Sound Check feature

I used the sound check feature in iPod that automatically adjusts song playback volume to the same level to load songs on to my ipod mini. The sound quality seems to be very poor i.e. crackling and distortion with bass and higher end tones. I'm just wondering if the Soundcheck feature is the culprit or if the iPod mini just has poor sound quality. I encoded at ACC 192 kbs, VBR. I tried encoding in LAME M3 and got the same results. I'd really appreciate any help on this as I'm thinking of returning my ipod if the sound is normally this poor. Thanks again.
Ian

Yeah...the problem seems to sort of go away when I turn the EQ off as well but that's pretty lame if that's the only solution. Is there anyway to get better sound quality other than going with apple lossless or a really high bitrate? Any help would again be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ian

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Mp3 CD sound check feature

There is no way to set the sound check feature when burning MP3 CDs Does that mean that it automatically has sound check selected or that you cant have that feature at all when making a MP3 CD?

So the sound check get's transferred to the mp3 cd?
If you have *Sound Check* turned on in iTunes, yes.
When you burn an MP3 CD, the song file is copied to the CD.
Note that *Sound Check* is only used by iTunes/iPods so if you play this MP3 CD in your car player or stereo or with another player on your computer, it will not use the *Sound Check* settings.

What exatly is the sound check feature?

?

It is a feature that enables your ipod to play all of your songs at roughly the same level. This is good when you want to play your music and not have to worry about constantly changing the volume and wasting the battery. You have to turn on the sound check in itunes first though.

Sound Check in iTunes 10.6 is different versus Sound Check in iTunes 8.2

Hi. My OS is Windows 7 Pro-64.
I have lots of CD and I decided to convert them in an mp3 library imported in iTunes (and “manually” in an iPod Classic) with Sound Check on (either in iTunes, or in iPod). I managed it with Windows XP and iTunes 8.2 till last year. I always verified the Volume adjustment of each mp3 and the correlated hex values written in the field iTunNorm (using mp3Tag). So far I was quite satisfied of Sound Check because I use iPod like a “juke-box” (I don’t need a per album normalization).
Last year I updated to Windows 7_64 and to iTunes 10.6 and I went on importing other mp3 files (from my CDs). But, with some test, (I imported the same file using iTunes 8 on a PC and using iTunes 10 on a different PC) I realized (with a very high probability) that:
iTunes 10 apparently don't write iTunNorm tag anymore in the file mp3. I have a Volume adjustment, but with mp3Tag I can’t read any iTunNorm field with the famous ten hex values.
iTunes 10 and iTunes 8 use a different way to calculate Sound Check; Volume adjustments calculated with iTunes 10 are lower of about 0,75-1,25 dB in average against iTunes 8. But sometimes the difference may be very high (-3,5 dB or -5dB for example in iTunes 10 versus iTunes 8).
When I updated to iTunes 10, my old library has been converted into the new format iTunes 10, but the old Sound Check (calculated with iTunes 8) did not change (no new calculation). So when I add new files to the library with iTunes 10, I have a discontinuity with the old files imported from iTunes 8 as far as Sound Check is concerned: the new files sound lower in average than the old ones.
I don’t want to delete and re-import all my files in order to reset and homogenize the whole library (I’d lose all statistics and I’d waste lot of time to pass the file in iPod). And I don’t want using third part software like iVolume.
My questions:
Is it correct what I wrote at the point 1, 2, 3 stated over here and mainly at the point 2 (Different way to calculate Volume adjustments of iTunes 10 versus iTune 8)?
Did iTunes 10 stop to use iTunNorm field to write Check Sound info in mp3 files?
If not, where iTunes 10 write Sound Check info to the mp3 file and how can I read it?
What can I do to avoid the discontinuity in Sound Check values due to the use of iTunes 8 and iTunes 10?
Thanks in advance for your answers.

Assuming that one has the 'Sound Check' feature
selected in both iTunes and on the iPod, do the
volume changes take place when obtaining the audio
via the 'line-out' port on the dock connector?
For the 3G and earlier iPod's, no, Line Out is not affected by Sound Check.
For the 4G and later iPod's, yes, Line Out is affected by Sound Check.
Do some iPods work and others do not? Specifically,
will my iPod mini (2nd Gen) send the adjusted volume
through the dock connector?
I have only actually tested the 3G and 4G models, I cannot say what other models do with any kind of reliability. I would expect that the Mini's would have the Line Out to be soundchecked, but I cannot say that for certain.
Any way of using another method to bring the song
volumes into a more reasonable range?
MP3Gain and AACGain. These modify the MP3/AAC files directly, so after using them, turn off Sound Check everywhere.

Is iTunes "Sound Check" better than five years ago?

I got into iTunes (briefly) about five years ago. I got all excited about mixed playlists and what-all ... but I burned out quickly because the Sound Check feature that would regulate the volumes from different CDs was mostly worthless. Most songs averaged out, but that one track in ten would still sneak in there, too loud or too soft, and ruin the listening vibe in the house.
I ditched iTunes and went back to my CD player.
Now I'd like to get back into iTunes again and I'm wondering if Sound Check ever had any significant improvements in the last five years? Did Apple finally perfect it?
Do we finally have mix playlists that play consistently, like one properly re-mastered compilation CD? Or are occasional tracks still showing up too loud or too soft?
-John

John_Neumann wrote:
Thanks for the replies, Wolf and Sanjampet.
Yep, both of you are spot on correct about some of the dynamics that affect Sound Check. The only thing I know is that, five years ago, I didn't like it. I also remember not really being able to make manual adjustments work for me because I have music playing constantly and jumping up and running over to the Mac while an offending song is on my mind got mighty inconvenient. That's why I stuck with my CD player. ...
I think you answered my question for me. No, Sound Check is no different than it was five years ago.
Not quite what I said. I certainly expect it has improved over 5 years, I can only tell you it will never be perfect. And that is relevant because of your expectations.
The fact is, CD players do not have SoundCheck at all. But when your CD mismatches song volumes, that does not "offend your ears". And yet, oddly, iTunes does. Listening sequentially to a CD you already know, you are accustomed to those particular mismatches, so they "sound right" to you. What I'm speaking of here is cognitive bias, which is human and normal, and the thing to do is simply be aware it's there.
I too have tried playlists and was not impressed. I remember when the level adjustment (in Song Properties) came out and thought "about time". And I've never spent the time to actually try playlists again. But I did not abandon iTunes entirely simply because one of its features "is not for me", i.e. sucked. Digital playback is still the Best Jukebox Ever, with instant and searchable access to my music. CDs are in every way inferior.*
It sounds like you jumped into digital playback with both feet, found some of its features were not ready for prime time, and jumped back out. I would suggest easing back in with one foot, remembering that setup is a one-time task and it's pure profit from there.
* purposefully ignoring the question of musical fidelity, some believe compression is bad, others believe digital is bad. Not this thread.

Sound Check doesn't work

I just switched from Mini to Nano and now when I playback songs the volume is all over the board. One song is on 5 one is on 10 and back and forth... I have tried several times to check and re-check the Sound Check feature. Am I doing someting wrong? If the song volume was close to each other it would be fine but it is WAY OFF. Thanks for the help.
Packard Bell Windows XP Pro
Packard Bell Windows XP Pro
Title edited by Apple Host

You need to check that option at iTunes as well. Did you remember to do that?
If it doesn't work, try send Apple feedback about your iPod. Be polite and clear and if this is a general problem they will correct it on the next software updater.
Hope this helps
Viper

"Disable" Sound Check

There has been much discussion about the pros and cons of Sound Check, and some excellent details are provided about how it works and how difficult a process it is to standardize volume. Generally, I'm happy with the feature with one exception: live concerts, especially with songs that segue, like a Dead or Zappa concert. If I want to listen to the contiguous show, sometimes there are significant swings in volume between tracks. Yes, joining tracks is one option, but that creates very long "songs." I could also go track by track and manually set each song's volume to some standard, but my ear ain't that good. So my questions:
(1) After tracks have been imported and Sound Checked, is there a way to reset a certain group of songs to the original, non-varying, un-Sound Checked volume level?
(2) If not, can I re-import the concerts and somehow maintain the consistent volume level for the tracks that make up each show? Would I have to turn off Sound Check in perpetuity to do this?
Thanks for any suggestions
Dell Inspiron 8200 Windows XP

Sound Check works well on an iPod when listening through the headphones. Works on all iPods, as far as I know.
Some iPods have their 'Line Out' audio (Dock Connector) affected by Sound Check, others do not.
If may be iPod 'Generational' differences &/or Firmware differences - I do not know. The only way to determine if the Sound Check feature works via the Dock is to perform some simple tests (if you have the appropriate connections).
I determined that my 2Gen iPod mini with Firmware v1.3 does not pass Sound Checked audio via the Dock. Makes it more work to manually adjust the volume in my car (via a Direct Interface) or my home speakers.
See this thread for more information: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1683429#1683429

Used Sound Check on my iTunes library-did I make a mistake?

Hi all,
I have some rudimentary questions about iTunes, and the "Sound Check" feature in particular.
I've just completed converting my 18K FLAC song library into ALAC, mainly to use iTunes Genius mixes and to be more compatible with my iPhone and Touch. My library was ripped a few years ago when I bought my Sonos system to get whole-house music. At that time, I ripped my CD's into the FLAC to maintain the highest sound quality possible. No equalization was applied during the ripping.
Once I loaded my new ALAC songs into iTunes (converted using XLD), I began experimenting with Sound Check to normalize the volume among my songs, especially where the Genius mixes are concerned (I have quite a bit of classical music). While iTunes started the long conversion of my music to use Sound Check, I started reading about volume normalization and the effects of the quality of the sound. I read that Sound Check was really not the right way to go if I wanted to just normalize the volume; that it also affected the sound quality.
After reading this, I stopped the iTunes Sound Check conversion. Luckily, iTunes had only converted around 400 songs into Sound Check. But now I'm worried about those songs that iTunes did convert, and if I have compromised the sound quality of my ALAC tracks.
How does iTunes determine the Sound Check settings? I initially thought that Sound Check only affected the playback volume of the songs, but upon reading the discussions, it seems to change other things?
Does Sound Check store its parameters in a tag(s)? Or does it physically change the songs themselves? I hope that it does not change the songs, or I'll have to reconvert those 400 songs again.
Is there another program that I can use to just normalize the volume of the songs across my library? In the discussions I read, iVolume was mentioned, but I don't (obviously) have any experience with this program nor any others that affect song playback. Any suggestions as to other apps to investigate would be appreciated.
Thanks for your time.
Mike

Thanks for the reply Jim and for the link to the KB article. I looked through all the tags by showing each one, but I didn't see any that looked like they were populated by Sound Check. I'll read the link you provided to find out more.
Jim VanLeeuwen wrote:
I have used iVolume for some time and have been very satisfied. Of course, at age 64 I no longer have audiophile hearing. You can get information here: http://www.mani.de/ivolume/index.html
I have 52 year-old ears, both of which have tinnitus, so I know about my lack of audiophile hearing I just want to make sure that I don't mess up the audio quality of my songs for the next generation
Thanks again. I'll look at iVolume more closely.
Mike

DTS CDs and Sound Check

I have successfully imported all of my DTS audio CDs into iTunes using Apple Lossless format. I use the digital outputs of my computer/AppleTV/Airport Express to play back the multichannel sound from these CDs into my audio system (which has DTS decoding built in.) Everything sounds groovy.
This setup is, of course, completely incompatible with any of the audio processing features of iTunes, such as Sound Check, Crossfade Playback, etc. because these features alter the bitstream thus causing the DTS decoder to fail, resulting in white noise.
I definitely want to use the Sound Check feature on my non-DTS tracks. Is there a way, on a per track basis, that I can tell iTunes "Don't use any audio processing features on this track"? I would then apply this option to just my DTS tracks. If no such feature exists, how can I petition Apple to add such a feature, say, in the Get Info area for each track?

Hello,
I have to admit I've never used it but found this Macworld article a very useful explanation:
http://www.macworld.com/article/44344/2005/04/soundcheckyou.html
iVolume which is linked to from the MW article should check all your files again and put the adjusted volume in the ID3 info.
HTH.
mrtotes

Resetting Sound Check?

I've been using MP3 gain to level out my MP3 collection. In the process the MP3s I've adjusted are now either too quiet or loud depending on how they used to be set using Sound Check. I'd like to be able to tell iTunes to "re-evaluate" the songs in my library as far as Sound Check goes. I realize this can be done by removing/reimporting the songs, but then I lose my manual ratings, etc...

MP3 Gain has fixed the MP3s, but not the AAC's nor purchased songs, therefore I'd still like to use the Sound Check feature.

ITunes 12 have sound check?

Does iTunes 12 have the Sound Check feature
Cannot see a way to enable it.

Ed,
Yes. Go to Edit > Preferences > Playback, and you will see a checkbox for "Sound Check."
Ed.

HT201724 Can the Sound Check and Crossfade features within Itunes be synced to an Iphone?

Need help to sync Sound Check and Crossfade to an Iphone 4s. Not sure it can be done.

I recentlly tried uninstalling itunes to see if that would help but now when i try to install and download itunes it doesnt work and the install runs into an error.
What does the error message say? (Precise text, please.)

IOS 5 Sound Quality and Sound Check issues

So since upgrading my iPod to iOS 5 the sound quality of my music has deteriorated massively and sound check no longer works as it should.
Tracks sound crackly and audio volume will remain balanced for a few tracks when sound check is on, then all of a sudden become completely unbalanced and all over the place. My iPod is only just about useable, it's a bit of a disaster that its main feature doesn't work as it should.
Everything else in my iOS5 works as it should.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Richard.

Since I bought iPhone4 and listened my songs with "Ipod app" and external speakears I was amazed how brilliant, sharp, intense, clear, perfect bass, perfect trebble the sound was, there was no distortions or saturations ever... The sound quality was just PERFECT with the equalization OFF!!! Not remember if I had SoundCheck ON before but now it doesn't make any difference. I installed iOS 5 over 4.3.1 or so and now sound is just more like noise compared to iOS 4, I have selected all presets or equalizations but ALL are poor, maybe some presets work better with some songs but still they are poor.... Songs did not have clarity!! The volume force was like degraded, now I have to set higher volume to produce same force than before with less volume... iOS 5 max volume (100%) is like iOS 4.2.1 85-90% of volume. Difference is that iOS 5 maximum volume starts slightly to distort or saturate audio quality... before with iOS 4 sound quality was Crystal Clear even with max volume!!! In short SOUND QUALITY is DEGRADED... or perhaps I'm a very critical and nonconformist guy in terms of audio quality... this kind of degradation is quite notorious when one loves music!! or is there some other configuration I'm missing here??
Totally agree with Richard!!
At first I thought it was a problem with my phone... I used to believe iOS 5 was engineered for new iPhone 4S hardware and since it is shipped with dual-core processor, I thought my phone was short in resources!!!
Why max volume is lower in intensity???
Why equalization with the EQ Off changed?? All my songs were stored on iTunes, they must have same sound quality properties as they were when first ripped..
I hope Apple enginneers did not sacrifice volume output force in favor of saving some battery, because normally we charge battery when listening music at home with our personal speakers equipment.
I would like to understand the reasons why the new "Music App" was "changed", and why these changes have to go backwards!! That is sad... because for iPhone or iPod lovers music was always important.
thanks

ITunes Sound Check

When Sound Check is enabled in iTunes preferences, does this feature carry over to the iPod on my iPhone 4s when I sync?

It should if it's checked when syncing

Sound Check and Alarm

What does the "sound check" option actually do. It appears to just limit the volume, but how does it know what volume to which to limit?
Also, is there any way of making the alarm BEEP louder?

What does the "sound check" option actually do. It appears to just limit the volume, but how does it know what volume to which to limit?
Audio CDs are mastered differently, so you may have discrepancies in volume between songs on different albums.
You can use the soundcheck feature to standardize the volume of all the songs in your music library.
Apply it in iTunes using the edit/preferences/playback menu (Windows).
iTunes/preferences/playback (Macs).
Turn it on on the iPod using the settings/soundcheck/on menu.
After applying it in iTunes, sync your iPod to reflect the changes made.
There are 3rd party programs that do this more effectively (at least in my opinion).
For Macs there is iVolume.
Also Macmp3Gain.
Also, is there any way of making the alarm BEEP louder?
Not as far as i know.

Sound Check feature

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