Streaming audio consistency?

[dizmonk]

Okay, I'm not sure this belongs here and I suspect this is a very common problem but here goes. So I have the Studio base model with 2tb and it's fine. What I've noticed is that I get extremely different audio (both volume and quality) from different streaming sources.

So for example... If I'm watching Netflix and I simultaneously open Itunes and play a song... the volume and quality of the audio are very different. It's not even a case of music vs. movies.

If I switch between radio stations in Apple Music, some stations are much louder and clearer, some less so. I'm assuming this is simply the differences in the sources.

I know Itunes (and most audio programs) have a sound leveling feature that keeps the audio at a consistent level for music. I don't think (or at least I haven't found) something similar exists for streaming services.
The speakers I have are the Kanto Yu2's which several reviewers like.

So here's my question... Is there any way to have some kind of sound leveling for all streaming? (I'm guessing there's not but I thought I'd ask. Thanks.

 

[TTYS0]

I don't think there's any way to do that natively, but you might be able to use something like SoundSource to get there.

 

[appltech]

Codecs, sound encoding + some platforms have native restrictions on audio/video transition

 

[BrianBaughn]

Without adding some seriously aggressive sound compression/limiting systemwide I don't see how a computer user could ever achieve anything close to volume consistency.

Apple Music's "Sound Check" (and the equivalent at other streaming services) uses an average sound level to adjust each track up or down but doesn't really accomplish what many users think it's going to do.

Most commercial over-the-air radio and TV stations have used aggressive processing for decades.

 

[dizmonk]

Without adding some seriously aggressive sound compression/limiting systemwide I don't see how a computer user could ever achieve anything close to volume consistency.

Apple Music's "Sound Check" (and the equivalent at other streaming services) uses an average sound level to adjust each track up or down but doesn't really accomplish what many users think it's going to do.

Most commercial over-the-air radio and TV stations have used aggressive processing for decades.

So it sounds like you have the same problem?

 

[BrianBaughn]

So it sounds like you have the same problem?

I notice the same thing when hearing tracks from different albums in playlists or via streaming services.

The fact is that Apple Music's "Sound Check" tries to correct for the perceived differences but falls short. There may be a listening environment somewhere with sound equipment that would, using Sound Check, actually make each track sound like it's at the perfect level relative to all other tracks…but that's not the case anywhere I'm listening. A person's own hearing range also comes into play. So…I give up!

 

[handheldgames]

Personally, I use an App called Loopback by Rogue Amoeba to manage per app control over volume. Loopback also allows for the creation of multiple virtual output devices, selecting the apps you want, at the volume you want and is a MUST useful when live streaming.