Permannently normalizing MP3's without clipping

[Hherrmmann]

Hi buddies,

My aim is to normalize a large set of MP3-tracks permanently (= not via ReplayGain, because my FIIO-player does not support that).

The page https://musicbee.fandom.com/wiki/Analyze_Volume says "No adjustment is made to the sound data in the music
file itself (unless you choose the permanent adjustment option)....". The part between brackets suggests that there is a "permanent" option in the "Analyse Volume" pop-up, but I don't see that.
Does anybody know how to select "permanent"?


Moreover, I want to avoid clipping, rather than receiving warnings for the case of clipping.
As far as I can see, there is no setting which allows to completely avoid clipping; right?

I thought of a workaround by using the "File Converter" rather than "Volume Analysis".
In the "File Conversion menu. I'd tick the option "permanently adjust volume" - assuming that this does not work through ReplayGain.
This workaround may theoretically lead to quality loss because it probably applies resampling to the tracks.

Looking forward to some light on these items - with thanks in advance!
Cheers, Herman

[Hherrmmann]

... regarding the workaround via "Conversion", I also wondering if the option "permanently adjust volume" has a risk of clipping

[Steven]

permanent adjustment is only supported when syncing files to the device and is set in the device settings tab.
To force it not to clip when used that way, edit Configuration.xml in the musicbee folder and add /k to to mp3Gain parameters

Code

     <GainWrite TrackParameters="/r /t /p /c /k [inputfile]" AlbumParameters="/a /t /p /c /k [inputfile]" />

[psychoadept]

Re-encoding the files will degrade the audio quality, so it's best to keep the original files any only do the conversion on sync, anyway.

[Hherrmmann]

Thanks, both.

Good to know about converting to a device. I was able to set the respective parameters as far as they are menu driven.
I added the "/k" twice in Configuration.xml using the Notebook app in Windows.
Is it your experience that Notebook does not alter anything else by itself (in other words, does something get lost when saving the XML in Notebook)?

Cheers, Herman

 

[Hherrmmann]

Somehow I cannot get Virtual Drive to work.
When I copy a track to Virtual Drive, is says Copy Failed; cannot find the specified file.
Does anybody know what goes wrong here?

The attachement shows the setting I applied for Virtual Drive

[phred]

It might be a permissions issue. Do you have access to it? Might it be 'read-only'?

Also you say the error message you're getting says it "cannot find the specified file. Are you sure the file you're sending to the virtual drive exists?

How are to trying to get the file to the VD?

[hiccup]

When I copy a track to Virtual Drive, is says Copy Failed; cannot find the specified file.

Did you add the wildcard asterisk signs yourself?
That seems a bit weird to me?

[frankz]

Did you add the wildcard asterisk signs yourself?
That seems a bit weird to me?

That happens when you preserve file names and folders.

[Hherrmmann]

Thanks guys!


Indeed, the asterisks are default when preserving file/folder names.

It looks like the problem was caused because my base position in the middle column of MusicBee was not in the music library.
Therefore it could not load the file to that location; I think that the error message was not exactly correct (because the problem was in the target, rather than the source).

Anyway, the problem is solved now! I am able to copy the original file into the library, and from there right-click -> send to -> Virtual Device.

Thanks for helping a NewBee; your answers brought me to playing around and thereby found how to perform the desired operation.

Cheers, Herman

[phred]

Glad to hear that you got it resolved.

It's always good to hear how things worked out. Thanks.