Amazon MP3 download sounds terrible

[Guest]

MM 4.0.6.1501. I have always ripped CDs in the past, but today I download an MP3 album from Amazon. The download mp3s but sound terrible in MM (combination of white noise and thunder storm) but play just fine in WIndows Media Player. I have always ripped CDs in the past, this was my first (last?) attempt at downloading MP3s. I have I run into some sort of copy/play protection issue? TIA

Mark

[khelsing]

have I run into some sort of copy/play protection issue?

No, you haven't. Amazon's downloads are standard MP3 files without DRM.

Maybe it's a problem with MM's output plugin, which one do you use?

[Guest]

I have tried both out_MMDS.dll (default) and out_MMDS.dll. Neither seems to agree with the downloaded MP3s.

Mark

[Guest]

New info, I did download one (free) MP3 from Amazon last year (2011) and it played perfectly then and recently; I just tested it with 4.0.6.1501 and it no longer plays, it sounds just like the recently downloaded MP3s.

I recently updated MM to 4.0.6.1501. Looks like something changed during the 4.0.6.1501 update.

I clicked on the 'download other output plug-ins' and ended up far east website; I did not proceed any further.

BTW, this is on an aged XP SP3 system.

Mark

[Lowlander]

http://www.mediamonkey.com/support/inde ... icleid=101

[Guest]

Since I keep old application install files, I was able to revert backwards. I removed 4.0.6.1501 and loaded 4.0.3.1476; note that while I had downloaded this install exe I had never loaded it. However, 4.0.3.1476 did not play the MP3s in question.

I removed 4.0.3.1476 and loaded 3.2.5.1306 which I had been running prior to the 4.0.6.1501 upgrade. MM 3.2.5.1306 plays the MP3s in question right 'out of the box'.

Whatever 'it' is, it's MM related. Perhaps others can discern what needs to be done (plug-ins?) to MM 4.X to be able to play the downloaded MP3s. Perhaps I'm stuck on MM 3.X as long as I'm XP SP3?

Any feedback on how to move forward would be appreciated. TIA

Mark

[Lowlander]

Perhaps others can discern what needs to be done (plug-ins?)

http://www.mediamonkey.com/support/inde ... icleid=101

[Guest]

I tried in_mpg123.dll with 4.0.6.1501; no help. It is possible I did not 'install' it correctly. The input plug-in display had 8-10 different entries; the in_!mpg123 entry was there but it is unclear what else, if anything, had to done to make in_!mpg123 'active'. It is unclear how to determine what is/are the 'active' plug-ins.

The 'Some MP3s Dont Play' help information implies I should see in_mad.dll and/or in_mpg123.dll in 3.2.5.1306; it is not present in the MediaMonkey directory or any of the sub-directorys.

In any case, the day job beckons and I will not be able to try this again for a couple of weeks. Perhaps someone else will have a definitive answer in the meantime.

Thanks for the help.

Mark

[DreadM]

I had the same problem with a amazone MP3 Album Download,
some of the tracks had crackling sound.
i try different things nothing helps,
until i noticed that the affected tracks have +db track volume!

my solution was to uncheck the "level playback volume to " in the Tools / Options / Volume Leveling Menu.
now every track sounds alright.

[Guest]

DreadM,

<<some of the tracks had crackling sound.>>

exactly

<<until i noticed that the affected tracks have +db track volume!>>

unfortunately, I did not notice if that was true in my case. I have reverted back to 3.2.5.1306.

It will be two weeks before I can try 4.0.6.1506 again, I will try your fix then. Did you try using the other drivers suggested by Lowlander during your testing?

Thanks!

Mark

[Lowlander]

You can re-analyze volume on those tracks (make sure you disable the option to only do this for unknown leveling adjustment) and see if that improves the sound quality (ie the dB value changes).

[Guest]

Fixed! But for others I will provide the details.

After a clean re-install of 4.0.6.1501 the problem still existed. I tried the the two suggested drivers (in_mpg123 and in_map); they had the same issues.

The Amazon tracks with the issues, in my case, had mostly negative db gains so the correlation of 'noise' and positive db gain did not hold. Like DreadM, I did find that by un-checking Tools>Options>Volume Leveling>Level Playback Volume To that the 'noise' symptoms disappeared.

In my case, the 4.0.6.1501 installation value for 'Target Volume for Leveling Tracks' was 90db but the 'Level Playback Volume To' value is 110db! I found that by reducing the value of 110db to 90db the noise completely disappeared.

So, as Lowlander suggested, I re-analyzed the Amazon downloaded tracks with 4.0.6.1501 and they played fine at 90db and at 110db. It appears if the ' Level Playback Volume To' is significantly greater than the 'Target Volume for Leveling Tracks' then 'noise' can occur on the playback of Amazon downloaded tracks until they are re-analyzed with 4.0.6.1501; I had one Amazon file analyzed by MM 3 which played fine in MM 3 but was terrible in MM 4 until re-analyzed.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[Guest]

Additional information: I have found that some tracks still have significant 'noise' even anfter being re-analyzed in 4.0.6.1501.

I suspect the real issue is that you just can't reliably replay at 110db if the tracks are analyzed a lower levels, i.e. make 'Level Playback Volume To' = 'Target Volume for Leveling Tracks'.

Mark

[Lowlander]

Ideally you leave it at 89dB and use system/device volume to up the playback volume. For me (as some devices just are too soft) I've not noticed issue leveling (during Auto-Sync) up to 95dB. Above that artifacts start slipping in.

[Aff]

To avoid such distortion, you simply have to check "Clipping prevention"!

Let me make things clearer about the volume: those 89 dB correspond to about -14 dBFS of a sine wave (single tone), where 0 dBFS is the absolute maximum (the highest possible digit). So 103 dB (=89+14) would be the maximum level. If you set it to higher numbers, the digital signal is clipped, that means all samples above 103 are set to 103dB. This destroys the signal, you hear distortion.
Of course only if "Clipping prevention" is unchecked.

But music has dynamics, even if contemporary pop often has very few because of the loudness war. That means if the loudest sample is at 0 dBFS, the average (RMS) is at e.g. -8 dBFS for a loud record, or e.g. -16 dBFS for a more dynamic pop record.
The setting of 89 dB corresponds to about -17 dBFS RMS for music (or pink noise to be exact).

So if you listen mostly to modern mainstream pop/rock, you may be fine with a setting of 95 dB, as the level de facto mostly remains unchanged. If you set it higher, in most cases it is ignored when "Clipping prevention" is checked.

To sum up:

• If you listen to different genres, styles and epochs, let it at 89 dB.
• Always use "Clipping prevention".
• If you feel the maximal listening volume is too low with your PC or mobile device: buy some headphones with higher sensitivity or a more powerful device. (Or if there is not enough bass: buy some decent headphones that suit your ears.)

Edit:
MM has a bug at automatically analyzing volume where "Clipping prevention" has no effect. See Re: songs sound like static