Does Volume Analysis Actually Change a track or just "analyze" tracks?

[KetchupKid]

I spend a LOT of time playing around (editing) details of my music library (file names, tags consistency, etc.) but one I am most concerned about is Track Volume.

First, I never use analysis by Album - always by track. I edit MP3s in Goldwave and try to keep my entire library between -2 and -5 and the "Adjust replayGain values" is always at 0 dB. After spending MANY days and many, many hours fine tuning my 2000+ MP3 library, I let MusicBee analyze the entire library again (by track, not album). IT CHANGED probably 75% of the replayGain values!!

Can someone tell me why this would happen? And does MusicBee actually CHANGE a track or just change the replayGain tag?

Sorry - I'm a little frustrated and confused. Any help?

Thanks!

[psychoadept]

I can't point you to the exact thread right now, but I know MB uses a newer version of the replay gain algorithm than the one implemented in most music software.  It would only change the file if you told it to (and then it wouldn't need a relay gain tag at all, so you can safely assume not).

Why did you have mb analyze them if you were happy with the way they were?

Edit: here's the thread about the new version of replay gain

getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=10394.0

[Zak]

And does MusicBee actually CHANGE a track or just change the replayGain tag?

Older versions gave the user the option of permanently adjusting the volume or just setting the tag values. The first option was removed (earlier this year I think) and now it only sets replaygain tags.

[KetchupKid]

Thanks for the info on the other thread. I'll check it out.

PSYCHADEPT - I had just finished editing and re-analyzing a couple hundred MP3s. I had noticed some seemingly random changes to the volume analysis on files I had not edited. So it left me unsure about what was going on. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to re-analyze my entire library again. That's when I found that a large percentage of my entire library had the replayGain Volume setting changed - and I'm talking fairly major changes. I was shocked. After spot checking a few with playback, I found the tracks were all screwed up. This was a HORROR to me after all I put in to editing so many tracks. I really have liked MusicBee, but if something this drastic happens, I may have to go back to MediaMonkey or find another option.

[hiccup]

As Zak and Psychoadept tried to explain to you:

MusicBee will not change the audiodata when performing volume analysis. It will only write metadata (tags)
(In older MusicBee versions however you could choose to do this by deliberately checking a checkbox by yourself.)
In the current version this is only an option when you synchronise to another device)

The volume analysis algorithm MusicBee uses nowadays is a lot more advanced then what your other software is probably using (or used to use)
So it is not surprising the tag values sometimes can differ substantially. If you audit and listen to the results you will hear this is a big improvement over older algorithms.

I get the impression, (but correct me if I am wrong), that while you state that the quality of your audio files is so important to you, in the (recent) past you allowed other software to change the audio data, thus (slightly) decreasing the quality.
MusicBee won't do this.
This will only happen when you sync to a device (portable player), and deliberately select to have the volume permanently adjusted.

[KetchupKid]

Thanks for clarifying that. I'll just ride with the newer analyses.

[hiccup]

Thanks for clarifying that. I'll just ride with the newer analyses.

If you are interested in some background and principles of these algorithms, this might interest you:
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=15833.msg93525#msg93525