ReplayGain is a proposed technical standard published by David Robinson in 2001 to measure and normalize the perceived loudness of audio in computer audio formats such as MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. It allows media players to normalize loudness for individual tracks or albums. This avoids the common problem of having to manually adjust volume levels between tracks when playing audio files from albums that have been mastered at different loudness levels.
Although this de facto standard is now formally known as ReplayGain,[1] it was originally known as Replay Gain and is sometimes abbreviated RG.
ReplayGain works by first performing a psychoacoustic analysis of an entire audio track or album to measure peak level and perceived loudness. Equal-loudness contours are used to compensate for frequency effects and statistical analysis is used to accommodate for effects related to time. The difference between the measured perceived loudness and the desired target loudness is calculated; this is considered the ideal replay gain value. Typically, the replay gain and peak level values are then stored as metadata in the audio file. ReplayGain-capable audio players use the replay gain metadata to automatically attenuate or amplify the signal on a per-track or per-album basis such that tracks or albums play at a similar loudness level. The peak level metadata can be used to prevent gain adjustments from inducing clipping in the playback device.[2]
Metadataedit
The original ReplayGain proposal specified an 8-byte field in the header of any file. Most implementations now use tags for ReplayGain information. FLAC and Ogg Vorbis use the REPLAYGAIN_*Vorbis comment fields. MP3 files usually use ID3v2. Other formats such as AAC and WMA use their native tag formats with a specially formatted tag entry listing the track's replay gain and peak loudness.
ReplayGain utilities usually add metadata to the audio files without altering the original audio data. Alternatively, a tool can amplify or attenuate the data itself and save the result to another, gain-adjusted audio file; this is not perfectly reversible in most cases. Some lossy audio formats, such as MP3, are structured in a way that they encode the volume of each compressed frame in a stream, and tools such as MP3Gain take advantage of this for directly applying the gain adjustment to MP3 files, adding undo information so that the process is reversible.
Target loudnessedit
The target loudness is specified as the loudness of a stereo pink noise signal played back at 89 dB sound pressure level or −14 dB relative to full scale.[3] This is based on SMPTE recommendation RP 200:2002, which specifies a similar method for calibrating playback levels in movie theaters using a reference level 6 dB lower (83 dB SPL, −20 dBFS).[note 1]
Track-gain and album-gainedit
ReplayGain analysis can be performed on individual tracks, so that all tracks will be of equal volume on playback. Analysis can also be performed on a per-album basis. In album-gain analysis an additional peak-value and gain-value, which will be shared by the whole album, is calculated. Using the album-gain values during playback will preserve the volume differences among tracks on an album.
On playback, listeners may decide if they want all tracks to sound equally loud or if they want all albums to sound equally loud with different tracks having different loudness. In album-gain mode, when album-gain data is missing, players should use track-gain data instead.
Alternativesedit
Peak amplitude is not a reliable indicator of loudness, so consequently peak normalization does not offer reliable normalization of perceived loudness. RMS normalization is more accurate, but does not take into account psychoacoustic aspects of loudness perception.
With dynamic range compression, volume may be altered on-the-fly on playback producing a variable-gain normalization, as opposed to the constant gain as rendered by ReplayGain. While dynamic range compression is beneficial in keeping volume constant, it changes the artistic intent of the recording.
Sound Check is a proprietary Apple Inc. technology similar in function to ReplayGain. It is available in iTunes and on the iPod.[5]
^Although the original ReplayGain proposal used the 83 dB SPL reference level unchanged, an early departure from the proposal to 89 dB SPL was endorsed by its author.[4]
^Amarok 2.1 – back to the future, Padoca, 2009-02-15, retrieved 2010-12-30
^Lindgren, John, "Replay Gain in Audacious", Audacious Forums, retrieved 2023-08-29, You have to use a program like mp3gain to analyze the file beforehand.
^"Features", Mixxx, retrieved 2023-04-07, Mixxx reads existing ReplayGain tags and analyzes songs that don't have them.
^"MP3Gain", Sourceforge, retrieved 2023-04-07, MP3Gain analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume.
^"updated TODO again, making the direction we're heading a bit clearer", GitLab, 2004-02-13
^Giger, Martin, , Nightingale Forum, archived from the original on 2023-05-08, retrieved 2023-05-31, there is no reference of it being loaded or written to the file
Replay Gain – A Proposed Standard, the original proposal, now out of date with respect to current practice
Replay Gain in Linux — guide to using graphical and command line ReplayGain tools in Linux.
February 15, 2024
replaygain, proposed, technical, standard, published, david, robinson, 2001, measure, normalize, perceived, loudness, audio, computer, audio, formats, such, vorbis, allows, media, players, normalize, loudness, individual, tracks, albums, this, avoids, common, . ReplayGain is a proposed technical standard published by David Robinson in 2001 to measure and normalize the perceived loudness of audio in computer audio formats such as MP3 and Ogg Vorbis It allows media players to normalize loudness for individual tracks or albums This avoids the common problem of having to manually adjust volume levels between tracks when playing audio files from albums that have been mastered at different loudness levels Although this de facto standard is now formally known as ReplayGain 1 it was originally known as Replay Gain and is sometimes abbreviated RG ReplayGain is supported in a large number of media software and portable devices Contents 1 Operation 1 1 Metadata 1 2 Target loudness 1 3 Track gain and album gain 2 Alternatives 3 Implementations 3 1 Streaming 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 6 1 Media player features pages 7 External linksOperation editReplayGain works by first performing a psychoacoustic analysis of an entire audio track or album to measure peak level and perceived loudness Equal loudness contours are used to compensate for frequency effects and statistical analysis is used to accommodate for effects related to time The difference between the measured perceived loudness and the desired target loudness is calculated this is considered the ideal replay gain value Typically the replay gain and peak level values are then stored as metadata in the audio file ReplayGain capable audio players use the replay gain metadata to automatically attenuate or amplify the signal on a per track or per album basis such that tracks or albums play at a similar loudness level The peak level metadata can be used to prevent gain adjustments from inducing clipping in the playback device 2 Metadata edit The original ReplayGain proposal specified an 8 byte field in the header of any file Most implementations now use tags for ReplayGain information FLAC and Ogg Vorbis use the REPLAYGAIN Vorbis comment fields MP3 files usually use ID3v2 Other formats such as AAC and WMA use their native tag formats with a specially formatted tag entry listing the track s replay gain and peak loudness ReplayGain utilities usually add metadata to the audio files without altering the original audio data Alternatively a tool can amplify or attenuate the data itself and save the result to another gain adjusted audio file this is not perfectly reversible in most cases Some lossy audio formats such as MP3 are structured in a way that they encode the volume of each compressed frame in a stream and tools such as MP3Gain take advantage of this for directly applying the gain adjustment to MP3 files adding undo information so that the process is reversible Target loudness edit The target loudness is specified as the loudness of a stereo pink noise signal played back at 89 dB sound pressure level or 14 dB relative to full scale 3 This is based on SMPTE recommendation RP 200 2002 which specifies a similar method for calibrating playback levels in movie theaters using a reference level 6 dB lower 83 dB SPL 20 dBFS note 1 Track gain and album gain edit ReplayGain analysis can be performed on individual tracks so that all tracks will be of equal volume on playback Analysis can also be performed on a per album basis In album gain analysis an additional peak value and gain value which will be shared by the whole album is calculated Using the album gain values during playback will preserve the volume differences among tracks on an album On playback listeners may decide if they want all tracks to sound equally loud or if they want all albums to sound equally loud with different tracks having different loudness In album gain mode when album gain data is missing players should use track gain data instead Alternatives editPeak amplitude is not a reliable indicator of loudness so consequently peak normalization does not offer reliable normalization of perceived loudness RMS normalization is more accurate but does not take into account psychoacoustic aspects of loudness perception With dynamic range compression volume may be altered on the fly on playback producing a variable gain normalization as opposed to the constant gain as rendered by ReplayGain While dynamic range compression is beneficial in keeping volume constant it changes the artistic intent of the recording Sound Check is a proprietary Apple Inc technology similar in function to ReplayGain It is available in iTunes and on the iPod 5 Standard measurement algorithms for broadcast loudness monitoring applications have recently been developed by the International Telecommunication Union ITU R BS 1770 and the European Broadcasting Union EBU R128 6 This new method has been used to measure loudness in newer ReplayGain utilities such as foobar2000 since 1 1 6 a and loudgain b Implementations editName Platforms Can write Ref AIMP WindowsAndroid Yes e Amarok LinuxNetBSDFreeBSDmacOSWindows Yes f Audacious LinuxWindows No g Banshee LinuxmacOS beta Windows alpha Yes h beaTunes macOSWindows Yes i BTR Amp iOS iPadOS No j Clementine LinuxmacOS 32 bit Windows Nocmus Unix like YesDeaDBeeF LinuxmacOSWindowsUnix like Yes k Exaile LinuxWindowsmacOS NoEx Falso Quod Libet LinuxWindowsmacOS Yes l foobar2000 WindowsiOS iPadOSAndroidmacOS Yes a JRiver Media Center WindowsmacOSLinux Yes m JavaTunes Java NoKodi software WindowsmacOSAndroidiOStvOSLinuxXbox BSD NoLightweight Music Server Source code Yes n Logitech Media Server DebianWindowsmacOSRPM packagePerl YesLoudgain LinuxmacOSSource code Yes b MAD madplay Source code YesMediaMonkey WindowsAndroid YesMixxx note 2 WindowsmacOSLinux Yes o mp3gain Windows Yes p mpg123 LinuxWindows NoMPD WindowsLinux Yesmpv WindowsmacOSLinux NoMuine LinuxUnix like No q MusicBee Windows NoNightingale LinuxWindowsmacOS No r PowerAMP Android NoProppFrexx ONAIR Windows Yes s RadioBOSS Windows YesRockbox Digital audio players YesSoX WindowsLinuxmacOS YesVanilla Music Android NoVinyl Music Player Android NoVLC media player WindowsUWPmacOSiOSApple TVLinuxAndroidFreeBSDSource code NoWinamp Windows YesXMPlay Windows YesZortam Mp3 Media Studio WindowsAndroid Maybe note 3 Streaming edit Spotify 7 See also editAlignment level Dialnorm EBU R 128 Loudness warNotes edit Although the original ReplayGain proposal used the 83 dB SPL reference level unchanged an early departure from the proposal to 89 dB SPL was endorsed by its author 4 Uses MAD Exclusive to the Pro version on Windows References edit David Robinson 2010 12 17 ReplayGain Specification discussion Hydrogenaudio retrieved 2011 07 12 ReplayGain specification retrieved 2011 04 15 ReplayGain 1 0 specification Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase retrieved 2023 09 17 Does Replay gain work differtly in Media monkey Hydrogenaudio 2010 10 07 retrieved 2010 12 30 Sam Costello Using Sound Check with iPod About com retrieved 2010 05 11 EBU August 2011 Loudness normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals PDF Ian Stewart October 24 2019 Mastering for Streaming Platforms 3 Myths Demystified iZotope retrieved 2020 10 28 Media player features pages edit a b Foobar2000 Preferences ReplayGain Scanner Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase wiki hydrogenaud io a b Hormann Matthias C 2024 01 04 loudgain retrieved 2024 01 21 Main features and Functions AIMP for Windows retrieved 2023 02 25 Main features and functionality AIMP for Android c d Amarok 2 1 back to the future Padoca 2009 02 15 retrieved 2010 12 30 Lindgren John Replay Gain in Audacious Audacious Forums retrieved 2023 08 29 You have to use a program like mp3gain to analyze the file beforehand YeOldeChangeLog GitLab beaTunes retrieved 2023 08 29 beaTunes allows you to perform the ReplayGain analysis and adjust the standardized track specific id3 tags BTR AMP v13 0 Volume Normalization ReplayGain and Sound Check BTR Labs 2022 04 07 retrieved 2023 04 06 DeaDBeeF The Ultimate Music Player Sourceforge retrieved 2023 04 06 Replay Gain Quod Libet retrieved 2023 04 06 Replay Gain Adjustment JRiverWiki retrieved 2023 04 06 Poupon Emeric Web player Replaygain support lms issues no 38 retrieved 2024 01 21 Features Mixxx retrieved 2023 04 07 Mixxx reads existing ReplayGain tags and analyzes songs that don t have them MP3Gain Sourceforge retrieved 2023 04 07 MP3Gain analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume updated TODO again making the direction we re heading a bit clearer GitLab 2004 02 13 Giger Martin Normalization Nightingale Forum archived from the original on 2023 05 08 retrieved 2023 05 31 there is no reference of it being loaded or written to the file Features Qmmp retrieved 2023 06 01 ReplayGain scannerExternal links editReplayGain specification ReplayGain at Hydrogenaudio wiki Replay Gain A Proposed Standard the original proposal now out of date with respect to current practice Replay Gain in Linux guide to using graphical and command line ReplayGain tools in Linux Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title ReplayGain amp oldid 1201465957, 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