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Volume normalization does not work properly on Android.

  • 13 September 2022
  • 6 replies
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I’m sorry I have to report this once again, but the previous topic has been closed for comments:

This problem isn’t solved at all.

Problem: Some songs will start at maximum (unaltered) volume level and only after the song has already started, the volume gets adjusted/normalized. 

I have this problem on Android with different Samsung phones (A71 and A32 5G) with the latest versions of Android and Deezer, and with different bluetooth devices (Sony headphones LE_WH-1000XM3, Google Nest speakers and Toyota in-car BT audio)

 

And here’s how to simulate it (every time):

Connect to WIFI.

Set WIFI audio quality to HIFI, as the problem only seems to occur with HIFI audio quality, not with HQ.

Make sure audio normalizing is on.

Put the next songs in a playlist:

https://deezer.page.link/GR5q5TbbKfZwhHQ9A

https://deezer.page.link/f5J2zkCot9k5fXYEA

Start the first song and let Deezer play until the second song starts, don’t skip manually. You will notice that the second song starts at unaltered volume level, volume normalizing is only kickin’ in when the song already started, giving an annoying loud volume boost at te beginning of the second song.

PS: the first song  (Alice Cooper) is an older song recorderd at a low volume level, you won’t notice the difference when volume normalization is switched on or off. The second song (Hollywood Vampires) is a loud song, volume normalizing makes a huge difference on that song.

So it seems that Deezer can’t properly handle  the volume adjustment/normalization between a quiet and a loud song when played with HIFI audio quality.

 

 

 

 

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Best answer by Yula 15 September 2022, 15:56

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6 replies

Yula
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Hello there @Frank.Vermoesen, yeah seems to be an issue with the normalization feat. 

Apparently if you listen without normalizing it works better. 

 

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Hi Yula
Yes that’s obvious, if you disable volume normalization then the problem with volume normalization disappears 😀


But that's not the point I suppose. Is this something that the developers will look into?


By the way, I have meanwhile noticed that the problem also occurs in HQ audio mode. So the problem is not really related to HIFI mode.

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Anybody home? Does anybody even care?

Jaime.
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Hi @Frank.Vermoesen do you think you could make a video reproducing the problem, because I created a playlist with the songs you mentioned (very good selection by the way 🤘🏻) and tested on web, desktop app and iPhone, either in HiFi and HQ, and wasn’t able to notice any changes at the beginning of the second song.
I could definitely pass the feedback to our devs, but would be better if I can show them how did you reproduce the issue on your side for them to investigate.
Thanks for your help on this and apologies for the inconvenience.
 

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Hi Jaime

Thanks for the reply and for watching into this.

I initially noticed the problem on my different Samsung Android phones (did you test an Android device too?). 

Anyway, now that you mentioned the web player, I also did the same test with the web player on a Windows 10 pc and guess what, the problem occurs every time here too!
So it really seems like a crossplatform software problem.


Strange that you can't simulate the problem, so here are a few video recordings.

The following video shows the Deezer webplayer, the volume blast is at 00:15 (playtime in your videoplayer, not the Deezer playtime in the recorded video)
https://1drv.ms/v/s!As5rbPDrShKsqCf3la3JXPQ8QYbw?e=Yk4p9Q

 

In the next video I made the audio visible, the blast is (audible and now also clearly visible) at 00:18
https://1drv.ms/v/s!As5rbPDrShKsqCYNayBx30IJLTJm?e=2ueNLe

 

In case you still miss the “blast”, here it is in the 2nd video:

 

Don’t forget, when you do a test, the transition from song 1 to song 2 should be played automatically, DON’T skip manually because then you won’t here the volume blast when song 2 starts.

Another tip: listen with your headphones or a decent bluetooth speaker or sometething, not through your phone or laptop speaker.

Oh, and I hear the problem with other combinations of songs too, not just the 2 songs in this playlist. It seems like the problem is clearly noticeable every time a quiet song is followed by a loud song.

 

F
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Too bad no one seems to care about (or even notices) this problem. Here's another example of a horrible volume normalization. Play these 2 songs one after the other. This time it's not only at the start of a song, but throughout the whole song that the volume normalization is totally off.

https://deezer.page.link/YgUFLMMnS3E8s6Cg7

https://deezer.page.link/i3BKGZ7pAgQNTTDSA

 

Today a new version for Android was available, and we got .... an improved SongCatcher ...
Really? That's not what I was waiting for...

Why not put a little more effort into a decently working audio player instead of trivialities or bad imitations of features that other apps already have and do much better?

After all you’re a music service.

Some suggestions for improvement:

  • a decent working volume normalization
  • crossfader like Spotify had for ages, Apple Music is even 2 steps ahead with their automatic crossfader instead of a time based one (on Android). Avoiding silences between songs is a feature we already had on desktop in the 90s!
  • playback in the highest quality available when on Wi-Fi, even when a lower quality was previously downloaded.

I mostly listen to mixes and I like Deezer Flow, but the lame audio player makes Deezer virtually useless to me. 

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