So I wrote this AppleScript, which can be run right from the iTunes script menu: However, in the spirit of efficiency, I wanted a way to be able to normalize playlists right from iTunes. The MacMP3Gain application does have a GUI, which allows you to process by folder or by iTunes playlist. However, MacMP3Gain offers this caveat about mp3gain: "MacMP3Gain modifies MP3 and unprotected AAC files with no provision provided to undo the changes." I haven't had any trouble after using extensively, however. Mp3gain applies lossless adjustments - it does not re-encode the MP3. If you really want to get technical, mp3gain does its analysis based on the Replay Gain algorithm. Mp3gain does more than just normalization it does analysis to determine how quiet or loud an MP3 will sound to the human ear. Another is what I am going to focus on here: MacMP3Gain, which is a port of the open source command-line program mp3gain for OS X (they also added a GUI).
I read good things about it.but it costs money. If you love Sound Check and don't have any problems with it, this tip is not for you.Īnother solution is iVolume, which I've never tried. Also, I was never able to tell the difference one way or the other - playlists with songs from different albums still sounded uneven when Sound Check was enabled. I disabled it because, with iTunes 9, I had a lot of problems importing large MP3 files - it would often hang when determing the MP3's volume. If you use this feature and like it, then you may not need this hint.
The first, of course, is iTunes' own Sound Check. There are a couple of options for "normalizing" MP3 volume in iTunes in OS X.