MediaMonkey can automatically retrieve
both metadata and album art, thus saving
you a bit of time over using the aforemen-
tioned manual methods. However, you still
have to select the songs and initiate the
process, which goes like this:
After selecting your songs, press Ctrl-L
to launch MediaMonkey’s Auto-Tag from
Amazon feature. In a moment, you should
see a page of album info, including cover art
and a song list. If it didn’t fetch the right info
(which happens sometimes, especially if your
ID3 tags are out of whack), clear the search
field and try entering the album name manu-
ally. You can also click the search field’s pull-
down tool to see if there are any results that
match more closely.
Make sure the checkboxes for all thedesired tag elements are selected:
Album, Artists, Release, Label, and
Songs. If you didn’t already update
your album art and want that fixed
too, check that box. The box at the
bottom shows you a preview of the
post-fix tracks. If everything appears
to be in order, click the Auto-Tag but-
ton. Presto: MediaMonkey updates the
metadata for the selected tracks with
the information gleaned from Amazon.
The only thing that remains is to
repeat the process for all your songs
and albums. Depending on the size
of your library, this could take a few
hours, a weekend, or longer—but it’s
worth it to end up with a squeaky-clean,
art-enhanced music collection.Download MP3Gain from http://mp3gain.
sourceforge.net. True to its name, the pro-
gram supports only MP3 files. If the bulk of
your library is in a different format, consider
waiting for MediaMonkey 3.0, which will
improve its existing volume-leveling capa-
bilities (which aren’t great) to more closely
match MP3Gain’s.Once you’ve downloaded and launched
the app, click the Add Folder button; then
choose the folder containing your music
(MP3Gain will automatically scan subfold-
ers as well). MP3Gain makes no physical
changes to your MP3 files, so there’s no loss
of quality. The app merely adds volume-level
information to your songs’ metadata.6 Fix Tags and Album Art Automatically
7 Introduce MP3Gain to Your Music
68 MAXIMUMPC october 2007
how 2 ImprovIng your pc experIence, one step at a tIme
MediaMonkey can look up tag information
and album art from Amazon.MP3Gain lets you add only one folder at a
time, but it automatically scans subfolders.8 Analyze and Level Your Tracks
Now it’s decision time. MP3Gain can ana-
lyze each individual track in your library oranalyze by album. The latter method will
keep the volume consistent across each
album, but if you
often shuffle-play your
entire music library,
don’t be surprised
if the volume still
jumps or dips from
one track to the next.
This choice is largely
a matter of personal
preference, but we
think there’s little
downside to opting
for the track-analysis
method. You can
always reverse the
process and switch
methods later on.
By default,
MP3Gain strives fora volume level of 89dB, but you can change
this value in the Target “Normal” Volume
box. After that, click the Track Analysis but-
ton and then be prepared to wait while the
program analyzes your selected folders.
This can take quite a while, depending on
the size of your collection.
Once MP3Gain completes the analysis,
you can review the results (the help file
provides detailed descriptions to help you
understand the results) or simply start the
leveling procedure by clicking Track Gain.
This will take even longer than the analysis,
so be prepared to wait a while.
When you’re done, fire up
MediaMonkey and test your tracks. They
may not have perfectly consistent volume,
but they should be closer. If they’re too
soft or too loud, you can always go back
to MP3Gain and raise or lower the Target
“Normal” Volume a few decibels.MP3Gain’s track analysis shows you how much gain is required
to meet the designated normal volume setting.