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Better sound in iTunes using EQ and Volume Logic

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:50 am
by Haydn
I use iTunes on my Mac, and I've recently discovered I can get a lot of older tracks to sound better by creating my own customised EQ settings, and also by using the excellent 'Volume Logic' iTunes plug-in.

http://www.volumelogic.com/index.asp?co ... icPlugins2
(You can download a free 30-day demo)

Anyone else had either good or bad results from iTunes using customised EQ settings and/or Volume Logic?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:46 am
by la musette
I set some of my old tinny tracks to 'dance' or 'bass boost' and that made them sound a little better.

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:08 pm
by Haydn
la musette wrote:I set some of my old tinny tracks to 'dance' or 'bass boost' and that made them sound a little better.
Have you tried making your own EQ presets?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:45 pm
by la musette
Haydn wrote:
la musette wrote:I set some of my old tinny tracks to 'dance' or 'bass boost' and that made them sound a little better.
Have you tried making your own EQ presets?
I haven't. The Volume Logic Plug-in says it isn't compatible with Intel macs yet so I guess I can't use it yet.

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:03 pm
by Haydn
la musette wrote:
Haydn wrote:
la musette wrote:I set some of my old tinny tracks to 'dance' or 'bass boost' and that made them sound a little better.
Have you tried making your own EQ presets?
I haven't. The Volume Logic Plug-in says it isn't compatible with Intel macs yet so I guess I can't use it yet.
They say the new 'Intel Mac' compatible version is under development, and they will have a public beta available soon -
http://www.volumelogic.com/index.asp?content=news

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 1:45 pm
by sonofvu
Haydn, What are your eq settings and what tracks (name, artist, album) did you play that sounded better?

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 3:56 pm
by Haydn
sonofvu wrote:Haydn, What are your eq settings and what tracks (name, artist, album) did you play that sounded better?
Virtually every track sounds better with a custom EQ than no EQ.

EG -

Blue Minor/Chick Webb
Rockin' Rollers' Jubilee/Erskine Hawkins
Massachusetts/Gene Krupa
Well, All Right Then/Jimmie Lunceford
Apollo Jump/Lucky Millinder

Sorry, can't list exact albums at present.

I don't know how to show you the EQ settings I have used. If you tell me how do it, I am happy to do so. Basically, I listen to each track and either apply an EQ setting I already have, or make a new one. A pattern I have noticed is that increasing the high end and low end and reducing the middle makes the overall track sound better to my ears. This sort of EQ pattern certainly gives old tracks a lot more 'punch'.

Volume logic & BPM counters

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:00 pm
by wspeid
I don't know which I'm happier about this week:

- trying out Volume Logic and seeing how well it punches up my bass and treble ends to balance the mid-range. It gives you a whole new appreciation for things.

- discovering a shareware BPM counter (MixMeister BPM Analyzer 1.0) that automatically uploads bpm info into the Itunes GetInfo screen when you browse past the entry. No more evenings of 15 seconds on the big hand x 4 equals....

Bill

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:56 pm
by Campus Five
wow, that BPM analyzer is pretty off. It clocked something at 100bpm, that was really 170. Being off by half I can understand, but its not even close. I did an entire album and 3 out of the 17 tracks were right plus or minus 5bpm.

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:21 pm
by Surreal
This is what I use for BPM's...
http://www.mustiala.hamk.fi/pub/~parikka/laskuri2.htm

I just saved the page to my hard drive and do everything manually from there. After the first mouse click, you can just use the spacebar.