bobtheknob
07-26-2016, 06:22 AM
As you have no doubt noticed, I've been posting quite a bit of Surround Sound posts during the last several months. One of the things I do in the process of getting the Surround Sound .flac files ready for posting is to run them through an amplitude analysis (using Adobe Audition CC 2015) to determine the file's maximum peak level, and then using the result of that analysis to turn up the .flac files' volume to their collective maximum possible level without going over the "0 dB" threshold, so as to give everyone the greatest possible output while they are listening. So far I haven't gotten any complaints about how I'm doing it, so I assume it's been successful up to this point.
One thing I've noticed, however, is that, without one single exception, every extracted surround sound file I've worked with always requires an amplitude increase of some sort. I have never found an SACD (or Audio DVD) where the Surround Sound files were already at "peak", so that I could simply post them "as is". This is not true of 2-channel files, especially with standard 44.1 kHz/16-bit redbook CD audio, as they are are occasionally already mastered at "peak" and require no changes before posting. So why are Surround Sound files different?
The reason for this post here is because I'm starting to wonder if, perhaps, there might be a reason for surround sound files always being below peak, which I might be unaware of.
Is it possible that, by turning up the volume level to the maximum level short of 0 dB, I might be causing a problem that I'm not aware of?
Any comments or suggestions you can offer are welcome.
(It would be especially helpful, also, to hear from anybody who has downloaded some of my Surround Sound files and listened to them, who could give me some feedback on how they sound, if the way I'm preparing them seems to work OK on your end.)
(And moderators, if I have posted this in the wrong place, then please feel free to move it to a more appropriate location with my apologies.)
One thing I've noticed, however, is that, without one single exception, every extracted surround sound file I've worked with always requires an amplitude increase of some sort. I have never found an SACD (or Audio DVD) where the Surround Sound files were already at "peak", so that I could simply post them "as is". This is not true of 2-channel files, especially with standard 44.1 kHz/16-bit redbook CD audio, as they are are occasionally already mastered at "peak" and require no changes before posting. So why are Surround Sound files different?
The reason for this post here is because I'm starting to wonder if, perhaps, there might be a reason for surround sound files always being below peak, which I might be unaware of.
Is it possible that, by turning up the volume level to the maximum level short of 0 dB, I might be causing a problem that I'm not aware of?
Any comments or suggestions you can offer are welcome.
(It would be especially helpful, also, to hear from anybody who has downloaded some of my Surround Sound files and listened to them, who could give me some feedback on how they sound, if the way I'm preparing them seems to work OK on your end.)
(And moderators, if I have posted this in the wrong place, then please feel free to move it to a more appropriate location with my apologies.)