Classic reissues good idea?

[poundingmetal74]

Get yourself a decent wave editing program and boost the volume a couple dB's or rip the Mp3's using normalization to bring the volume up on older masters (Xing's Audio Catalyst does this, along with I believe ITunes).

It wouldn't be a problem if more Mp3 players didn't have built in normalization/compression on them already.

 

[Krow]

Get yourself a decent wave editing program and boost the volume a couple dB's or rip the Mp3's using normalization to bring the volume up on older masters (Xing's Audio Catalyst does this, along with I believe ITunes).

It wouldn't be a problem if more Mp3 players didn't have built in normalization/compression on them already.

I may very well try that. Thanks!

 

[poundingmetal74]

I may very well try that. Thanks!

I recommend Sound Forge, although it's $300, so try Waveasaur which is a free knock off.

 

[MrGlam999Metal]

of course it's a great idea for the fans so the CDs are easier to find and for the band to get more sales

 

[Wyvern]

of course it's a great idea for the fans so the CDs are easier to find and for the band to get more sales

Well that's not precisely the truth. Brandon, Darko or Greg who are in bands can correct me if I'm wrong, but many reissues are done purchasing some rights or taking advantage that there are no rights, so the bands sometimes (or many times) don't seen a dime of the reissue. At least I've been told that about the Metal Mind reissues (which by the way are great and kick ass).

 

[Krow]

I recommend Sound Forge, although it's $300, so try Waveasaur which is a free knock off.

I'm a tad taken back by that... I'm having issues.
I've just been looking at files... and older files seem to actually have a difference in volume... where as new albums definitely do have it cranked up as far as possible every time.
So... if that's what I'm used to listening to... and it is... should I do that with the older files?

Also... I know this isnt exactly their tech support board... but I cant tell if the files are actually saving. It says it's being saved as a .wav file in the original folder as the music, but I'm not seeing it. Do I have to convert them to .wav first?

 

[poundingmetal74]

I'm a tad taken back by that... I'm having issues.

Here's my very simple "how to" guide. (If anyone wants to take from this and use it to make their own original masters louder for their iPod, by all means do so. Personally, I recommend leaving a bit of "headroom" so the file can breathe - so don't flatline the entire wave.)

1. Open the file, when the waveform appears, double click on the waves so the entire thing is highlighted.


2. At the top, go into Process> Volume> Custom (or the other 2 choices if you want them).

3. Click on Custom. Enter the value that you want to get the volume to. (in this case, 5.5 db)

4. If you're done with the file, go into File > Export> As Mp3. (You can also play around with EQ, or edit certain parts out, like long intros).

5. Choose the Bitrate (I suggest 192 or higher) and then Choose the file save location (like you would in MS Word or what have you). Click Save.

And you're done!

Hope this helps.

 

[Wyvern]

That program looks a lot like Cool Edit Pro.

 

[poundingmetal74]

That program looks a lot like Cool Edit Pro.

Same idea, yeah. Most wave editing programs are comprised of a basic set of functions and with a certain look (same as word processing). I find it's damn near the same as Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge (with less functionality). As a free program though, Wavosaur is great.

 

[Krow]

Thanks a ton for the program... I am enjoying tinkering with it quite a bit and did eventually figure it out myself. Now I can get my old Crematory up to speed... something that's been killing me.

 

[Wyvern]

As a free program though, Wavosaur is great.

Thanks for the hint, because let's say that my copy of CEP is not very holy

 

[poundingmetal74]

Now I can get my old Crematory up to speed... something that's been killing me.

By speed, do you mean "time" (ie. playing too slow) - or more "enhancing the sound"? If it's the former, go into Pitch Shift in Wavosaur.

 

[Krow]

I'll just go with the volume for now... I may play around with pitchshifting later.

Anyone ever listen to Crematory btw? Their first (three I think?) full releases are gothic metal with death metal vocals. I'd like to think of it as ultra melo death metal... And I fell in love with them pretty quickly.

 

[BrownSock]

I think re-issues are good some of the time. As others have mentioned in the thread, Metal-Mind have some excellent re-issues. They have bonus tracks and are limited to 2000 (something not everyone cares about, but I as a collector enjoy owning that sort of thing).

I like to be able to put my music onto my computer, either it be ripping vinyl or CD. Sometimes I use the vinyl rip, sometimes the CD. Just depends which one I think sounds best. I don't think you can say all re-issues are bad, but I am not saying ther aren't bad ones out there. Theres a version of Megadeth's KIMB that has bleeps everywhere there is a swear. Totally ruins it.

I own a few albums on both Vinyl and CD. Blind Illusion's Sane Asylum, Carnivore's debut, just about every Judas Priest album. With some vinyl, especially my Priest, they are pretty old things and don't play well anymore, so ripping the vinyl is out of the question, so thats why I think the CDs are great.

Really though, it all comes down to taste and what sounds better to you. Then again, it also means spending money if you are actually going to buy the stuff. I'm all for re-issues. I am strongly against re-recordings though.

 

[Krow]

So I have another question for anyone that might be able to answer it.
Compression artifacts are quite annoying... for example... Hypocrisy ~ Virus in it's original form at 128 kbps will be covered in them throughout the cd. (think of them as odd blips and things of that nature not actually IN the music)

Compressing sharp sounds can cause this as far as I know and many cds are full of them especially newer ones who have the volume turned all the way up... now here is my question.

If I slightly turn down the db's of the music itself (with wavosaur or the like)... when it is converted, will that cause the compression artifacts to not appear?

(oh and I ask this because my mp3 player is stuck at everything formatted in 128 kbps)

 

[Krow]

I'll go ahead and answer my own question and say yes this did work for anyone curious.

 

[poundingmetal74]

....If I slightly turn down the db's of the music itself (with wavosaur or the like)... when it is converted, will that cause the compression artifacts to not appear?

(oh and I ask this because my mp3 player is stuck at everything formatted in 128 kbps)

If it's distortion from being maxed out at zero dB, then there's little you can do. If you want, you can add some EQ and turn the volume down which will reduce the clipping a little bit. There are very expensive plug ins that can "smooth out" clipping and distortion, but they still won't sound anywhere near as good as if the mastering engineer just backed off the volume to begin with.

If it's an actual blip, like from a vinyl, with indepth cutting you can actually get rid of those (very time consuming I might add).

Shame you did your collection at 128. If you've got the room, I highly recommend either 192 or 224. They're not that much bigger and they sound a lot better.

 

[Krow]

Turning the dBs down .63 actually completely fixed my copy of virus... which would have been entirely worthless (and 10 years of chaos and confusion). Songs like Complusive Psychosis were so covered in them that with any volume applied it instantly gave me a migrane.... now they are listenable beginning to end. I really enjoy experimenting with wavosaur.