Burnin CD with higher sound leve.

[jrhymeammo]

Do any of you guys know how to burn CD with higher sound level? I lost face plate of my car CD player. But nice I got a piece of toothpick wedged in. It still plays at the level I had before, but not even close to the level I prefer once I go faster than 40 mph.

This would be soooooo cool if it's possible.

thanks

JRA

[Wireworm5]

Yeah. you can do this by recording the cd instead of ripping it. Adjusting the line level inputs high. Of course you need some kind of cd recorder software. The problem you may encounter doing this is that you may add too much distortion into the recording when the signal red lines, which may damage your speakers. However I've red lined some recordings and it sounds fine, but my source has very low distortion, your's may differ. And you don't want to accidentally pop this recording into another player without first adjusting the volume down cause you'll crap your pants.

[jrhymeammo]

And you don't want to accidentally pop this recording into another player without first adjusting the volume down cause you'll crap your pants.

LOL!!!!! That would be one of the best/worst prank we can play on our friends.

About your advice. Are you saying that I need connect my CD player to my PC, record the program on to my hard drive with line level turned up, then burn the file on a CD-R?

Thanks, that makes sense and should work.

I wonder if there are other ways to do it without using my line-in on my PC? Thanx

[Mike Anderson]

About your advice. Are you saying that I need connect my CD player to my PC, record the program on to my hard drive with line level turned up, then burn the file on a CD-R?

Thanks, that makes sense and should work.

Except that it makes no sense, and probably won't work (at least not very well).


I wonder if there are other ways to do it without using my line-in on my PC? Thanx

Yes, in fact there are. Rip your CD to your hard drive by putting the audio CD in your CD drive and using normal CD-ripping software like iTunes.

Then, you can use a program to determine the peak sound level of every track on the CD. I use Wavelab, but it costs $$; there are other such programs.

These programs will determine exactly how much louder you need to make each track (e.g. +5db), such that the track is as loud as possible without resulting in digital distortion.

After adjusting the sound levels (also called normalization), you can re-burn the CD with the new, louder tracks.

[Wireworm5]

I'm aware of the method you describe as well. My understanding of normalizations is that it compresses the sound and you lose dynamic range. Which is why I now longer use normalization. But for his car stereo that is probably a better way of doing it and good enough.
I think that a high level of normalization could potentially damage speakers as the method I discribed as the highs and lows would be clipped somewhat, no?

[Mike Anderson]

My understanding of normalizations is that it compresses the sound and you lose dynamic range.

I don't think so. All you're doing is adding X number of dbs to the level.

If the levels range between -60db and -10db, the dynamic range is 50db.

Now add 5db to everything: The levels range between -55db and -5db. You still have a dynamic range of 50db; it's just louder.

Here you go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_normalization


Audio normalization is the process of increasing (or decreasing) the amplitude (volume) of a digital audio recording. Typically normalization increases the amplitude of the audio waveform to the maximum level without introducing any distortion into the recording.

Specifically, normalization applies a constant amount of gain to an entire recording to bring the highest peak to a target level, usually 98% (-0.3 dB) or 100% (0 dB). This differs from dynamics compression, which applies varying levels of gain over time depending on the level of the audio source. Normalization applies the same amount of gain across the entire recording so that the dynamics are preserved.

[jrhymeammo]

Except that it makes no sense, and probably won't work (at least not very well).
.

Why would it not work? I used program called Rip Viny in a past connecting RCA to 1/8" cable from phono pre to my PC line-in. I was able to adjust the recording volume.

[Mike Anderson]

Why would it not work? I used program called Rip Viny in a past connecting RCA to 1/8" cable from phono pre to my PC line-in. I was able to adjust the recording volume.

Yes, it will work - I guess should have made that clearer - but the point is that you're giving up a lot of sound quality, and it's probably MORE work to do it this way!

There's simply no reason to do it. It's both easier AND more accurate to do what I suggested.

It's as if someone asked:

"What's the best way to record my phono albums onto digital?"

And someone answered:

"First, record them onto cassette tapes. Then run the cassette tapes into your computer."

What's the point of the extra step of putting it on cassettes? You could just run your phono output into the computer. All the extra step of taping does is create more work and degrade the sound.