Gapless playback?

[saxmaster765]

One more question I've been wanting to ask.

What I mainly downloaded Rockbox for was to have gapless playback.

I noticed there is a very slight, yet unfortunately noticeable, gap between the songs. Also, they are all .wma files. It is much better than the OF, but it bugs me.

Is this as good as it gets, or does a different format of music work better than .wma?

[dfkt]

Indeed, it's codec-dependent, and dependent on what app encoded the files. Either way, WMA is pretty much garbage - try to use LAME MP3, Vorbis, AAC, or any other quality codec.

[saratoga]

I never figured out how to gaplessly decode WMA files, so I couldn't add it when I ported the wma decoder. I'm not sure if anyone outside of MS ever figured it out, but if someone does we could probably add it easily enough.

[EggyCuppy]

if you want truely gaplass playback why not just go the full rout and join the files?

there are a good number of programs out there made specifically for joining audio files, many are free.

example
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multime...dia-Join.shtml

or the one I actually use
http://musicutter.szm.com/

hasnt been updated in a while and its a bit cryptic to use to some, but works great on mp3 and vorbis files.

[saxmaster765]

Originally Posted by EggyCuppy

if you want truely gaplass playback why not just go the full rout and join the files?

there are a good number of programs out there made specifically for joining audio files, many are free.

example
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multime...dia-Join.shtml

or the one I actually use
http://musicutter.szm.com/

hasnt been updated in a while and its a bit cryptic to use to some, but works great on mp3 and vorbis files.

I can do this manually with Windows Movie Maker, and I don't like doing it often.

I like OGG Vorbis, so I'm going to try that.

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by EggyCuppy

if you want truely gaplass playback why not just go the full rout and join the files?

there are a good number of programs out there made specifically for joining audio files, many are free.

example
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multime...dia-Join.shtml

or the one I actually use
http://musicutter.szm.com/

The second doesn't even work with WMA, and the first says it'll do WMA but I wonder if its actually gapless since no one seems to know how to do gapless WMA outside of microsoft.

Originally Posted by EggyCuppy

hasnt been updated in a while and its a bit cryptic to use to some, but works great on mp3 and vorbis files.

Joining mp3 and vorbis doesn't make much sense though, since they'll be gapless in rockbox even if you don't join them.

[lestatar]

@OP, FWIW, my Fuze v2 with Rockbox plays gapless mp3 files/albums perfectly. None of my gapless albums were ripped as single mp3 - all ripped conventionally as individual mp3 files using LAME.

Seem very likely a codec issue as referred to by both dfkt and saratoga, two guys who would happen to know about this kind of stuff. :-)

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by EggyCuppy

if you want truely gaplass playback why not just go the full rout and join the files?

Because then you can't skip a song you don't want to hear.

[saxmaster765]

I don't need to do that anymore, because re-ripping all my CDs to mp3 (it was eaisier than Vorbis) did the trick. It's gapless now except for a really small, subtle pop.

Is there a way to convert mp3s to Vorbis with the Any Video Converter, or can you only just change videos to Vorbis?

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by saxmaster765

Is there a way to convert mp3s to Vorbis with the Any Video Converter, or can you only just change videos to Vorbis?

You shouldn't convert between mp3 and vorbis. It reduces quality and doesn't really accomplish anything.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by saxmaster765

I don't need to do that anymore, because re-ripping all my CDs to mp3 (it was eaisier than Vorbis) did the trick. It's gapless now except for a really small, subtle pop.

Is there a way to convert mp3s to Vorbis with the Any Video Converter, or can you only just change videos to Vorbis?

What did you use to re-rip them?

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Because then you can't skip a song you don't want to hear.

Also, you don't have proper song tags then, can't submit them to Last.fm, among many other annoyances with a monolithic file. Of course on Rockbox one could use CUE sheets, but there's really no reason for that, since gapless just works.

Originally Posted by saxmaster765

It's gapless now except for a really small, subtle pop.

Rockbox is 100% perfectly gapless with most codecs, there shouldn't be any clicks or pops at all. I would suggest you use a good CD ripper like EAC, dBpoweramp, or CDex, and a good MP3 codec (meaning LAME - not FhG, Xing, or anything else).

[EggyCuppy]

Originally Posted by saxmaster765

I don't need to do that anymore, because re-ripping all my CDs to mp3 (it was eaisier than Vorbis) did the trick. It's gapless now except for a really small, subtle pop.

um, what did you use to rip/encode the files?

for most modern apps ripping to vorbis or mp3 or aac or whatever is equally easy..

and a big up for dbpoweramp, best little app i ever paid for

EDIT: I agree with DFKT on using the latist LAME if your going to use MP3, the other encoders just arent as good, helix is FAST but quality is MEH, fhg is meh.

[lock67ca]

I have all my music in FLAC and use foobar2000 to convert to whatever format I need. Works great for me and I don't need to re-rip anything.

[Nerdy3.14159265]

Originally Posted by lock67ca

I have all my music in FLAC and use foobar2000 to convert to whatever format I need. Works great for me and I don't need to re-rip anything.

^^THIS!!!, I have almost all of my music in FLAC, then I just used Vorbis on my Fuze (best quality for the compression). I also set up MonkeyMedia to have a Computer library using FLAC and the Fuze library using Vorbis for syncing.

[EggyCuppy]

Originally Posted by Nerdy3.14159265

^^THIS!!!, I have almost all of my music in FLAC, then I just used Vorbis on my Fuze (best quality for the compression). I also set up MonkeyMedia to have a Computer library using FLAC and the Fuze library using Vorbis for syncing.

what encoder do you use and at what settings/bitrate?

aotuv or trunk or what?

[Nerdy3.14159265]

Originally Posted by EggyCuppy

what encoder do you use and at what settings/bitrate?

aotuv or trunk or what?

I downloaded the encoder plugin from the Vorbis site for foobar. The settings are set at max quality, it says it's approx. 500kb/s it's variable bit rate.

[EggyCuppy]

shouldnt need q10 for vorbis, 6 or 7 is considered transparent, also, dont use the version from the main vorbis site, always check hydrogen audio forums for the current best encoder version.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...hp?showforum=8

thats where you should start, also rarewares and aotuv's own site are great resources.

AOTUV's own main site
http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/
Test Versions
http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/test.html

also the thread at hydrogen for the accelerated encoders(use sse1-2-3 and have x64 versions as well)
read this thread links to downloads are in the thread
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...howtopic=74345

these are faster and have better SQ then the base vorbis encoder

[Nerdy3.14159265]

DANG IT!!! I'll get the new encoders, by transparent you mean that there isn't a noticeable drop in sound quality from lossless (just to be sure, because I'm turning OCD about having the best quality everything)?

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Nerdy3.14159265

I downloaded the encoder plugin from the Vorbis site for foobar. The settings are set at max quality, it says it's approx. 500kb/s it's variable bit rate.

Q10 is just nuts. Unless you have golden ears or really high-grade gear, you shouldn't need more than Q5 or Q6.....and just think of how many more songs will fit!