I am using HandBrake to encode DVD discs straight to a tablet-happy format. I got the video working fine, but I'm having a problem with the audio. With every encode I do, the audio is very quiet. It's nearly impossible to hear dialogue on the internal speakers and is marginally better with headphones. It's just very quiet. I have the mplayer volume all the way up and the system volume at maximum.

Is there something wrong with the way I'm encoding the audio? I'm using 128kb/s MP3 Stereo audio with MPEG-4/XviD at 950kb/s, one pass encoding.

Using Media Player to playback MP3 files on the N800 works fine and loud, and the default N810 video that comes with the device plays with good volume. What's wrong with my encode?

I have suggested audio normalization to vbrilon already, and logged it as an enhancement request for the NITVC software.

In the meantime, if you use Mplayer, try using N800 Video Convert software and check the option to normalize audio. That should solve your problem

Can't. I run Mac OS.

So do I, but on a big job like this I just BootCamp into XP and let it run all night. I could never get the settings right in Handbrake or VisualHub, and the "canned" converters seemed to do a better job when playing back in Media Player or Canola.