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iPad volume issue


I was listening to Angus Dei’s playing of 40 days and nights and variations and I couldn’t hear the piece which I thought was strange. Anyway the screen timed out and I saw that although the CBCH player was at full throttle the volume at its highest on the player only relates to 50% in the iPad volume. Full throttle to 100% and I could hear the piece. Anyone had similar issues?
by dreece1
Mar 28, 2019 03:15 AM

Replies (10)

RE: iPad volume issue


It happens frequently and is caused by the extreme variation in volume from the softest stop to the loudest stop or combinations of stops with many of the organs we use. If we set the output high enough for a good volume with an mp3 recording of soft stops, we will then have problems with the louder stops and with snaps and pops from our sound cards overloading.

The only solution I've found is to put the mp3 file in an audio editor like Audacity (free and works great) and amplify the whole file to the level you prefer. This can be done by using the 'download' option found at the lower right corner of the individual piece on CB.

An external headphone amplifier would also help but would reduce the volume of money in your bank account.
by bayless
Apr 7, 2019 08:13 AM

RE: iPad volume issue


Asking users to process a badly recorded .mp3 files is a bit over the top. The right way to do this is for the file to be recorded properly in the first place. Organs have a very wide dynamic range of sound volume so in order for the file to play properly it should always be "Normalised" before posting on CB.

All files I have posted have been normalised and they all play OK.

Normalising sets the largest peaks of volume to the maximum permitted before limiting occurs.

csw900
by csw900
Apr 12, 2019 10:46 AM

RE: iPad volume issue


I didn't know there was a 'normalize' option in the Hauptwerk recording function. Could you please explain how to produce a normalized recording?
by bayless
Apr 12, 2019 11:21 AM

RE: iPad volume issue


I use Adobe Audacity to make all my audio recordings and it has a very convenient Normalize option as well as proper recording level meters.

However the method you suggested above should also work and is free. I have never used HW to make audio recordings (I normally record HW in midi format) so do not know if it can normalize a recording, however it would be a poor show if you cannot adjust the recording level and observe the peak levels while you are recording.

Perhaps somebody who knows how to get decent audio recordings from HW could tell us.

csw900
by csw900
Apr 12, 2019 03:18 PM

RE: iPad volume issue


Having now looked in the main HW forum for some clues and had a look at HW's "volume" setting capabilities I can see that there is a problem in getting a good audio recording especially when only a few stops are pulled and large chords are not played.

I suggest you confirm this by doing what I did and search the main forum for "recording volume level". You will see that there is no ideal solution and certainly no "normalize" capability.

The best solution is to use a proper audio recorder such as Adobe Audition.

Using an external audio editor on audio recorded by HW to adjust the level until the peaks just don't clip will degrade the audio quality because it will probably involve converting .mp3 to .wav and back to .mp3 which are both "lossy" processes.

csw900

by csw900
Apr 13, 2019 09:24 AM

RE: iPad volume issue

bayless wrote:

It happens frequently and is caused by the extreme variation in volume from the softest stop to the loudest stop or combinations of stops with many of the organs we use. If we set the output high enough for a good volume with an mp3 recording of soft stops, we will then have problems with the louder stops and with snaps and pops from our sound cards overloading.

The only solution I've found is to put the mp3 file in an audio editor like Audacity (free and works great) and amplify the whole file to the level you prefer. This can be done by using the 'download' option found at the lower right corner of the individual piece on CB.

An external headphone amplifier would also help but would reduce the volume of money in your bank account.

Ok thank you.

by dreece1
Apr 13, 2019 02:25 PM

RE: iPad volume issue

csw900 wrote:

Asking users to process a badly recorded .mp3 files is a bit over the top. The right way to do this is for the file to be recorded properly in the first place. Organs have a very wide dynamic range of sound volume so in order for the file to play properly it should always be "Normalised" before posting on CB.

All files I have posted have been normalised and they all play OK.

Normalising sets the largest peaks of volume to the maximum permitted before limiting occurs.

csw900

Ta

by dreece1
Apr 13, 2019 02:26 PM

RE: iPad volume issue

csw900 wrote:

Asking users to process a badly recorded .mp3 files is a bit over the top. The right way to do this is for the file to be recorded properly in the first place. Organs have a very wide dynamic range of sound volume so in order for the file to play properly it should always be "Normalised" before posting on CB.

All files I have posted have been normalised and they all play OK.

Normalising sets the largest peaks of volume to the maximum permitted before limiting occurs.

csw900

I didn't realize that this my upload was badly recorded, improperly processed, or that you were an expert, csw900.

by Agnus_Dei
Apr 15, 2019 03:20 PM

RE: iPad volume issue


Hi Agnus Dei

I am not picking you or your music in particular.

However, having looked at your two pieces 33547.mp3 and 33799.mp3 with an audio editor I can see that as well as both being recorded 6db lower than necessary there are extreme variations in volume. Volume is high at beginning and end whereas the middle two sections are extremely low.

I am critical only of the lack of normalisation, not the music or the contrast between the high and low volume sections.

csw900


by csw900
Apr 20, 2019 09:14 AM

RE: iPad volume issue

Agnus_Dei wrote:

I didn't realize that this my upload was badly recorded, improperly processed, or that you were an expert, csw900.

Agnus Dei I thought this was a great recording and processing. I had no problem with it.

caw900 I only used Agnus Dei’s because of the prowling and growling beasts that abound wasn’t loud on my iPad. The problem I discovered was the iPad setting as against the contrebombarde player.

Agnus Dei I still say what a great piece that was, well played, voiced and when I sorted out my volume outside of the contrebombarde player I got the prowling and growling beasts on my path before.

by dreece1
Apr 27, 2019 07:56 PM

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