Audio normalization, gain and EQ on the station dashboard.

Comments: 51

• 20 Jul, '18
  jerry

  this would be *huge* as it's also something i'm looking into for my entire library. i know there is software out there that will allow me to normalize my own library and i'm looking into that but it's still a constant battle as i get new music. not sure how easy this would be but i dig it.

• 20 Jul, '18
  Scott Bringhurst

  This needs to be addressed ASAP. I've had a number of people tell me that their listening experience is degraded by poor sound quality and unequal volumes between tracks. This is NOT my problem. I use SAM Broadcaster to broadcast the same music on a weekly live show and there is no problem with the volumes between tracks. It is quite frustrating to make the effort to put a good channel on the air only to have people turn it off because of poor audio quality.

• 22 Aug, '18
  Kevin

  It is an important feature to consider adding to the platform. It respects the listener and will retain them longer.

• 15 Sep, '18
  Rocky Bucano

  Good idea a huge plus

• 06 Nov, '18
  Robert Bass

  I'm OK with it if broadcasters can enable / disable as desired. I do not want it enabled for my LIVE stream because I already have my own processing, but I would consider using it if I ever have to use AutoDJ.

• 08 Nov, '18
  Jim DeBaun

  Absolutely. Coming from Sam Broadcaster I am trying to mimic what I had there. The processing and volume between tracks was excellent. I have confidence that this will be addressed as well as the cross fading.

• 30 Jan, '19
  DJ Lorelei Merged

  Even though I use normalizing software to "fix" my mp3s before I upload them to the station, some songs are still playing on my station at a much lower volume than other songs, especially songs with spoken words in them. It would be nice to have the option to normalize the songs within the Live365 software so that they all play at the same volume recognized by the software that is broadcasting the songs.

• 30 Jan, '19
  Bogdan Admin

  "Normalizer Integrated in Broadcasting Software" (suggested by DJ Lorelei on 2019-01-30), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 17 Feb, '19
  Tim Boudreau

  Auto limit, compress, expand of our stations going over the air, is my second most desired upgrade to Live365 after overlap with no fade.

• 03 Mar, '19
  Alex Nieves

  This process is critical to the listening experience. I Process all my music before loading it however I can still hear some volume issues every now and then.

• 04 Nov, '19
  Jeff

  Normalization would be HUGE. Please add this function. Thank you!

• 05 Jan, '20
  Dave

  I'm new to Live365 and so far this is an issue I'm having. Normalization would make all the difference!

• 21 Jan, '20
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Add compression" (suggested by David D Doerrier on 2019-12-11), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 22 Jan, '20
  Jennifer

  Normalization is definitely the feature we most need on our station. Would give a much more pro listening experience and enhance the profile and reputation of Live 365. Please add asap ! Thanks

• 22 Jan, '20
  David D Doerrier

  I agree with everyone on the thread - we need Compression. Out of all the great suggestions for upgrades to Live365 on this site, this is my #1 request. I have normalized all songs before uploading to Live365, but still hear volume fluctuations. Thanks.

• 12 Feb, '20
  Dale Heizer

  Let's face it, there are no 2 CD's out there that are recorded at the same audio levels, this makes it hard to reduce complaints from listeners that one minute they are turning up the volume to hear a song, then turning back down when it's too loud. Normalization/Gain control is really needed so we don't lose our listeners. I have tried to normalize all songs before uploading to Live365, but there are still volume fluctuations. Please expedite this and here's to a successful 2020 on Live365!

• 14 Apr, '20
  Kevin Ford

  I would love to have normalization as I'm also experiencing a wide range of volume levels when I listen back online after uploading to the station. Especially for the AutoDJ which I use quite a bit... Please, thanks!

• 25 Jul, '20
  SakeBito

  From back in the pre-2016 Live365 days I learned that prepping songs myself prior to uploading to the playlist is essential for a number of vital technical points, equalization being a big one. Generally I take every song into Audacity and tweak the volume (via the Amplify function in the "Effect" menu) to right at the clipping point - maybe a bit beyond, since it's rock 'n roll and all...
  
  But ad volume relative to content has become increasingly outrageous over the last six months...

• 26 Jul, '20
  Ronnaldo

  It would be great to control the general volume of commercials coming from the advertising server. Commercials on my station are consistently louder. We should have more control over the general volume of the commercials. It would really be a plus for my listeners.

• 14 Aug, '20
  Kevin

  Before starting my station I read many articles from the knowledge base on here. They say many/most broadcasters use AUTODJ and that we want to sound like terrestrial/professional radio as possible. This would make that happen!

• 15 Aug, '20
  Bob Merged

  My MP3s were accumulated over several years from several different sources, and the volume is "all over the place". It can be very uncomfortable to strain to hear a song, and then subsequently get blown away by a too-loud one.

• 22 Nov, '20
  MIDNIGHT MIKE

  This would be a huge plus!!!!

• 16 Dec, '20
  Eric

  Please, please, please put this at the top of priority list for new features. We recently acquired 236 songs from a professional music service so we could expand the presence of "oldies" on our station. All of our oldies are MP3 but the new music, which comes from a different service, is all M4A. We previewed the oldies we purchased and verified that the levels all seemed to be fine and then jumped into loading the music. After hearing them play back in AutoDJ, we are concerned because most of them play at a noticeably lower volume than the new music. Unfortunately, we may have no choice but to edit the levels on every song, delete what we recently added and then replace them with the edited versions. If the AutoDJ had a normalization or gain feature, this wouldn't be a time consuming problem. Thank you for considering our requests.

• 19 Jan, '21
  Dave

  I launched my station a month ago, and most of my listeners are coming back to me with comments about uneven volume levels (some quiet tracks) from time to time, but mostly the super loud commercials (which I have no control over). Would love to see an update from someone in charge of the technical side of things. Thanks.

• 22 Mar, '21
  Pat Epstein

  ABSOLUTELY! I try to upload tracks that with the utmost optimal levels possible, but with a few tracks they just need a helping boost.

• 24 Mar, '21
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Volume leveling" (suggested by Bob on 2020-08-15), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 12 May, '21
  Alex V Merged

  Being able to add or subtract by the decibel for each track would be highly desirable. Adding a drop down for this on the track details dialog.

• 12 May, '21
  Alex V Merged

  A master gain control would be highly desirable. Be sure to prevent digital clipping distortion by applying a basic limiter with a fast attack and release.

• 12 May, '21
  Alex V Merged

  Ad agencies generally create radio ads that are normalized and limited so they sound very loud. This is jarring when heard in between music tracks. I know contracts are involved but the commercials simply need to come down about 2.5 decibels. Listeners hate being forced to reach for the volume control every time the ads start. It feels like hostility when the commercials are so much louder.

• 12 May, '21
  Alex V

  This absolutely needs to happen. I cannot stress this enough. Volume control is everything.

• 13 May, '21
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Turn down ads" (suggested by Alex V on 2021-05-12), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 13 May, '21
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Master gain control" (suggested by Alex V on 2021-05-12), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 13 May, '21
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Track by track volume adjustment" (suggested by Alex V on 2021-05-12), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 23 May, '21
  Alex V

  If you can't bring the loudest peaks to hit 0db as they should be, rather than -4.5 db, it's A DEAL KILLER.
  
  I understand you are working on a comprehensive solution but you should at least fix the problem with OVER ALL LEVEL RIGHT NOW.
  
  It will only take a minute to adjust that fader. We need to make this happen. It's a system-wide issue. ALL of your stations are peaking FAR BELOW zero db.
  
  Everyone I have played my station too has reported back to me that this is a problem. You really need to. those extra decibels are holding the entire live365 project back! I know you want everyone to have the best shot at success. That includes proper levels. It's essential.

• 24 May, '21
  Kevin

  What is the status of this feature being implemented?

• 21 Jun, '21
  Richard Elen

  Important to note that this feature should implement LOUDNESS normalization, not peak level normalization. The intention of this feature would be to ensure similar subjective loudness between tracks, the eg ratio between peak and average levels.
  
  Suggested spec: EBU R 128 loudness normalization. You would be able to set the target loudness LUFS, default -16 LUFS.

• 21 Jun, '21
  Austin Miller

  Please include the ability to turn this feature on and off.

• 04 Aug, '21
  SakeBito

  To revise and extend my previous: Other than normal dynamics (mellow tunes vs. pedal-to-the-metal rockers,) I'm having no problems with song-to-song volume.
  
  But there's a big, big problem with ads that blast out at a level two to three times the volume of the content.
  
  On a help forum someone mentioned something called "Replay Gain tags," which you can somehow add to your songs' MP3 tags before uploading. Presumably once this is done, the Live365 ad algorithms will automatically adjust ad volume to match the level to those Replay Gain tags? It's hazy and I'm neither a coder nor broadcast professional, but...
  
  Yes, if there were a simple "Add Replay Gain tag to track" button within the track Edit menu, right there in the Broadcaster Dashboard, that's all we'd need. Failing that, a clear, simple tutorial on how Replay Gain works and how to add it to your uploads - **written on the assumption that it will be read by hobbyists, not software engineers** - would work too.

• 11 Jan, '22
  Bobby Crumby

  I use auto Dj exclusively and I have noticed a difference in the volume of my station versus other stations that I know use Sam or other automation software. I would love to have the option of punching up the sound without having to set up a pc to run the stations. I have also had listeners tell me that have to turn up the volume to 100% on Bluetooth speakers to get normal volume from my station.

• 20 Jan, '22
  frank miller

  i don't know if it has been mentioned but being able to add a specific amount of seconds of silence before and after each song, if needed.

• 11 Mar, '22
  Cocoa Mirage Merged

  When I upload music to the station the playback is extremely LOW! I can barely hear the station at all. Live 365 volume is raised to the highest level #38 , but when I tune into other mainstream radio stations #38 is blasting loud. I must be able to have proper levels at station in order to get listeners engaged.

• 18 Mar, '22
  Darwin Strong

  Wow, it would be awesome if we could shape the loudness and EQ of our stations. The sooner the better. My listeners complain about soft music and loud commercials maybe use the same software on normalizing the commercials and normalize our stations.

• 09 Apr, '22
  SakeBito

  To add input on Frank's comment, I know that crossfading is considered standard for radio, but from childhood listening onward I'd always considered that as disrespectful to the music. Dead air is not desirable, but neither is a 3x-volume ad blasting out within 300 milliseconds of the last note of a song. As a broadcaster who's broadcasting the music I love, the music is priority #1 - so I too want at least a couple seconds of silence before and after each song. I add it using Audacity's "Generate silence" feature, but apparently the L365 site has an algorithm that automatically starts up an ad the second any silence of any duration appears. I'd rather have control of that.
  
  But please - *please* - give us a tool to get Ad Volume vs. Content Volume at the same level! And please realize that to assume everybody here has a degree in Broadcasting and therefore knows how to do this stuff is basically to thumb your nose at hobbyists - and to discourage their broadcasting at Live365.

• 03 May, '22
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Volume control for your actual music content so playlist can be heard by listeners" (suggested by Cocoa Mirage on 2022-03-11), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 28 May, '22
  Bob

  I launched my station with Live365 a couple of years ago but haven't even begun to market it - or even tell many people about it. 50% of the mp3s play at a normal volume, however, 25% play TOO LOUD and the other 25% play too soft. With my own mp3 editor, I am constantly either (usually) lowering the volume or increasing the volume - but it doesn't matter. The mp3 volume is changed significantly by me, but when it is broadcast on Live365, the change is barely noticeable. Same with the ID/promos. They are your typical spots with people talking and a few sound effects, maybe a few song samples. The IDs/promos are worse than the mp3s. With my mp3 editor, I lowered the volume on the ID/promos so low that they are barely audible on my mp3 player, yet when they come on Live365 they blast you out of your seat.

• 31 May, '22
  Monica

  I have had several listeners complain the volume is too low and I have always thought so. The recent one was today. This is a problem I hope to be resolved as soon as possible.

• 23 Sep, '22
  David

  Normalization is good but there are no standards by the record labels so you have some songs with great power and substance and then there are those that seem weak. A lot of those that seem weak need more than normalization, usually remastering which is something we don't have the luxury to deal with so we do what we can. I'm a recording engineer and semi novice broadcast eng and dealing with processing can help. Before I go out to the stream I process with broadcast processing, Stereo Tool by Thimeo and a plugin call loudmax. I'm using a Mac and my connection the stream is Nicecast. Look up KNGY here.

• 18 Oct, '22
  Tom McMurtry Merged

  After listening to many radio stations, I noticed something different. Some stations the output music volume was very high, and others like mine low. Sometimes loading certain cd's, the song levels are low and others high. I would like to see a way each of us could control the listening level of each station. My suggestion, I think the control would be located on each station's dashboard. I communicated with an engineer through email at Live365. He said it can be done, but like all things it must be approved at the top level of management.
  Please all broadcasters if you like this idea of volume control for each station let the management know. Thank you

• 25 Oct, '22
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Our radio stations need a way to control volume levels" (suggested by Tom McMurtry on 2022-10-18), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 21 Jan
  Bob

  Is anything being done to address the obvious and bombastic increase in volume when a station ID or promo is broadcast? It not only makes the station sound amateurish, but it is jarring and off-putting, which is the last thing you want when trying to attract and retain listeners.

• 26 Jan
  Ionut Sarghi Admin

  "Master station volume" (suggested by Warren Gradus on 2022-11-22), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.