Sound check

I'm having a problem with the sound check on my iPod. I have enabled it on the iPod and in iTunes and it is definitely doing something, because the volume is more regulated with it on than it is with it off, but It's still not playing at the same volume. For instance, there is one album that still plays much louder than the rest. What is up?

It isn't terribly effective, and there are 3rd party programs that do this better (at least in my opinion).
For Windows there is mp3/aacGain.

Similar Messages

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.

Sound Check doesn't work for some podcasts?

Apologies for cross-posting, but this didn't get any replies in the Using iTunes section.
Podcasts that I subscribe to are recorded at quite different levels. This is pretty annoying when my morning playlist goes from a really quiet one to a really loud one.
It seemed that Sound Check would be the perfect solution, but not so: while Sound Check has set Volume levels for all the music tracks I checked, and many podcasts, there are quite a few podcasts that Get Info / Summary reports the Volume as "Not available." This doesn't seem to be just a display glitch: when I turn Sound Check on and off, the volume doesn't change on these tracks. As Murphy would predict, the ones that need the most adjustment don't get any
I haven't been able to work out what is different between the tracks that do and don't have Sound Check volumes. Two example podcasts that do get Sound Check volumes are Slacker Astronomy (most recent episodes) and StarDate; two that don't are Classical Music Spotlight and Writer's Almanac.
I tried converting one episode to AAC. As expected, the AAC file gets a Sound Check volume. But it's in the iTunes library Music group, not in the podcast.
Is there any way to get Sound Check to process these other podcast episodes?
iBook G4, iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Sound check is basically useless. Hasn't worked effectively on any model I've purchased. However, as others have pointed out, you can adjust the volume of a song so that your playlists don't cause public embarrassment. Simply do a control "i" on a particular song. In the "info" tab, you can increase or decrease the volume of a particular tune. However, if you make the adjustment, be sure to adjust all of the tune from that album. Otherwise, when you play the album, the song you tweaked will have a different volume from the rest of tunes on the album. It ain't a great fix... but it's better than what the programmers have done with sound check.

I just got the macbook air for christmas and i also got the dr dre headphones so i am trying to enable my soundcheck on my iTunes but i cannot figure out how to find where sound check is located can someone please help!!

i just got the macbook air for christmas and i also got the dr dre headphones so i am trying to enable my soundcheck on my iTunes but i cannot figure out how to find where sound check is located can someone please help!!

Go to the iTunes menu > Preferences > Playback.

HT201724 how do i activate sound check in iTunes / on my iphone 5?

Hello. I cannot work out how to activate 'sound check' (the system that allows all songs on my iPhone / within iTunes to be played at the same level). Can anyone tell me how to activate this? Thank-you.

On your phone tap Settings, Music. The sound check setting is there

How do I make all the music in my ipod 5 the same volume? I already used sound check but it does'nt work.

How do I make all the music in my iPod the same volume because sound check doesn't work and i have all the latest firmware.

Nothing more you can do.

Bug in iTunes 9.0 Sound Check ?

In iTunes 8.x when you add a new song to iTunes (with Sound Check enabled)
iTunes adjusts or adds the "normalization information" ID3 tag for the song.
iTunes 9.0 doesn't do this anymore.
Is this a bug in iTunes 9.0.0.70 ?
Ps: Programs like iVolume rely on this info.
Edit: 10/09 16:09

See this -> Don’t Panic
"Yesterday (09/09/09, by the way) Apple released iTunes 9. Unfortunately it has a nasty bug that prevents iVolume from analyzing songs that have been imported from a file. All other songs – that is purchased, ripped or converted songs – will still be processed fine by iVolume.
We put highest priority on this issue. All other projects have been interrupted in order to restore full compatibility with iTunes 9 as soon as possible. We already found a solution and are currently busy implementing it. Things look good so far.
So please be patient, a new version of iVolume will be released very soon"

ITunes and sound check

I updated to iTunes ver 7.1.1.5 recently. I have a problem with "Determining Song Volume" of all my library every time I open iTunes. It uses 100% CPU until I stop it.
I have already UNCHECKED Sound Check, that didn't seem help.
I reinstalled it again and that didn't help either. Is this a bug or is it just my Windows XP problem?
thanks in advance.
P4 Windows XP Pro

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

Sound Check/Volume Problem

i've read in 'ipod help' in itunes that i can set all my songs to play at the same volume. i have followed the instructions (edit, preferences, playback, sound check) ticked the box and set up my ipod. but, i still have some songs that play very quietly and some that are extremely loud.
please help.....

I have the same problem.
the short term and tedius solution is to individually increase the volume (or level) on quiet tracks. you can do this to individual or groups of tracks (if you know a whole album plays a lower level. when you click on information then options, there is a volume control. Here you can increase the level of the track so it plays louder.
but i have 7000 tracks and i will never know all the quiet ones, so i am looking for a more comprehensive solution - a way to make sound check actually work...

Sound check / normalization problem with matched versus uploaded tracks

I am finding that matched tracks are playing MUCH louder than uploaded tracks on my iPod. Before I started the match process, my library was normalized to an 89 dB reference level, which USED to be the audio engineering standard for recordings. The AAC tracks that Apple has matched my tracks with seem to be as much as 10 dB above this -- the difference is painful. To make matters worse, iTunes Match usually only matches portions of albums, so some of the tracks (the uploaded ones) are playing back at a reference of 89dB while the matched tracks are playing back at whatever Apple uses (my guess is @98-100 dB). My understanding of the MP3 file format is that there is no benefit to ripping to a 100 dB level. It is not like the old days of analogue tape where you could improve the signal-to-noise-ratio by recording slightly 'hot.' In an MP3 file, there is normalization information stored in the file header. I do not know about AAC files.
I have turned 'sound check' on on my iPod, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Has anyone found a way to fix this issue short of renormalizing the entire library and then re-uploading verything to the Match service? Needless to say, the original process of getting everything I owned to 89 dB was tedious in the first place and I don't want to have to redo that. If I do need to redo everyhting, does anyone know what reference level Apple uses for its matched files?

@ roebeet. Thanks for telling me that 'Sound Check' does not work in iOS 5. That is what I had found, but it's good to know it's not just me. I talked to an Apple tech support guy and he seemed to know nothing about this. He had me hard reset my iPod and then wrote it up. He was quite nice about it, and suggested I send a recomendation email to Apple.
I downloaded a half dozen of Apple's matched AAC tracks from the iCloud and ran a volume check on them, and they seem to be using levels in the upper 90 dB range, so my guess that their tracks were a full 10 dB louder than my 89 dB tracks was confirmed. What I've done to solve this is to remove all my uploaded MP3 tracks from the iCloud and from iTunes, renormalize them to 98 dB instead of 89 dB, then reimport them into iTunes and then reupload them to the iCloud. It seems to be working so far.
You are right about some of Apple's stuff being clipped. You don't need Audacity, either: digital clipping sounds so very very ugly. The Apple 256 kbs AAC version of 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' from Led Zepplin I is clipped. There is no excuse for this. It makes me wonder how to alter a file so that it won't be matched: my MP3 version of the song is fine.
Thanks again for your help.

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.

Enabling "sound check" in ipod nano second generation

I have spent hours trying to figure out how to enable the "sound check" for my second generation ipod nano. I want to adjust all my songs to play at the same sound level, and I think that's the first step. I've followed all the directions I can find.
I find the right screen and select "enable sound check" but the minute I close that screen, the check-mark in the "enable sound check" box goes away. What's the trick for getting it to stay?

Hi,
I would suggest going to "Preferences" in iTunes first and then going to the "Playback" tab.
Make sure the checkbox with Sound Check is checked. I had read that you must have it checked in the iTunes program so it will then work in the actual iPod when you sync it.
I have a brand new 80 GB Classic and a 2 Gen. 2 GB Nano and I had checked this sound check option on each of the ipods in "Settings" but it never seemed to make any difference.
I was reading the online manual for my new Classic and found that the Sound Check needed to be checked in iTunes for it to work in the iPod.
I did this and iTunes instantly went thru each of my songs in my library and adjusted the volume.
It has worked for me on my Classic but I cannot say if it has on my Nano since I use it for only Podcasts and do not have any music loaded on it. Plus I use a different computer for each of my ipods and have iTunes installed on each.
Hope this may be of help. Check the iTunes software first.
Mr. Hoz

How do i know if sound check is on or off

how do i know if sound check is on in i tunes

Check in the Playback panel of your iTunes preferences.

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

Sound check & problems with iTunes startup

I recently changed my iTunes settings to allow "sound check," which normalizes the volume of the entire iTunes library. Nothing happened at first, but the next time I opened iTunes, the little now playing window said "determining track volume: 1 of 222," and iTunes and my computer froze immediately. This has happened every single time I've tried to open iTunes since. I'm kind of at a loss for what to do, because once I open iTunes, I literally can't do anything except shut down my computer. Any ideas??

I had that problem too. Maybe it works when you change your Bitrate in Itunes. My Bluetooth speakers run at 48 Khz and after the Itunes update, Itunes changed his settings to 44.1 kHz (before the update it was also 48kHz). I hope i could help you. Sorry for bad english i'm from Germany

Why does Sound Check not work?

Although I've checked Sound Check the volumes vary from song to song. It worked previously, but after one of the Itunes updates it stopped working. Does anyone know what I can do?

Make sure one of your iTunes updates did not flip your setting in iTunes for Sound Check

Sound check

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