Q: When burning a mix-style iTunes playlist to an audio CD, how can the volume be held constant on the burned output?
– CJ
A: iTunes’ built-in volume levelling feature called SoundCheck is available for use not only in iTunes itself, but on iPods and on burned CDs.
To enable Sound Check for burned CDs, open iTunes’ Prefences window and select the “Advanced” options tab.
Open the “Burning” tab, and find the following options:
Next, ensure that both “Audio CD” and “Use Sound Check” are selected. Once you select “Sound Check,” iTunes will scan through your music library (this may take awhile), analyzing the relative volumes of all tracks.
When you burn the playlist, the CD will be mastered at a consistent volume level.
Note that this setting is independent of both iTunes’ playback “Sound Check” feature, located in the “Playback” tab of iTunes’ preferences, and the iPod’s “Sound Check” option, located in its “Settings” menu.
