burning CD's from iTunes

[DJ Andy]

Please can anyone help- how can I increase the "recording level" of a CD burned from iTunes so that it matches that of "shop bought" CD's?
Sorry if this has been covered before.
Very new to all this stuff.
(frightening how far behind I am! )
Over to you oh wise ones.
Many thanks.

[quiet_flame]

Hmmm... the only thing I can think of is in the settings in Itunes.

Try this;

At the moment under your playback options you've probably got "sound check on" which means, many of the songs are already decreased in volume to suit the "quietest" track in your library.

Turn that off and try burning the CD again.
If this doesn't work... I'm not sure.
I've never really had that problem before (or it could just be that I haven't noticed...)

[DJ Andy]

[quote=quiet_flame]


Try this;

At the moment under your playback options you've probably got "sound check on" which means, many of the songs are already decreased in volume to suit the "quietest" track in your library.

I've done that- it improved things a bit but not by a substantial amount.
But thanks for your input.

[quiet_flame]

no probs, I didn't know how much it would effect the burning output.
It also depends on a few things...

Disclaimer: This is a big spiel

What format the track was imported under.
For example, if imported in MP3 format the compression ratio already reduces the total dB output of the track.
If you're planning to reburn CD's at the same output as before the track was imported your best (but most harddrive consuming) format is usually .wav format. It's also the best for editing the track.
Alternatively (if you're a mac user) import in .aiff format, that way it's ready to be edited in garage band. (you can drag and drop from Itunes anyway, but garage band writes in .Aiff format.)
This will reduce the loss of the dB output of the track.
Also try to import the track under the highest bitrate possible as the quality of the track will improve (some may dissagree but when reburning you will notice the difference).

Chances are you probably started importing under the standard Itunes settings, which means you've imported in the mac "lossless" format of AAC, and with 128bit rate.
As much as I like mac the format is not lossless, the format has dB loss (so you lose some of your output when reburning.)

These are all things to take into consideration when importing your tracks for reburning.

Basically, when you rip a track, you are compressing the file for playback through the computer. The software and sound cards are expected to compensate on output for the losses incurred from compressing the files.

The other part is, it could be a built in feature of itunes... (something i have certainly considered when you take into account all the safeguards with Ipods.) That you cannot reproduce a perfect copy of any given track otherwise we would be able to do the record companies out of a fair bit of money... reproducing CD's and selling them at a fraction of the price, but still making a profit, or, you know, just giving it away if you're a generous soul

Hope this helps

[DJ Andy]

Yeah, that sort of all makes sense!
Thanks again.
I'd buy you a Toohey's (or does that date me-it's 20 years since I was in Sydney!) but have some rep instead.

[quiet_flame]

Originally Posted by DJ Andy

Yeah, that sort of all makes sense!
Thanks again.
I'd buy you a Toohey's (or does that date me-it's 20 years since I was in Sydney!) but have some rep instead.

No, tooheys is still good.
Prefer a good wine.
But then again a lot of my friends called me a bit of a snob and too sophistomacated for them
Beer is always welcome however