Does MM support gapless playback?

Get answers about using MediaMonkey 4 for Windows.

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jiri
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by jiri »

jh at mediamonkey d o t com
nieroster
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Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:46 am

Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by nieroster »

Files have been sent to your email address. I hope they are useful to you!

Maybe it's a problem of the handling of VBR files or pre-buffering?

nieroster
jvhovig
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by jvhovig »

Can I set Encoder Delay and Encoder Padding on my existing MP3 files? I am willing to edit these tags and set them to my desired values manually, if someone can advise me how to do it.

I often download MP3s from sources like Amazon, and I rarely bother buying CD's in physical format any more, so re-ripping tracks in something like EAC+LAME is a nice idea, but it's really out of the question for me.

I've tried a couple of MP3 tag editors already, but so far they only seem to allow me to edit "standard" tags. I cannot figure out how to embed my own arbitrary key/value pairs. (And I wouldn't know exactly which keys to use anyway, though I guess I should assume that they should be typed exactly like "Encoder Delay", and that they would take values in milliseconds...).

I am using a Windows machine, and would prefer a windows-based approach, but if I absolutely-absolutely need to, I can upload each MP3 to a linux server at my disposal, and run a linux tool from the command line. (I do not have any kind of gui-based linux connection, only a text-based SSH/telnet one).

On the other hand, if a future version of MediaMonkey will allow me to edit Encoder Delay and Encoder Padding tags directly from the Track Properties tool, then I will just wait patiently. I've only been waiting nine or ten years for someone to finally standardize this crazy thing across the industry. I guess I can wait a few more months....

J.V.
jvhovig
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by jvhovig »

FWIW, I've just found some more interesting pieces of info:

http://gabriel.mp3-tech.org/mp3infotag.html
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/ind ... opic=69525
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-vid ... oinfo.aspx

I downloaded a byte editor called ByteEditor.exe (which has a very challenging and bare-bones interface, but it's good enough for experimenting). I searched for the text "Xing" in one of my Amazon-downloaded MP3s and I found it. I saw the text "LAME3.98" also.

According to the document at gabriel.mp3-tech.org above, if you start counting from the "3" in "LAME3.98", then you should find that the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth bytes thereafter (bytes $B1-$B3 in the spec) are the ones that encode the padding and delay. (They are two 12-byte numbers concatenated into a single 3-byte format). In theory, these three bytes should all be set as zero (00) in order to achieve gaplessness.

I have not actually experimented with altering any of this info yet -- I think I'll download an easier-to-use byte editor first, and I also need to figure out if I'm going to be hampered by any physical zeros at the start and end of any of these MP3s (tho I don't think so) -- but I thought folks might get a kick out of this info so far....
VariMu

Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by VariMu »

Is this issue still being looked at? 100GB and many settings/filters/etc. into MediaMonkey, and I start ripping my classical CDs--only to discover that nothing will play back gaplessly. Wave out, MM Direct, ASIO--nothing works. I absolutely love MM, but if I can't have real gapless playback, the program is useless for roughly half of my music collection. Can gapless playback be achieved? If so, how? (One would think that ASIO with 'gapless' checked would have done the trick, but no luck.) I am also perfectly happy to email files that do not play back properly, if that would help.

--Dave
jiri
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by jiri »

I have reviewed it recently and haven't found any problem with the playback. Files encoded by Lame encoder (which is also used internally by MM) and then played back by in_wmp3.dll using preferably out_MMDS.dll should play gaplessly. In case you have found something else, please e-mail me any relevant info and samples.

Jiri
VariMu

Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by VariMu »

Sound files have been emailed (FLAC). I have tried the same two tracks as MP3 and wav and got the same result. Importing the wav files into an editor and merging them reveals that the problem is not the files but the playback. I am about to cry. MM beats the living pants off of every other player (including that popular grey-colored one), but I might have to jump ship if I can't listen to multi-file classical albums without a 1/3-second stutter at every track break. I have used both "built-in" output plugins with every possible combination of settings, as well as ASIO, and all that with the built-in soundcard AND with an external USB converter. Always a hiccup between tracks. All using FLAC files ripped (with no errors) within MM. What am I doing wrong?

--Dave
chrisjj
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by chrisjj »

> Yes it does with mp3, but you have to set your output plugin occordingly.
> With MM-DirectSound Output plugin: Disable Crossfade, enable Remove Silence

Note: that loses terminal silence that is not part of a gap.
Chris
Guest

Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by Guest »

Is gapless playback limited to mp3 files? I was hoping to use FLAC or wav.
augusthelmbright
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Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:41 pm

Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by augusthelmbright »

It's hard to find an answer to this, but the news is good.

Search in the forums for beta. Go to the last page / last post to get a link to the most recent beta pre-release version of MM. It indeed will play gapless FLAC (and I imagine, any other media) files just fine, with no tweaking needed. Only tweak would be if you happen to have "crossfade" turned on, you'll need to turn it off, but frankly, I can't imagine why anyone would want that option anyway.
chrisjj
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by chrisjj »

> if you happen to have "crossfade" turned on, you'll need to turn it off,
> but frankly, I can't imagine why anyone would want that option anyway.

Nor I... but I think it is on by default.
Chris
augusthelmbright
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by augusthelmbright »

UPDATE as of Nov 25 2009:

The latest release version will play FLAC files without gaps, but actually 2 tweaks are required, not just the 1 I mentioned in my earlier post. These are tweaks to the output configuration.

First, check the box to remove silence at the beginning and ending of tracks.
Second, uncheck the box (if it is checked) to cross-fade tracks.
chrisjj
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by chrisjj »

> First, check the box to remove silence at the beginning and ending of tracks.

Unfortunately this suffers from the side-effect of removing silence that is not part of the gap.
Chris
jiri
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by jiri »

First, check the box to remove silence at the beginning and ending of tracks.
This really shouldn't be necessary, anybody else observing this?

Jiri
Laeotaekhun
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Re: Does MM support gapless playback?

Post by Laeotaekhun »

Ok, I'm a lame brain - so, maybe, I'm missing the point here but!

When I select an album (using MM) there are no gaps between tracks - they merge.

Surely, I can't be the only one that this happens for?
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