Why do I lose volume when converting to MP3
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Audacity 1.2.x is now obsolete. Please use the current Audacity 2.1.x version.
The final version of Audacity for Windows 98/ME is the legacy 2.0.0 version.
Audacity 1.2.x is now obsolete. Please use the current Audacity 2.1.x version.
The final version of Audacity for Windows 98/ME is the legacy 2.0.0 version.
Why do I lose volume when converting to MP3
Once I've made up my recording then export it to an MP3 file then play it back on Window Media Player or download it to an MP3 player the volume is much lower than the Audacity volume. Though I would expect some loss of volume is it normal to lose almost 50% of it? Thanks.
Re: Why do I lose volume when converting to MP3
You probably have the volume turned down in Windows Media Player.
Re: Why do I lose volume when converting to MP3
It's not because of how the volume is set on WMP because wnen I play tracks (downloaded from a cd) for eg at the same volume on WMP it's much louder. When I played the mp3 file on my mp3 player i had to have it at full volume just to hear it. It's clear that once I convert my recorded file to an mp3 file it loses volume once played in WMP or an MP3 player. Any ideas?
Re: Why do I lose volume when converting to MP3
Ok, load up one of your projects in Audacity. Also, start WMP up and play a file you've ripped from CD. While that's playing, start Audacity's project playing. Are they roughly the same volume? If they are, let me know, but I doubt it.
I'm going to guess here that the Audacity project is at a much lower volume than the CD track. This means that the problem isn't during the export stage, it's simply that your track hasn't been mixed to be very loud. This is very, very common now amongst amateur recording engineers since just about all music is compressed far too much (when I say 'compressed', I'm talking about the dynamics of the audio, not data compression).
If you're still with me (and I haven't made any bad assumptions), the problem is that you just aren't very good at mastering a track. Mastering is an extra step that you need to do after exporting your mixed track (to wav, not mp3 if you value audio quality). The idea is that you will re-import your mixed track into a new instance of Audacity and then further process the audio until it plays nicely with all your other tracks. I prefer to avoid over compression, so my mastering process goes like this:
1) Import Mixed track, and Amplify as much as possible.
2) Apply the Fast Lookahead Limiter from the LADSPA plugins pack (for Windows and Linux, not sure how to do this with a Mac). I use settings of Gain = 0; Limit = -8dB; Release = .5s. This will infinitely compress the top 8dB worth of peaks, but leave all the rest of the dynamic range alone. I like the way this sounds, other may disagree.
3) Re-export the track as the Mastered version.
When I put a record together, I take all my Mastered tracks, load them into a third and final Audacity project and mix the album as one long track. Then I use the Export Multiple option to get the final CD-ready tracks (make sure these are wavs or there will be gaps between tracks).
I'm going to guess here that the Audacity project is at a much lower volume than the CD track. This means that the problem isn't during the export stage, it's simply that your track hasn't been mixed to be very loud. This is very, very common now amongst amateur recording engineers since just about all music is compressed far too much (when I say 'compressed', I'm talking about the dynamics of the audio, not data compression).
If you're still with me (and I haven't made any bad assumptions), the problem is that you just aren't very good at mastering a track. Mastering is an extra step that you need to do after exporting your mixed track (to wav, not mp3 if you value audio quality). The idea is that you will re-import your mixed track into a new instance of Audacity and then further process the audio until it plays nicely with all your other tracks. I prefer to avoid over compression, so my mastering process goes like this:
1) Import Mixed track, and Amplify as much as possible.
2) Apply the Fast Lookahead Limiter from the LADSPA plugins pack (for Windows and Linux, not sure how to do this with a Mac). I use settings of Gain = 0; Limit = -8dB; Release = .5s. This will infinitely compress the top 8dB worth of peaks, but leave all the rest of the dynamic range alone. I like the way this sounds, other may disagree.
3) Re-export the track as the Mastered version.
When I put a record together, I take all my Mastered tracks, load them into a third and final Audacity project and mix the album as one long track. Then I use the Export Multiple option to get the final CD-ready tracks (make sure these are wavs or there will be gaps between tracks).
Re: Why do I lose volume when converting to MP3
Wow - Thanks for the detailed yet simple instructions! I have been trying to accomplish exactly this for days using the compressor and then I tried the hard limiter. I am sure it is possible but this does the job perfectly. I generally like to keep the dynamics of the music as close to the original source but sometimes there is a little spike that I need to dampen a bit and this gives me that control.
Many, many, many sincere thanks!
Many, many, many sincere thanks!