[vorbis] (Un)Usefulness of Vorbisgain?

[John Morton]

On Mon, 24 Jun 2002 03:09, Phaedras at gmx.net wrote:
> I've just Replaygained several of my Vorbis albums with Vorbisgain, ranging
> from 80's metal to present day soft rock. What I don't understand is why
> does Vorbisgain actually make all tracks QUIETER?

The reason why it tends to adjust down rather than up:

http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~djmrob/replaygain/faq_quiet.html

Have a look around the rest of the site, too. I found the specification 
remarkably easy to read, even with my limited understanding of the math and 
physics involved.

> I see an average of -7db
> on most albums. And after that, not only are they substantially quieter
> than my MP3s (which is a pain), but it also fails to really "even out" the
> volume.  I understand that a 1984 metal album is naturally going to be
> quieter than 1995 punk rock, but I was expecting at least a little change
> through Vorbisgain.

In xmms, you can set it to add 6db of preamp readjust. This is a good option 
if you're mainly listening to rock (rather than soundtracks, 'classical', 
etc) and you're listening to mp3s without any adjustment.

> Does anyone who uses VG actually get much out of using it?

I use it, but the majority of music I listen to uses it, so I don't have the 
wild volume swings between the adjusted tracks and mp3s or the like. It's a 
huge win when DJing - I've seen several cheap amps melt down because someone 
cranked the volume to bring it up for an 80's track that was eventually 
followed by some new rock. 

John

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