@p_opus wrote:
…Note: Fuze does not support APEv2 tags used by MP3Gain…
This is true and false…
It’s true that the Fuze won’t support the APEv2 tags used by MP3Gain, but the APEv2 tags are what MP3Gain uses to note the analysis and undo information only. MP3Gain actually modifies the “global gain” on each frame of the MP3 file. As a result, players that don’t support normal Replay Gain, will see obvious Gain improvements with MP3Gain. I have used MP3Gain on all my MP3’s and have noted SIGNIFICANT differences in gain from files that were not modified by MP3Gain and files that were. Every Sansa I have owned noted Gain changes on files modified with MP3Gain.
Replay Gain does NOT modify the “global gain” of each frame, and as a result, a player supporting Replay Gain is required for you to notice gain changes made by Replay Gain.
Since the Sansa Fuze does not support the APEv2 tags used by MP3Gain, turning on or off Replay Gain on the Fuze will have absolutely no affect on playback in the Fuze. However if you use MP3Gain to modify an MP3 file then the gain increase or decrease you applied via MP3Gain will definitely be noticable when played back on the Fuze, even with Replay Gain off.
Many people prefer Replay Gain because all the Gain adjustments are made in the tag. Thus the actual file is not changed. The danger of using MP3Gain is that if for some reason, the APEv2 data is lost of the file, then you lose the ability to undo your gain changes, and now your MP3 is “stuck” at the gain it was at prior to losing the tags. Now, if you “remember” the original values, you can re-run MP3Gain and undo your changes. But there is a small risk that in case of metatag corruption you might be “stuck” at the new gain value.
With Replay Gain, there is no modification of the global Gain values in the MP3 frames. As a result, if you lose the metadata, you lose nothing. It’s safer. The downside is, your player MUST support Replay Gain to get any benefit at all.
I prefer MP3Gain, as I don’t have to worry whether or not my player will support it or not. I can play my MP3 through any application and my Gain changes will be read. Since I backup all my music regularly, then I don’t feel too worried about losing the metadata, since I can always delete the corrupt file and restore from the backup.
Hope this clarifies things.
That’s exactly what I was (rather poorly) trying to explain in my previous post. It was late and I needed to get to bed so I had just done a rush job at trying to get something posted to give people a little insight into things. I was hoping someone else would come along provide a better explaination than I had time to. You did a GREAT job of clearifying what I was trying to point out earlier. Thank you p_opus!!!
