I recently installed mp3gain and ran some of my mp3's through it changing their gain. I did not like how the program seemed to take the punch of the bass out of my music so i deleted those mp3's and uninstalled the program. I thought this was the end of my worries, however, now when I download new mp3's (remember: the program has been uninstalled and these files have never been normalized) they play as though they have been normalized by mp3gain. The bass is gone and the volume is down. Does mp3gain leave behind some sort of data to your music players even after it is uninstalled that can affect files that have been downloaded after? If so, I want this gone. Any advice?
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This is impossible. mp3gain cannot do anything except alter volume. And it is independent software that cannot do anything to any other piece of software. It cannot change anything related to EQ whatsoever. There are only two possibilities:
1) Something else in your playback system has changed to cause you to hear something different.
2) Placebo. It's all in your head.
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Thanks for the quick response. You say that the software can't effect eq, but there is a noticeable lack of punch in the bass after tracks have been normalized. The difference is too noticeable to be placebo. What would be causing this? Is it just that the attack of the kick may exceed the target volume?
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There is absolutely no difference in the sound in the file after they've been processed by mp3gain other than the change in overall volume. It CANNOT alter anything besides that. Anything you think you hear beyond that is in your head, I'm sorry to tell you. You do realize that after mp3gain turns down the volume of the file you have to turn up the volume of your amplifier to receive the same playback volume, right? Absolutely nothing has been changed in your files except volume. And this is 100% due to the FACT that nothing else can be changed except volume, and as a result the only thing being changed is volume.
The only difference you are likely to be hearing is a result of how your hearing works. We all have different frequency sensitivity based on the volume of what we are hearing. If you are not carefully matching your playback volume in your A/B listening tests you are not comparing the same things. If you have your music at a completely arbitrary 80 dB and are used to how everything sounds, and then all of a sudden you turn it down to 60 dB without doing anything else except turning your volume knob on your amplifier down, it will NOT sound the same to you. It will sound different in ways other than just volume, due to how ears and brains work. Go to Wikipedia and look up equal loudness contour, and/or Fletcher-Munson curves.
I'll repeat again, absolutely nothing has been changed in your files by mp3gain other than the volume, and that is the only thing it can change. The only way you'll hear anything different is if for some odd reason you're actually turning up the volume with mp3gain and making things go into clipping. The chances of you doing that are pretty slim, since everything is recorded so loud these days that mp3gain will routinely be turning things down by around 10-12 dB, not up.
Last edit: Clayton Macleod 2015-06-29
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I recently installed mp3gain and ran some of my mp3's through it changing their gain. I did not like how the program seemed to take the punch of the bass out of my music so i deleted those mp3's and uninstalled the program. I thought this was the end of my worries, however, now when I download new mp3's (remember: the program has been uninstalled and these files have never been normalized) they play as though they have been normalized by mp3gain. The bass is gone and the volume is down. Does mp3gain leave behind some sort of data to your music players even after it is uninstalled that can affect files that have been downloaded after? If so, I want this gone. Any advice?
This is impossible. mp3gain cannot do anything except alter volume. And it is independent software that cannot do anything to any other piece of software. It cannot change anything related to EQ whatsoever. There are only two possibilities:
1) Something else in your playback system has changed to cause you to hear something different.
2) Placebo. It's all in your head.
Thanks for the quick response. You say that the software can't effect eq, but there is a noticeable lack of punch in the bass after tracks have been normalized. The difference is too noticeable to be placebo. What would be causing this? Is it just that the attack of the kick may exceed the target volume?
There is absolutely no difference in the sound in the file after they've been processed by mp3gain other than the change in overall volume. It CANNOT alter anything besides that. Anything you think you hear beyond that is in your head, I'm sorry to tell you. You do realize that after mp3gain turns down the volume of the file you have to turn up the volume of your amplifier to receive the same playback volume, right? Absolutely nothing has been changed in your files except volume. And this is 100% due to the FACT that nothing else can be changed except volume, and as a result the only thing being changed is volume.
The only difference you are likely to be hearing is a result of how your hearing works. We all have different frequency sensitivity based on the volume of what we are hearing. If you are not carefully matching your playback volume in your A/B listening tests you are not comparing the same things. If you have your music at a completely arbitrary 80 dB and are used to how everything sounds, and then all of a sudden you turn it down to 60 dB without doing anything else except turning your volume knob on your amplifier down, it will NOT sound the same to you. It will sound different in ways other than just volume, due to how ears and brains work. Go to Wikipedia and look up equal loudness contour, and/or Fletcher-Munson curves.
I'll repeat again, absolutely nothing has been changed in your files by mp3gain other than the volume, and that is the only thing it can change. The only way you'll hear anything different is if for some odd reason you're actually turning up the volume with mp3gain and making things go into clipping. The chances of you doing that are pretty slim, since everything is recorded so loud these days that mp3gain will routinely be turning things down by around 10-12 dB, not up.
Last edit: Clayton Macleod 2015-06-29