Sound volume level

A

archa

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Hi. At the moment I am looking for a streamer and have a question to those guys who are not using Spotify,Tidal but are listening to their own Flac or WAV files.I have a collection of my own Flacs. I do not listen to whole albums but create my own playlists. My problem is that those FLAC files have been downloaded from different sources and sometimes their volume level differs significantly. When I listen my own playlists then sometimes I have to change/adjust volume for each song.I was looking for streamer with some kind of volume levelling feature but have been told by audio salesman that there are no such a thing.This is an email from manufacturer Innuous -"We do not use a volume levelling feature as it adds compression to the music reducing the sound quality.You will find that volume changes on most CD's ripped or files download as they are recorded at different levels in the studio."
So am I the only one with such a problem? How do you listen to your own playlists? Does raspberry Pi based streamers have some sort of volume level feature?
 
I listen to my play lists on random shuffle. Some songs need to be turned up, and others turned down. No problem with a remote control for the volume.
 
Apple Sound Check is the only one I know of that analyzes your entire library and then changes the output level of all songs in an attempt to do what you're asking.
 
Roon provides volume leveling. I'm surprised by the quoted answer in #1 because they sell Roon Core products.
 
wklie said:
Roon provides volume leveling. I'm surprised by the quoted answer in #1 because they sell Roon Core products.
Click to expand...

Agree. Roon has automatic volume leveling and it can be adjusted by the user to desired level. It works with tracks from music streaming services as well as your own library.

Also, when ripping CDs, many programs give you the option of adding gain flags (for example, ReplayGain in DBPoweamp) to address this problem.
 
I think you are probably best to put up with the volume differences for the reason given by the manufacturer - all extra processing is likely to degrade the quality of the end result very slightly - as I believe DSP room corrections systems do incidentally.

Volume differences are probably more related to the original CDs that you ripped as these differ hugely and picking individual tracks to make a playlist is likely to emphasise these different levels of source material.

My streamer has a feature that I've not really investigated, although it may offer what you’re looking for. In Settings, there's a "Replay Gain" feature with options Disabled, Track Gain, Album Gain and Smart Gain. I guess these may attempt to assess volume levels and to adjust - in a smart sort of way!
 
Hear Here said:
I think you are probably best to put up with the volume differences for the reason given by the manufacturer - all extra processing is likely to degrade the quality of the end result very slightly - as I believe DSP room corrections systems do incidentally.

Volume differences are probably more related to the original CDs that you ripped as these differ hugely and picking individual tracks to make a playlist is likely to emphasise these different levels of source material.

My streamer has a feature that I've not really investigated, although it may offer what you’re looking for. In Settings, there's a "Replay Gain" feature with options Disabled, Track Gain, Album Gain and Smart Gain. I guess these may attempt to assess volume levels and to adjust - in a smart sort of way!
Click to expand...

I agree. I simply put up with the differences or turn the volume up or down a little. I do not find the differences are usually that much and I definitely do not want to degrade my sound quality by any additional processing.
 
Hear Here said:
I think you are probably best to put up with the volume differences for the reason given by the manufacturer - all extra processing is likely to degrade the quality of the end result very slightly - as I believe DSP room corrections systems do incidentally.

Volume differences are probably more related to the original CDs that you ripped as these differ hugely and picking individual tracks to make a playlist is likely to emphasise these different levels of source material.

My streamer has a feature that I've not really investigated, although it may offer what you’re looking for. In Settings, there's a "Replay Gain" feature with options Disabled, Track Gain, Album Gain and Smart Gain. I guess these may attempt to assess volume levels and to adjust - in a smart sort of way!
Click to expand...

Replaygain is just a number (a multiplier) that is added to the metadata. It only affects the volume level. If used judiciously, the processor in your device should be able to handle a simple multiplication without changing anything to the quality of the track/album. This is all done in the digital domain.

The nice thing is that a user has the ability to enable it or disable it at will. Since your streamer has that feature, you can enable it and see if you like it or not.

ReplayGain or similar are possible solutions to address the volume issue that the OP is experiencing. He has nothing to lose but his time by trying it out.
 
Another one here. I listen on shuffle and have to adjust the volume often; there are sometimes huge differences from one song to the next. That's why a remote is essential for me.

It's also why I ended up trading in my Ayre preamp which I otherwise really liked... the clicky volume adjustment sound was just too much.
 
Thanks everyone.That Replay gain thing looks quite interesting. You can change file's metadata with Foobar or similar and apparently it does not change quality of sound. But if I am not mistaken then not every streamer has this Replay Gain function.Bluesound and its sister company NAD has it.Does any other company have it?
 
Silly question regarding the Roon.If I want to use Roon only to manage my existing collection do I need to have Roon subscription? Seems a little bit of waste to pay subscription just for volume leveling.
 
Yes. Roon license price: USD699 for lifetime or USD119 annually. Plus you need proper computer hardware to run Roon Core.
 
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