Volume of Tracks when analyzing

Hello,

I’m a new user of the Prime Series and excited that I ditched the laptop. Quick question on my transition from Serato DJ…

When Serato analyzed each track it also analyzed the levels to boost up low tracks (usually older ones) but I don’t see that feature anywhere. Am I missing something or is this not implemented?

Thanks!

It’s probably not implemented. Standalone media players do not boost gain levels on playback because mixers have gain knobs to manually adjust that and real VU meters for superior precision (unlike some controllers that are used with DJ software).

It’s one of those things that you will have adjust to when switching from software to standalone gear.

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It’s a feature I can do without, and something that would drive me crazy having software screw up the gain level of a older, dynamically mastered track. Of course, I might be exaggerating.

If you’re serious about going standalone and it’s the only thing stoping you, there are plenty of batch audio processing softwares out there that can normalize your library at once without you depending on Denon to cram that feature into Engine Prime.

Let’s not make Engine Prime yet another software that’s has tons of add-ons cramed into it along with inevitable bugs (and that even before it becomes a DJ software).

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Traktor i.e. does this (Autogain). When playing standalone the players don’t do the, which is wanted in my opinion. When playing with a controller and software it’s nice that the software balances the levels, when playing standalone I am happy that the volume can be set manually on the mixer.

Thank You, kind of a shame because on some sets I quickly slam between tracks and don’t want to have to adjust levels in between.

I guess I’ll take note of the lower tracks and see if I can find a software that can normalize the mp3s.

Thanks again.

It seems I’m one of the rare DJ’s that check each and every track I would want to play for level, beginning/ending silences, errors etc. before putting it in any library.

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I feel ya, but that was always the case when talking about all-in-one controllers vs standalone.

Here we have apples and oranges and some people here think that a perfect apple should look like an orange, feel like an orange and taste like an orange. What’s next, mk2 version of Prime gear should not be required to be connected with cables because controllers are easier to set up and why the hell should you pay so much money and then be required to bring cables? #sarcasm

As an Ex-Traktor user who used AutoGain for peace of mind:-

Moving the Denon without Autogain I honestly haven’t noticed any issues. I run all my tracks through traktor to analyse and set a beat-marker. Then adjust the Denon grid to this traktor Cue on the players itself.

Now - I’m unsure if analysing through traktor first sets the track gain on the mp3 or not - However, there has only been a handful of times i’ve needed to make any major gain adjustments to tracks on the X1800 to bring them in line.

in your case, I wouldn’t be too concerned either way. I always take a quick glance at my tracks to ensure they’re just touching the first white marker on the channel levels. Its a good quick habit to get into and you forget you’re doing it after a couple of gigs.

Auto gaining is very dependent on the way it is done. I switch it off in all software, always.

I run all my tracks through Platinum Notes, which uses a very good algorithm to adjust the gain of all tracks to the same level. After that, auto gaining in software or players is no longer necessary.

That said, you should ALWAYS keep your eye on the level meters when you are cueing up the next track and use gain/trim knob to adjust. After all there is volume level and there is energy level and dynamic range. Play a 3dB dynamic range high energy dance track with a -12,5dB gain setting and a nice 60dB dynamic range variable energy classical piece at the same gain setting and the experience for the listener will be very different from a “loudness” perspective.

As usual in DJ-ing, trust your ears!

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Does Platinum Notes work well with matching volume levels of older recordings from the 70’, 80’s, and 90’s era with more modern songs. I’m a Serato user and I’ve tried both auto-gain on and off and just can’t find a good match for mixing older tracks with the more newer songs.

The major difference here, as I said in my previous answer, is in PERCEIVED loudness, not actual dB level volume.

And perceived loudness is affected mainly by the compression level. And that is something that is hard to change, unless you decide to run your favorite oldies through compression software first.

Google “loudness wars” and you’ll find many postings about the phenomenon

My three cents as usual.

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Auto gain, auto tune, auto dj…??? this is not only doing harm to the tracks volume/dynamics/quality some times but also makes djs lazy. I used Traktor a lot and never used auto gain. Gain is something that should be done by ear not by algorithm, that not always takes the right part of the track as peak.

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I’m old skool, & generally set gain on tracks manually. But i also recognise that autogain is just a tool that can be used when needed (rather like the argument for driving an automatic car for the convenience, even though you’re licensed/perfectly capable of driving a car with a manual gearbox)

Here’s something to consider though… the Prime Go is coming, & that has metering that only shows the main output levels. So for Prime Go owners, i’d say Autogain would be a necessity.

Here is a feature request for autogain.

https://community.enginedj.com/t/autogain-during-analysis-for-playback-on-prime-hardware/14363

Give it a :heart: like.

It is requested as an option, you don’t have to use it.

I don’t use key shift, soundcloud or tidal but i won’t stop others from using or requesting it.

Whats the fun if we all do things the same way

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You are right. But this auto all is sometimes showing how people get lazy and don’t want to perform even a simple task… Well many people don’t even look at the VU meters… But that’s a different story :smiley:

I know, i am one of the lazy ones lol.

But i still adjust the trim if the software doesn’t get it right. Its the same with sync, bpm display, not carrying crates etc.

Take a technology like key lock or pitch n time , imagine if they took that away … back to the chipmunk era.

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That had era had some magic in it :wink: People were coming to the club to listen to the new stuff that djs only had. Cool times :wink:

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If you are going to have a piece of hardware where one of the features is a playlist function. You better have auto gain. It’s almost useless without it. Everywhere else in the world has autogain, even itunes uses it. Very dissapointed in denon, and the community for their response to this issue.

Well, most DJ players of the last 10+ years work with playlists, and not a single one has autogain. Autogain for DJ’ing at least for me is basically useless, as eq, layering/mixing has a great influence on perceived final output gain. You’ll have to adjust gain anyway, depending on where on the track you mix, present elements, etc.

“Dumb” Controllers outsell DJ players and Turntables combined.