I've ripped my CD's to mp3's but I want to volume level an entire album not individual tracks

Report · Nov 17, 2023

I'm somewhat new to the Audition scene so be gentle. 🙂

I've got a good library of CD's that I've ripped to FLAC and then converted to mp3 for easy access on my phone (I prefer not to stream). I want to (naturally) make my music all sound relatively the same in terms of volume/loudness. However, some albums (like Dark Side of the Moon) have softer songs and I want to preserve that softness.

I know how to use the "match loudness" option (which I like) for individual tracks. But I want to match the loudness for an entire album as one piece.

I remember a long time ago I found an article about using the "open append" option and can make the adjustment there but don't remember the steps to save/export the updated, individual mp3 files. So, using Dark Side of the Moon as an example. I can make the loudness change(s) I want using the open append option, but want Audition to save/export the 10 individual tracks instead of one, long, conjoined track.

If there's a better way to do it, I'm all ears.

-Steve

Report · Nov 17, 2023

One problem you've got here is that you will have to decode and re-encode all of those MP3 files again, with different levels. What would make most sense in this scenario is to use the FLAC files as the basis for matching the loudness, and using the Batch Process utility to create the final MP3 files just the once, and avoid the inevitable quality degradation of working on the MP3's themselves.

Report · Nov 19, 2023

That's fine (leveling the FLAC files and then converting them to mp3) but what is the process for getting Audition to save/export the edited files into individual mp3's?

Again, using Dark Side of the Moon as the sample, if I change the volume/loudness on the entire album (using "open append"), I still want to save/export the 10 individual tracks that make up the whole album.

Report · Nov 19, 2023

Audition won't do that because inherently, it doesn't handle MP3 files at all - except to create them as single files from an existing file, or to decode them. But that first bit is the clue - you have to separate the files individually before you batch-create the MP3s. So there's nothing to stop you either changing the loudness of a single FLAC file, or multiple ones to get the result you want - but before you batch them out to individual MP3 files, they have to be individual files to start with, which is the only thing the batch converter can eat.

Report · Nov 21, 2023

OK without bothering you too much, if I adjust the loudness of multiple files at one time, how do I separate them into individual files so that I can bath them out to individual mp3 files?

Report · Dec 01, 2023

Steve,

Without bothering you too much, if I adjust the loudness of multiple files at one time, how do I separate them into individual files so that I can batch them out to individual mp3 files?

Report · Dec 01, 2023

You don't have to - they are already individual files! You do all your level processing on the individual FLAC files, and the final step is to output them as MP3s.

Report · Dec 02, 2023

I figured it out but you were forgetting that I wanted to increase the loudness of an entire album, not the individual tracks because I want the loudness to be proportionate across the entire album. Again, I use Dark Side of the Moon as an example.

See the attached jpg files

(#1) Original DSOTM which the striaght FLAC files ripped from the CD with no edits made.

(#2) DTSOM +3dB is the loudness level of +3dB that I increated the FLAC files to (this is not the level I will use, just an example).

Right now, when I choose File>Export>Audio within Range Markers, it gives me 10 mp3 files, with the correct filename but the metadata is incorrect. See attached jpg (#3) DSOTM Metadata.

To solve this I downloaded MusicBrainz Picard to correct the metadata giving me exactly what I wanted;

(a) all of my albums volume leveled proportionally

(b) exported mp3 files with

(c) the correct metadata.

Granted, it's a few more steps but, so be it.

Report · Dec 13, 2023

Audition isn't really designed for song library management, but works great for ripping the audio from CDs into files. If you'd like to normalize the Tracks/Albums of your music library, you should look into Replay Gain which will scan then adjust the gain of each file and normalize either individual tracks or by album. It then writes the gain adjustment to a metadata tag, rather than changing the actual recording.

Then you should use an ID3 tag editor to edit & organize your metadata tags, (I use mp3Tag). If you happen to play your files on an Apple device, there is an Action you can download for mp3Tag which will convert Replay Gain tags into Apple's gain tags. It's a lot of steps, but it works like a charm.