Ubuntu – Adding ReplayGain tags

mp3ogg-vorbisreplaygain

I have been always using FooBar2000 to add ReplayGain tags to my music library (consisting of .mp3 or .ogg files). On my new computer I would like to avoid installing Wine for just this task.

Are there any native tools that I can use for the same purpose?

I don't mind if they are command-line only, or to use two different programs for mp3 and ogg, but I want to be absolutely certain that they only write a tag and do not mess with the original file otherwise, e.g. by actually reencoding at a different volume.

Best Answer

Instead of being "a bit scared" or following unrelated links, why not simply read the manual?

From man mp3gain:

   mp3gain optionally writes gain adjustments directly into the encoded data.  In  this
   case,  the  adjustment works with all mp3 players, i.e. no support for a special tag
   is required.  This mode is activated by any of the options -r, -a, -g, or -l.

   If none of the above options are given, the recommended gain change is instead writ‐
   ten  to  a special tag in the mp3 file. In this case, the adjustment only works with
   mp3 players that support this tag.  Some mp3 players refer to  this  as  ReplayGain.
   The  tag is written either in APEv2 format (default) or in ID3v2 format (with -s i).
   If you only want to print the recommended gain change (and not modify  the  file  at
   all) you may use the -s s (skip tag) option.

So it only modifies the audio stream if you tell it to, otherwise it writes to tags only.

Side note: many of the URLs posted in comments are not related to current mp3gain found in Ubuntu: they are either terribly outdated or they refer to the windows version.

Whenever in doubt as how a given command works, always try man first. If that is not enough (or no man page available), use the correct upstream website, which can be checked in Ubuntu's package page.