Question about gapless playback

williamk · 02-09-2009, 08:08

Hi, long time reader first time poster

I'm very interested in getting a D2 but the one major thing putting me off is the much mentioned lack of gapless playback. What I'd like to know is just how long the gap really is (i've heard from half a second from ABI to 2secs from a user on iaudiophiles) and is it very noticable when listening. I know a lot of albums streamline their tracks so that the ending of one song leads into the intro of the next, and I was wondering if gapless kills the experience

.

mad · 02-09-2009, 08:39

Hi, I don't exactly know how big the gap is, but you can always join mp3's together, so that there will be no gap at all, extra bonus is that the whole album you joined just counts as 1 file (handy because of the 4000 file limit). The only downside is that you can't shuffle the songs, but I guess that isn't really a problem for you cause otherwise you didn't have the need for gapless playback and songs leading in to the intro of the next song

williamk · 02-09-2009, 08:44

lol nice idea, what kinda tools would I need to join a set of mp3's together? Also is the gap noticable to you personally? Or is it more like something you would have to be paying serious attention to notice / annoy you.

EddieE · 02-09-2009, 09:55

It depends on the album. On an album where the songs are seperate it doesn't really make any difference, on a live album, a mix album or a concept album where the songs all join together (most famous example - Side B of Abbey Road) it makes a massive difference, effectively ruining the way the album is supposed to be enjoyed.

In this case, the above merging of tracks work-around is the only solution with the D2, as I haven't got around to it yet not sure of the programme to use yet, sure if you typed "merge mp3s" into a search engine then you'd find the answer.

Old Mr Google, he know everything...

williamk · 02-09-2009, 10:37

So...are we saying all in all the gap isn't too noticable (i.e. less than half a second or even less) and annoying then? I'm pretty excited about this mp3 player, being so customisable and having such a vast modding/support community, but this is the one thing that might sway me to think otherwise. (My possible other choice is the Samsung Q1)

tirim4 · 02-09-2009, 10:55

^There is allways rockbox, whick gives gapless playback and stuff ig you get's annoyed...It isn't fully stable yet, but it works.

williamk · 02-09-2009, 11:35

Rockbox will always be the last resort I guess, but I wouldn't want to subtract any of the numerous features which are in the official firmwares (or restrict me in terms of aps / skins =]). If it's as you said in the chat box (that its really only a 8milisecond gap) then I'm not too fazed =]

tirim4 · 02-09-2009, 11:42

^Rockbox uses dualboot, so you got both firmwares on the D2 and can choose one of them on startup

EddieE · 02-09-2009, 11:48

No, we're saying the gap is INCREDIBLY noticable in mix albums, live albums, and albums where the tracsk blend into one another. And not noticable at all really on albums which have songs already seperated by silence in the first place.

williamk · 02-09-2009, 22:37

Whoa duelboot! Gotta read up on Rockbox then. Do many people use duelboot on their D2? Are their any disadvantages to using duelboot?

tirim4 · 02-10-2009, 01:50

^Only disadvantage of rockbox dualboot is that rockbox folder takes a few mb's of memory.

IanD · 02-10-2009, 02:47

Personal opinion: the gap is very short - more of a "blip" really. Yes, it's a bit annoying and it would be lovely if it could be removed at some stage - but I found I got used to it quite quickly.

Anyway - just merge them if it does bother you.

Rockbox is not finished as I understand it. I believe that it doesn't support the SDHC card yet? Here and here if you're interested.

williamk · 02-10-2009, 05:41

Sweet thanks =]. Also on a side note I was wondering how often (on average) do firmwares come out? I would guess once every few months but I'd like to know from the community whose been here alot longer than I have.

Ego · 02-10-2009, 07:22

maybe it is possible to handle this like the ape format... Hi, at first and welcome to my first post

What i think about is, that the audio-format .ape only exists like all music files together in one file, seperated with the help of a cue file, which tells the player where one track ends and the other starts, so that you can jump between those tracks and handle it a bit easyer...
i dont really know wheter the D2 supports the .cue files of .ape Files, i have to try, but if this works i could be possible that you convert your mp3 files in ape files (jes i know they are massiv, maybe its possible to lower the bitrate or something) and with the support of a cue file u could handle it like seperate mp3 files... and maybe there will be no gap o.O

I have to try this...

Greets from Germany...

mad · 02-10-2009, 08:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamk

lol nice idea, what kinda tools would I need to join a set of mp3's together? Also is the gap noticable to you personally? Or is it more like something you would have to be paying serious attention to notice / annoy you.

The programs for joining mp3's I use are foobar2000 and mp3 splitter & joiner pro,they are easy to use programms that do the job (mp3 splitter & joiner pro is the faster one). Easy to find on torrent sites (although you should always buy your software off course

)

and if the albums are supposed to be gapless in the first place, you won't have a gap when you join them.

02-09-2009, 08:08	#1
williamk Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 22	Question about gapless playback Hi, long time reader first time poster I'm very interested in getting a D2 but the one major thing putting me off is the much mentioned lack of gapless playback. What I'd like to know is just how long the gap really is (i've heard from half a second from ABI to 2secs from a user on iaudiophiles) and is it very noticable when listening. I know a lot of albums streamline their tracks so that the ending of one song leads into the intro of the next, and I was wondering if gapless kills the experience .

02-09-2009, 08:39	#2
mad Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 82	Hi, I don't exactly know how big the gap is, but you can always join mp3's together, so that there will be no gap at all, extra bonus is that the whole album you joined just counts as 1 file (handy because of the 4000 file limit). The only downside is that you can't shuffle the songs, but I guess that isn't really a problem for you cause otherwise you didn't have the need for gapless playback and songs leading in to the intro of the next song __________________ Cowon Iaudio D2 DMB 4GB Lime Green (Korean version) Firmware: 1.59+Transcend 16GB SDHC+Sleek Audio SA1

02-09-2009, 09:55	#4
EddieE Non-Hierarchical Anti-Establishment Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: London Posts: 546	It depends on the album. On an album where the songs are seperate it doesn't really make any difference, on a live album, a mix album or a concept album where the songs all join together (most famous example - Side B of Abbey Road) it makes a massive difference, effectively ruining the way the album is supposed to be enjoyed. In this case, the above merging of tracks work-around is the only solution with the D2, as I haven't got around to it yet not sure of the programme to use yet, sure if you typed "merge mp3s" into a search engine then you'd find the answer. Old Mr Google, he know everything... __________________ Cowon S9 32gb \| Sansa Clip+ 8gb \| Cantate.2 \| Pico DAC/Amp HD650 \| K702 \| MS2i \| ATH-M50 \| PFE112 \| PortaPro

02-09-2009, 10:55	#6
tirim4 Veteran Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,287	^There is allways rockbox, whick gives gapless playback and stuff ig you get's annoyed...It isn't fully stable yet, but it works. __________________ DAP: Cowon S9 32 GB titanium\|D2 4gb black -totally/partly dead- \| Headphones: AKG K66 \| IEMs: Sony MDR EX300 \| UCI: Chakra\|Aero Music\|Klaus Browser\|Flow Browser\|Klaus Video UI "I'm the funky monkey junky, You're a flunky bunky donkey"

02-09-2009, 11:42	#8
tirim4 Veteran Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,287	^Rockbox uses dualboot, so you got both firmwares on the D2 and can choose one of them on startup __________________ DAP: Cowon S9 32 GB titanium\|D2 4gb black -totally/partly dead- \| Headphones: AKG K66 \| IEMs: Sony MDR EX300 \| UCI: Chakra\|Aero Music\|Klaus Browser\|Flow Browser\|Klaus Video UI "I'm the funky monkey junky, You're a flunky bunky donkey"

02-09-2009, 08:44	#3
williamk Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 22	lol nice idea, what kinda tools would I need to join a set of mp3's together? Also is the gap noticable to you personally? Or is it more like something you would have to be paying serious attention to notice / annoy you.

02-09-2009, 10:37	#5
williamk Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 22	So...are we saying all in all the gap isn't too noticable (i.e. less than half a second or even less) and annoying then? I'm pretty excited about this mp3 player, being so customisable and having such a vast modding/support community, but this is the one thing that might sway me to think otherwise. (My possible other choice is the Samsung Q1)

02-09-2009, 11:35	#7
williamk Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 22	Rockbox will always be the last resort I guess, but I wouldn't want to subtract any of the numerous features which are in the official firmwares (or restrict me in terms of aps / skins =]). If it's as you said in the chat box (that its really only a 8milisecond gap) then I'm not too fazed =]

02-09-2009, 11:48	#9
EddieE Non-Hierarchical Anti-Establishment Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: London Posts: 546	No, we're saying the gap is INCREDIBLY noticable in mix albums, live albums, and albums where the tracsk blend into one another. And not noticable at all really on albums which have songs already seperated by silence in the first place. __________________ Cowon S9 32gb \| Sansa Clip+ 8gb \| Cantate.2 \| Pico DAC/Amp HD650 \| K702 \| MS2i \| ATH-M50 \| PFE112 \| PortaPro Last edited by EddieE; 02-09-2009 at 13:00..

02-09-2009, 22:37	#10
williamk Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 22	Whoa duelboot! Gotta read up on Rockbox then. Do many people use duelboot on their D2? Are their any disadvantages to using duelboot?

02-10-2009, 01:50	#11
tirim4 Veteran Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,287	^Only disadvantage of rockbox dualboot is that rockbox folder takes a few mb's of memory. __________________ DAP: Cowon S9 32 GB titanium\|D2 4gb black -totally/partly dead- \| Headphones: AKG K66 \| IEMs: Sony MDR EX300 \| UCI: Chakra\|Aero Music\|Klaus Browser\|Flow Browser\|Klaus Video UI "I'm the funky monkey junky, You're a flunky bunky donkey"

02-10-2009, 02:47	#12
IanD Not a number Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: York, England Posts: 20	Personal opinion: the gap is very short - more of a "blip" really. Yes, it's a bit annoying and it would be lovely if it could be removed at some stage - but I found I got used to it quite quickly. Anyway - just merge them if it does bother you. Rockbox is not finished as I understand it. I believe that it doesn't support the SDHC card yet? Here and here if you're interested.

02-10-2009, 05:41	#13
williamk Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 22	Sweet thanks =]. Also on a side note I was wondering how often (on average) do firmwares come out? I would guess once every few months but I'd like to know from the community whose been here alot longer than I have.

02-10-2009, 07:22	#14
Ego Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 4	maybe it is possible to handle this like the ape format... Hi, at first and welcome to my first post What i think about is, that the audio-format .ape only exists like all music files together in one file, seperated with the help of a cue file, which tells the player where one track ends and the other starts, so that you can jump between those tracks and handle it a bit easyer... i dont really know wheter the D2 supports the .cue files of .ape Files, i have to try, but if this works i could be possible that you convert your mp3 files in ape files (jes i know they are massiv, maybe its possible to lower the bitrate or something) and with the support of a cue file u could handle it like seperate mp3 files... and maybe there will be no gap o.O I have to try this... Greets from Germany...

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