Mac OS X | Audio / Video | Editors | MacMP3Gain | Very happy with it!

MacMP3Gain

analyze & adjust mp3/aac files to have same volume

Version: 1.9a

[ Views: 818 ]

Very happy with it!

Feedback Type: Review

Contributed by: justamacuser Thursday, November 30 2006 @ 03:54 PM PST

Product Platform: MacOSX

Used Product For: Less than a month

Recommend Product: YES

I had read about that little tool here on versiontracker, but didn't bother to try it - until last week, when my iPod picked ZZ Top's "Afterburner" (remastered) right after the "Best of Simon & Garfunkel" original version - quite a jump in volume (about 16 dB). While it did jerk me awake at work ;) it wasn't an experience i wanted to repeat. So, after doing the usual backup, i gave it a try.
1) for the first run, it's taking its time. Subsequent runs are much faster, since the results of the analysis are stored in the MP3 files.
2) I did not witness any "dead" files so far (contrary to some experiences mentioned below)
3) It'll write a temporary file and copy that file over the original MP3. So if you're proud of your MP3 files showing creation dates like "June 2001", you better hack together some Applescript to copy that information into the MP3 comments before you run MP3gain. Agreed, that may be overkill, but my library dates back to iTunes 1.1, and that's something i'm taking some pride in ;) - besides, scripting iTunes + disk access is a nice learning experience.
4) The progress indicator is just "barber pole" if you're running folders recursively. Also, the text output is too short for long song titles. Adding some pixels there (or having it wordwrapped on two or three lines would be nice. But that's just nitpicking.
5) Since the original gain value is stored in the MP3, adding the "undo changes" feature to the frontend would be a nice touch.

All in all, does what it claims, and does it quite good. Thanks!

Overall Rating:

Ease of Use:

Support:

Features:

Quality / Stability:

Price:

Rate this Review

Was this Review helpful? Yes | No

Comments

Applescript example code, if you're interested... - justamacuser

(Copy and paste into Scripteditor)

-- you need to create a playlist that contains 
-- all the files you want to batch-process
-- and name it "BatchFiles" for the script to work
-- that's quick & dirty, so better have at least one file
-- in your playlist or else...

tell application "iTunes"
	set myList to a reference to playlist "BatchFiles"
	set myPointer to the number of tracks of myList
		
	repeat
		set myFile to track myPointer of myList
		set myPointer to myPointer - 1
		set theSourceFile to the location of myFile
		try
			set myTime to the creation date of the (info for theSourceFile) as string
			tell myFile
				set comment to (comment & " | File encoded on " & myTime) as text
			end tell
		on error
			display dialog "Problem with " & theSourceFile as string
		end try
		
		if myTotal is 0 then exit repeat
	end repeat
end tell

Reply to This

Thursday, November 30 2006 @ 04:05 PM PST