord at 6:36 AM on January 6, 2006

For affecting volume and a number of other audio tricks, you can use Amadeus II, which is a Mac only application. It works well for me, you can use it as a trial, and it's cheap to buy if you really like it.
posted by visual mechanic at 6:45 AM on January 6, 2006

It's not free (though relatively cheap), but I've had good results with Volume Logic.
posted by jalexei at 8:40 AM on January 6, 2006