Why is the volume on my demuxed .AC3 file so low?
 

I have searched through a lot of posts and still have not found the answer to this. I apologize if I have overlooked something.

I have demuxed the .AC3 audio from my DVD using DGIndex (DVD2AVI), VobEdit, and BeSweet.

They all seem to have a volume that is far lower than the original DVD. I play back the original DVD with PowerDVD or WinDVD on my computer.

I have not only played the demuxed .AC3 file in Windows Media Player, but have also author a new disc and played back in WinDVD/PowerDVD. The contrast in volume is astonishing!

At first I thought maybe there is some flag in the original .IFO files that boosts the audio, but I can actually play the individual .VOB files (the original vs. the one I remuxed) in my software DVD player, and the volume on the original VOB is MUCH louder.

Can anyone explain this to me?

Thanks in advance...

maybe i can't explain but do this little test:
do a project with dvd2avi176 using a single vob and compare the volumes from that project with the same from DGIndex.
i (and some lots here) still using dvd2avi176 and i don't have this type of problem.
can you do that to remove our first doubt? :wink:

*** EDIT ***
I just found a really good guide that will probably answer my question...have yet to read it.

I hope it's okay to post links to other forums here...I didn't see anything about it in the rules:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56020


*** ORIGINAL POST ***
jorel, thank you for making me do this test again.

I did it again, with an older version of DVD2AVI, but then I did it again with DGIndex and both results were good!

What I failed to mention was that I trimmed the audio with BeSweet. The last time I used the built in AC3 encoder. (I don't have the command line any more) This time, I used "Payload" output to trim the clip.

So...BeSweet was the culprit. It threw me off, because both output .AC3 files sound EXACTLY THE SAME in Media Player, but when used to mux a title set, the volume is drastically different.

I believe it has to do with BeSweet not creating 100% DVD compliant AC3 files, as I believe I read somewhere.

Sorry if I wasted anyone's time...the original problem is solved. However, if I want to do anything besides trimming my audio ("Partial Encoding" setting), "Payload" output will not work. Does anyone know a better solution for re-encoding AC3? (I guess this topic now applies to a different forum, but maybe someone can help here instead?)

Thanks!

you're welcome and this is important!

(for my taste) HEADAC3he do a better job for AC3-2ch, some others here like BeSweet.
for 5.1 (when i endode or re encode) i use sound foundry soft encode but is too rare!

:)