USB Level low on Nova
Posted by: Mercky on 12 August 2018
I ripped a few cds to a stick yesterday using dbpoweramp (WAV), had a few funnies but I notice the level is considerably lower via usb compared to tidal or internet radio, probably by about 15 or 20%, anyone else notice this or is it normal? Bit annoying as you have to turn the vol down when you change inputs.
I ripped a few more cds and it does seem to vary from disc to disc so I’m guessing there’s some sort of equalising on tidal that evens it out, most of my cds are a good few years old but the later recordings seem better, guess it’s just a source issue rather then the usb input on the nova.
I can never remember which inputs do or don’t have the ‘input trim’ option (found in input settings) and it is different for old and new streamers. If you have it, you can use it to adjust the relevant input’s volume level.
Mercky posted:I ripped a few more cds and it does seem to vary from disc to disc so I’m guessing there’s some sort of equalising on tidal that evens it out, most of my cds are a good few years old but the later recordings seem better, guess it’s just a source issue rather then the usb input on the nova.
If you are using older CDs they may well be mastered more satisfactorily compared to modern ones mastered for 'loudness'
Perhaps Tidal does some audio levelling or uses more recent digital remasters.
Equally you might be onto something regarding the way different sources are processed - what might be interesting to compare would be downloading a hi-res track and then making a CD quality copy from it and seeing if one or the other is louder - I'm not sure comparing the same track in different download qualities would be the same as they may have been prepared differently. This may be a flawed idea I'm sure someone will correct!
I've often felt Chromecast from Qobuz seems a different volume to playing the download file from the NAS which is odd if the purchased downloads are identical in provenance with only the delivery method differing, but there may well be differences in 'volume' from different software engines for Tidal/Chromecast/Airplay etc
Thanks, There’s no trim unfortunately but even if their was there’s still the variation disc to disc, does anyone notice this on their NAS? As most of my cds are old I’m going to buy something recent that I know tomorrow, like a decent ECM recording, and see how that sounds ripped.
Just tried a Qobuz 24bit download on another stick and the level is well up there so it’s definitely not the usb input, seems Cds vary a lot but streaming and download services apply some loudness but flatten everything out too, suppose it makes sense otherwise streamed playlists would be all over the place level wise