Replay Gain - A Proposed Standard

Latest Updates

10 October 2001
While we wait for player support, you can losslessly apply the suggested gain change to your mp3 files using MP3GAIN, available in the Software section.
7 August 2001
Moved the "Peak Amplitude" value to the start of the Replay Gain Header. See the Data Format and File Format pages.
26 July 2001
An executable to calculate the Replay Gain Adjustment is now available in the new Software section.
25 July 2001
My Birthday! Updated file format and data format to use 16-bit values to store Replay Gain Adjustments.
23 July 2001
file format page: syntax for including Replay Gain information within .wav files and .mp3 ID3v2 tagged files added.
20 July 2001
Added MATLAB manual entires to mfiles section to help conversion to C++.
20 July 2001
The SMPTE RP 200 reference must be used as the calibration level. Previous statements about using a level 6dB lower than this were mistaken.
18 July 2001
Two people have accepted the challenge to develop some C and C++ code to calculate the Replay Gain.
13 July 2001
The name "Replay Level" has been changed to "Replay Gain". This is because what we are specifying is the Replay Gain required to give a desired Replay Level. Since we're actually specifying the Gain, rather than the Level, it's less confusing if we use the correct name!
13 July 2001
The Replay Gain will be specified in Relative, rather than absolute terms. The reference gain remains the same ~~(77 dB)~~ (83dB).
13 July 2001
Two Replay Gain adjustments should be stored. The "Radio" gain makes all tracks sound equally loud (like on the radio! Most users will prefer this). The "Audiophile" gain leaves intentional inter-track loudness differences intact. The "Radio" value is calculated by ReplayGain on a track-by-track basis (see and hear typical results). The "Audiophile" value is calculated by ReplayGain on a disc-by-disc bases. This latter value is user correctable/adjustable.