Software utility to assist in comparing two 'near' identical tracks??

m021478

I am in search of the ideal tool to use to compare two nearly identical versions of the same song that I have in my iTunes library, in which I can make an informed decision as to which one to keep...



An example of such a case would be two versions of the same song, by the same artist, in which one version is from a Greatest Hits album and the other version is from the original album...To my ear, I 'think' I hear a slight difference, but I cannot say for sure...I would instinctively think that I should delete the track off the Greatest Hits album so that I can keep the original album intact, and then simply keep the tracks from the Greatest Hits album that I don't have elsewhere. But occasionally, Greatest Hits albums contain 'Remastered Recordings' in which the songs sound better than they did on the original album...



My initial thoughts are that if I lay these two tracks next to each other in a timeline of some sort, in which I can see the audio waveforms to compare peaks and spikes and whatnot, and so that I can see the difference (if any) between tracks with varying bit rates and file formats?



I am using a Macintosh, and this could of course be done using iMovie or FInal Cut Studio Pro (both of which I have), but I kinda figured that with all the iPod/iTunes software utilities out there, someone has probably thought of this concept before, and there's likely to be a tool out there that could assist in streamlining the process of comparing two 'near' identical tracks to weed out the lesser of the two...



Any suggestions on how to deal with this kind of situation would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!

Marvin

That's something I'd like to see in itunes too along with basic editing ability. Sometimes I want to trim a little bit off a song.



The trouble with comparisons is that the audio might not start and end at the same time. There will be ways for it to match portions up I imagine but when it comes to things like remastering, it might be difficult to tell between compression noise or audio glitches and a different version of the song.



I personally just play the tracks one after the other a couple of times but it's tedious and not very accurate when the audio tracks are so similar.



If you did get an editor and you could compare waveforms like in Final Cut, if you get them lined up, what you can do is try subtracting one track from the other. If you get a near constant line between them, you'll know that the difference is mainly volume. You'll also be able to quickly find any changes so you can listen to those portions instead of the whole track.

dave k.

That feature doesn't belong in iTunes. Maybe GarageBand or more appropriately Logic Express but not iTunes.

calicomoonchild

I have encountered this a lot, usually when album tracks are selected for single release (after the original albums release, but before the end of the albums life-cycle) they are frequently subject to being tweaked as "Radio Edits" in order to "sweeten" up production and enhance the tracks potential success as a single cut.



This may or may not include cutting the time duration of the song, but frequently involves either a re-vocal, or an overhaul of the backing music. I simply delete the original version of the song from the studio album it came from and re-assign that track position in the running order to the newer cut (whilst keeping it in any "Greatest Hits" play-list also).



That way when listening to the studio album in question, I am satisfied that I am not listening to an out-moded version of the song that has long since been replaced by the same song with "hotter" production.