---
name: "loudgain"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "loudgain"
version: "0.6.8+ds-6+b1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/loudgain"
---

# loudgain(1)

loudness normalizer based on the EBU R128 standard

## NAME

**loudgain** - loudness normalizer based on the EBU R128 standard

## SYNOPSIS

**loudgain \[OPTIONS\] FILES...**

## DESCRIPTION

**loudgain** is a loudness normalizer that scans music files and calculates loudness-normalized gain and loudness peak values according to the EBU R128 standard, and can optionally write ReplayGain-compatible metadata.

loudgain implements a subset of mp3gain's command-line options, which means that it can be used as a drop-in replacement in some situations.

loudgain will *not* modify the actual audio data, but instead just write ReplayGain *tags* if so requested. It is up to the player to interpret these. (In some players, you need to enable this feature.)

loudgain currently supports writing tags to the following file types:\
 FLAC (.flac), Ogg (.ogg, .oga, .spx, .opus), MP2 (.mp2), MP3 (.mp3), MP4 (.mp4, .m4a), ASF/WMA (.asf, .wma), WavPack (.wv), APE (.ape).

Experimental, use with care: WAV (.wav), AIFF (.aiff, .aif, .snd).

## OPTIONS

- **-h, --help**

  Show this help.

- **-v, --version**

  Show version number.

- **-r, --track**

  Calculate track gain only (default).

- **-a, --album**

  Calculate album gain (and track gain).

- **-c, --clip**

  Ignore clipping warnings.

- **-k, --noclip**

  Lower track/album gain to avoid clipping (\<= -1 dBTP).

- **-K n, --maxtpl=n**

  Avoid clipping; max. true peak level = n dBTP.

- **-d n, --pregain=n**

  Apply n dB/LU pre-gain value (-5 for -23 LUFS target).

- **-s d, --tagmode=d**

  Delete ReplayGain tags from files.

- **-s i, --tagmode=i**

  Write ReplayGain 2.0 tags to files. ID3v2 for MP2, MP3, WAV and AIFF; Vorbis Comments for FLAC, Ogg, Speex and Opus; iTunes-type metadata for MP4/M4A; WMA tags for ASF/WMA; APEv2 tags for WavPack.

- **-s e, --tagmode=e**

  like '-s i', plus extra tags (reference, ranges).

- **-s l, --tagmode=l**

  like '-s e', but LU units instead of dB.

- **-s s, --tagmode=s**

  Don't write ReplayGain tags (default).

- **-L, --lowercase**

  Force lowercase 'REPLAYGAIN\_\*' tags (MP2/MP3/MP4/ASF/WMA/WAV/AIFF only). This is non-standard, but sometimes needed.

- **-S, --striptags**

  Strip tag types other than ID3v2 from MP2/MP3 files (i.e. ID3v1, APEv2). Strip tag types other than APEv2 from WavPack/APE files (i.e. ID3v1).

- **-I 3, --id3v2version=3**

  Write ID3v2.3 tags to MP2/MP3/WAV files.

- **-I 4, --id3v2version=4**

  Write ID3v2.4 tags to MP2/MP3/WAV files (default).

- **-o, --output**

  Database-friendly tab-delimited list output (mp3gain-compatible).

- **-O, --output-new**

  Database-friendly new format tab-delimited list output. Ideal for analysis of files if redirected to a CSV file.

- **-q, --quiet**

  Don't print scanning status messages.

## RECOMMENDATIONS

To give you a head start, here are my personal recommendations for being (almost) universally compatible.

Use loudgain on a »one album per folder« basis; standard RG2 settings but lowercase ReplayGain tags; clipping prevention on; strip obsolete tag types from MP3 and WavPack files; use ID3v2.3 for MP3s; store extended tags:

-

  ```
  $ loudgain -a -k -s e *.flac
  $ loudgain -a -k -s e *.ogg
  $ loudgain -I3 -S -L -a -k -s e *.mp3
  $ loudgain -L -a -k -s e *.m4a
  $ loudgain -a -k -s e *.opus
  $ loudgain -L -a -k -s e *.wma
  $ loudgain -I3 -L -a -k -s e *.wav
  $ loudgain -I3 -L -a -k -s e *.aiff
  $ loudgain -S -a -k -s e *.wv
  $ loudgain -S -a -k -s e *.ape
  ```

-

  I've been happy with these settings for many years now. Your mileage may vary.

For easy mass-tagging, there is a bash script called **rgbpm** included with loudgain, which follows above recommendations. You can make a copy, put that into your personal **~/bin** folder and modify it to whatever *you* need.

## BUGS

**loudgain** is maintained on GitHub. Please report all bugs to the issue tracker at https://github.com/Moonbase59/loudgain/issues.

## AUTHORS

Matthias C. Hormann *mhormann@gmx.de*\
 Alessandro Ghedini *alessandro@ghedini.me*

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2019 Matthias C. Hormann *mhormann@gmx.de* (versions \> 0.1)\
 Copyright (C) 2014 Alessandro Ghedini *alessandro@ghedini.me* (v0.1)

This program is released under the 2 clause BSD license.