Hey guys well i decided it was time to start getting back into mixing (For Fun) but i have encountered a few problems and would like some advise on the best ways to over come them.
I’ve Downloaded (paid for) some Toolroom Albums and they come with Mixed and Unmixed tracks but the whole collection has the same artwork.
How do i change the artwork on a Mp3 and Embed so that it works on all systems?
I’m a twit and have managed to duplicate my Mp3 and Wav files (more than a few times) and now have multiple files with very similar Names.
Is there any software that will help with sorting out My Mp3/Wav Collection?
I use traktor to dj with but for some reason its giving me strange readings for Mp3 Bitrate, some read they are 48kbs even though the quality sounds better than ones showing 320.
Is there any software that will acuratly check the quality of my Mp3/Wav Collection?
Try Mediamonkey for editing tags and artwork and sorting your collection. I use it for my mulitroom system and I really like it. I have almost managed to give up iTunes completely. I use the paid version I like it so much. There is a free version as well.
I think that the bit rate info on an mp3 is only a tag so it could be wrong. I took a look at my Traktor and I didn’t see anything like that, all my mp3 show up as 320 and my Wav show up as 1411. I have never heard of a program that tests the quality of a music file, and without compairing it to the original I would think it wasn’t possible, how would the program know the difference between an artifact and a bit of percussion. I would be interested to be proved wrong though.
Hi Jon… In what way do you want to check for quality? do u want to check for an accurate bit rate or do want the best sound?
I use Platinum notes to get the best quality sound I can from my mp3’s it checks and smoothes over clipped peaks and also rectifies tracks that are off tune (though how it does this I don’t know)…? then i use mixed in key to help to build a set that flows nicely through the mixes.
I have to say I would stay clear of Platinum notes. Improve the quality of MP3s. No, just not possible. Snake oil.
We all know how much effort and skill goes into mixing and mastering tracks, let alone all the hardware gear they use. The idea that you can run it through this bit of software and it will make all tracks “better” is nonsense.
The audio demo on the page just sounds like it has been limited more so it is louder and sounds better to us. But that is the last thing that needs to be done to modern music.
[quote]TheAnt (28/10/2010)[hr]I have to say I would stay clear of Platinum notes. Improve the quality of MP3s. No, just not possible. Snake oil.
We all know how much effort and skill goes into mixing and mastering tracks, let alone all thehardware gear they use. The idea that you can run it through this bit of software and it will make all tracks “better” is nonsense.
The audio demo on the page just sounds like it has been limited more so it is louder and sounds better to us. But that is the last thing that needs to be done to modern music.[/quote]
To be honest I find it very useful it doesn’t drastically change tracks, I haven’t notice it MESS up anything and with the obsession with Loudness and bedroom dj/ producers that haven’t got an clue when it comes to compression anything that helps make a track sound as good as it can is not a problem… for me anyway… READ THEIR FORUM B4 U JUDGE!
It also means that give or take a few db the tracks I play out are all the same volume, so their is no pushing the gains on the mixer up and down or boosting the eq’s to get the volume equal from track to track…
Sure, if you like it then great. But I buy tracks and they are professionally mastered, I just don’t believe that running through a bit of auto mastering will make it better, I think it will make it worse.
I can see that having all your tracks at the same level might be a good thing but for me setting the gain and eqing the mix come as natural as scratching my arse.
Many of you will probably have heard of Mixed in Key, and if you haven’t you should have. An excellent application that determines the musical key of your audio files. However the makers of this clever piece of software have just released version 3 of it’s sister program ‘Platinum Notes’ (find out how you can win a copy of this at the end of the article).
So what does Platinum Notes do? Well according to the team at Mixed in Key, Platinum Notes is a batch processing tool for mp3/Wav/AAC files. The software takes these files analyses them and the adjusts, tweaks, corrects and brightens them into a pristine mp3 or WAV that they claim will sound great on anything from an iPod to a festival sound system.
The product markets itself as an audio mastering tool for DJs, and I think that sums it up rather well. While there is lots of software that will batch normalise your music collection (ie make them all roughly the same volume) Platinum Notes goes beyond that. It lowers over loud tunes while still giving them ‘umph’ it increases the gain on quiet tunes, while still leaving lots of dynamic range (it doesn’t flat limit the track like many others do) and it also claims to re-pitch out of tune elements etc, though I have yet found a tune requiring this for testing.
Unfortunately Bang the DJ doesn’t have a festival sound system at our disposal for testing, but we ran some tracks through it to see what results one might expect. The two most likely scenarios for using this software will be to adju your existing music collection, or to make tunes you’ve made yourself ‘club ready’
The software uses technologies licensed from iZotope who are fames for their mastering plugins, as well as MIK’s very own filters. This means that it is of good pedigree, though I don’t think anyone is suggesting this software is inteneted to replace the mastering engineer/process.
As well as the default settings, this new version actually gives the user much more control over how it processes files, enabling you to decide how you want your tracks to be processed, which is a great new addition, and makes this a much more flexible tool than any other standard normalizer/audio processor.
You can hear the increase in volume whilst maintaining and even improving the dynamic range. Performing the same thing on a pre-mastered track from Beatport and we actually see the gain being decreased slightly, and where there has been clipping, the software has attempted to repair this.
Over all, the software is a welcome addition in the digital DJs tool box. Using this on your collection could well make some of those ‘macho mastered’ tracks sound a lot better over the club system, pulling them in a bit and allowing for a smoother deeper sound.
Don’t however think something like this is an excuse to be lazy with your own productions. A proper mix down and mastering will work wonders, however Platinum Notes
And comments from users
jimmylove
03-22-2010
i love your product. worth $98
mp3’s sound so crisp and clean.
keep up good work
dj mikey mike Reply
TheCoolest
03-22-2010
Yahoooooooo! This thing is so fast now. You guys killed it with this one!!! In other words, awesome upgrade. An already great product was just made legendary.
Thanks (understatement).
-DJ Psychic Reply
LiveVegasShow
03-22-2010
Same comments here. PN 3 is a great product. Thanks to all at PN for another great update and to your continued success.
I was a beta tester and found no issues on my end. I was shocked to see processing time almost cut in half! A great surprise. I subscribe to the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principal and true to form - you delivered - ten-fold!
Cheers!
Will Love
03-24-2010
I have to say I’m impressed!
I sent an email to PN/MIK customer service because I had not received an email with a link for an upgrade.
It was literally 6 or so hours and I had a response with the link.
AWESOME customer service!
The upgrade is definitely worth its title. I had recently used a default setting when using 2.5 on a future mix i have semi-planned, so when scanning the same batch of tracks with 3.0
I can honestly say its better. Runs/Loads twice as fast or more. PN 2.5 apparently wasn’t too bad either, so not much of the batch I was testing was changed(i.e. pitch adjust, etc) with the exception of the new default volume adjust setting. But it did find a few. Enough to warrant the upgrade or to persuade new buyers. If any of my tracks are out of pitch/key, I want to know about it and this helped.
Platinum Keys is a very strange tool, i have it as part of the Mixed In Keys Bundle but don’t really like using it to be honest, It uses some algorithms from Izotopes Ozone or something like that and gets all your media to the same basic volume db so i stay away from it just incase. I’ve heard many people say it’s fecked their collection.
I guess i could do it all in iTunes but i just don’t get on with it.
