Portable CD player seems to be limiting volume

[pdun459]

Hey all. I've got a cheap portable CD player I've been using for walks. I can amplify files before burning to +3 or more but the output volume will only go so high and no higher. It's a Durabrand and there's no switch to enable or disable volume limitation. Do these devices have volume limits built-in? I'm using BurnAware Pro for burning.

[DVDdoug]

I can amplify files before burning to +3 or more

There's (usually) a difference between amplifying by +3dB and amplifying to +3dB. You can go higher than that (before exporting) but if your peaks go over 0dB and you export to WAV (or otherwise make a CD), your peaks will be clipped to 0dB (and distorted). Some distortion may not be audible, and the file will be louder because even though the peaks don't go over 0db the average still goes up.

Note that the peak levels don't correlate well with perceived loudness. Loudness is more related to the average level and the frequency content.

You can try using the limiter effect set to hard-limit (with make-up gain) to bring up the loudness without clipping the peaks.

Do these devices have volume limits built-in? I'm using BurnAware Pro for burning.

Some do... There is a new EU loudness standard, but I think it's voluntary. And, some headphones/earphones are louder than others, so you might try some different earphones.

[pdun459]

Thanks for that useful info doug. I was able to make it louder with make-up gain.