AJ
2:29 AM - 11 November, 2004
Version 1.2 final corrected a problem we discovered in the calibration of the master gain knob. In all previous versions setting the master gain to 12 o'clock resulted in a -6db gain change. That was not our original intention, and it is not intuitive, so we fixed it in 1.2 final.
In summary, the min, mid and max positions are:
1.2 final release: -6db, 0db, +6db
1.2 pub preview: -18db, -6db, +6db
Previous versions: -12db, -6db, 0db
Which means that 1.2 final release is the first version ever to have the correct output level for master gain when it is set to the 12 0'clock position, previous to 1.2f, the center position was always -6db. I didn't know this myself until five minutes ago.
In your case, if you want exactly the same gain structure that you had in previous versions, all you have to do is set the master gain to it's minimum setting, because it is equivalent to the center position of all previous versions. As your comment about the chanel gain sounding better than the master gain, I would say it is purely psychological, because both gains are applied in the same way - as a floating point multiplication.
On the other hand, the fastest way to set all your individual track levels back to zero is to select them all in iTunes and choose Get Info from the file menu. Then check the box next to Volume adjustment and put the slider in the middle (it probably will already be in the middle). When you press OK, iTunes will go through every file in your library and adjust the gain to 0dB. Almost all your files should be set to 0dB anyway, the purpose of track gain is to adjust very quiet files, or very loud ones, with the assumption that most files sound about the same, which they should if they've been ripped from CDs. If they came from vinyl, then the level depends on the recording process applied at the time.
