Re: sound juicer over-range
* Aubrey Raech <aubreyraech@gmail.com> [130306 22:27]:
...
>
> > Sound Juicer 2.28.2 in Debian Squeeze (i386) was easy to use, ran
> > quickly, and appeared to function properly when ripping tracks of an
> > audiobook CD to .flac files.
> >
> > But upon subsequent listening to the .flac files, over-ranges about
> > once per minute were apparent; I verified these by loading the files
> > into Audacity.
>
> Try listening to the CD directly without ripping it. Is it still
> happening? If it is, then the problem would be with the CD rather than
> the software. Sound Juicer *should* be giving you an exact lossless rip
> if you're using it to make FLAC.
>
On a broadcast-grade CD deck with high-resolution bar-graph meter with
over-range indicator, the playback sounds clean and no over-range
distortion ("spattering") is obvious.
However, when the SPDIF output from a playback deck is connected to
the SPDIF input of a broadcast-grade digital recorder, the over-range
excursions (about once per minute) become very obvious -- something
like the sound of a cymbal.
The audiobook consists of 8 CDs and cost about $30; the brand is
Tantor.
One work-around is to play on an analogue CD machine and record on a
recorder with analogue outputs. It occurs to me that I could use an
editor such as Audacity to reduce the signal amplitude; but I do not
know whether that approach would give results which are
sonically-pleasing.
Inasmuch as the over-range splattering is not noticeable except when
listening to a direct digital copy, I conclude that the original
recording may have been normalized to eliminate all headroom. Could
this be a ploy intended to discourage duplication? or could it be (I
hesitate to suggest) due to ignorance on the part of the engineer?
I have read that not a few personal MP3/WAV players go berserk
whenever peaks reach nearly to full-scale, so I would expect any
engineer involved in the production of an audiobook would be aware of
the need to leave ample headroom.
RLH
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