Lumin support for Plex

[timiambeing]

Hi - was just wondering (did do a search but nothing came up) is there any possibility that Lumin would support Plex Loudness Levelling?

 

[wklie]

To be considered.

 

[timiambeing]

Excellent! Well as LUMIN are I think the only streamer that supports a native Plex endpoint (I come from Roon so that’s what I call it! ) I’m already impressed… WiiM I discovered can only support Plex as a built in streaming service in their app, which is fine.

 

[mep]

Hi - was just wondering (did do a search but nothing came up) is there any possibility that Lumin would support Plex Loudness Levelling?

How does that affect dynamic range?

 

[timiambeing]

How does that affect dynamic range?

As far as I know Replaygain does not effect things, but then I hear that even though Plex has the Replaygain data and displays it, it uses its own method to alter the volume… it’s seems to be a bit of a law unto itself in lots of respects!

 

[mep]

As far as I know Replaygain does not effect things, but then I hear that even though Plex has the Replaygain data and displays it, it uses its own method to alter the volume… it’s seems to be a bit of a law unto itself in lots of respects!

If it's normalizing levels, it's affecting things.

 

[timiambeing]

I thought this might be interesting to post here, as single sentence perceived wisdom can be taken as fact (and so often is in audiophile circles) leading to those less familiar with the terms taking away a misleading impression…

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ReplayGain generally has no detrimental effect on sound quality
because it typically works as a lossless metadata tag rather than a permanent alteration of the audio data.

How Sound Quality is Preserved

• Non-destructive Process: Standard ReplayGain scanners analyze a file and store the gain adjustment value in a metadata tag (like an ID3v2 or Vorbis tag). The original audio samples remain untouched and bit-perfect.
• Linear Gain Adjustment: It only changes the overall volume (gain) during playback. Unlike dynamic range compression, it does not "crush" the music or alter the relationship between quiet and loud parts.
• Preventing Clipping: ReplayGain can actually improve sound quality by lowering the volume of "hot" recordings, preventing digital clipping or inter-sample peaks that might distort at the DAC stage.
  
  
• Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum +6

Potential Risks or Trade-offs
While the process is theoretically transparent, some minor issues can arise:

• Perceived Quality Loss: Quieter music often sounds less "bright" or clear to human ears (due to psychoacoustics). Listeners sometimes mistake this necessary volume reduction for a loss in fidelity.
• Noise Floor: If a track is significantly attenuated by ReplayGain, you may need to turn up your physical amplifier higher, which could potentially expose the noise floor or distortion of your hardware.
• Positive Gain Clipping: If a player is configured to boost volume (positive gain) for quiet tracks, it may induce digital clipping if "clipping prevention" isn't enabled in the player.
• Non-Standard Tools: Some older tools (like MP3Gain or AACGain) can modify the file's internal global gain fields. While technically lossless and reversible in most cases, these are limited to 1.5dB steps and physically alter the file.

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That just about sums it up I reckon… but like I say, all bets are off if Plex doesn’t use Replaygain and instead alters files prior to treating them to an endpoint…

 

[mep]

I wouldn't touch Replay gain with a 10' pole. It sounds like a solution in search of a problem when you can just use the volume control on your preamp to adjust the volume level of your recordings.