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How Do I Eliminate Gaps Between MP3 Tracks

kevraffkevraff Posts: 3,084
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in TV and Home Entertainment Technology #1
I'm currently copying my CD collection to MP3 and I've found an irritating problem with the format.

When I play an album back on my stereo (Technics DV290) there's always a gap between the tracks which really spoils the experience when the music on an album is continuous.

I gather that this is a common problem with MP3 players. Does anyone know if you can eliminate it at the copying stage?

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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 551
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    #2
    Gaps appear:

    1. Because the format isn't gapless (OGG is totally gapless, MP3 can be made to be) but some formats more widely used than others

    2. Because the ripper/encoder isn't very good and automatically adds silence

    3. Because the software is rubbish and waits for one track to finish before looking for the next (or even deliberately adds a gap, like most CD burning software if you're not careful) - iTunes/iPods especially bad for gapless playback, Rio Karma near perfect for MP3 gapless playback (totally perfect for gapless OGG)

    One other solution is to join multiple CD tracks into one (iTunes lets you do this) which is fine for dealing with short song intros but not the best way (the 78-minute single track album) for getting your rock/dance/hiphop/industrial/classical album to sound like the CD/tape/vynyl formats you've been used to.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 311
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    #3
    im the opposite, i want to put gaps into mine, albums of 60+ mins without being able to skip tracks annoying when burned onto CD
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    MaxCherryMaxCherry Posts: 9,013
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    #4
    You can take the 2 second gap out while burning to a cd using Nero or Roxio.

    If you want to trim or join mp3's I suggest Cool Edit.
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    SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    #5
    MP3Trim is a good program for deleting silence. With that, and using a gapless plug-in for WinAmp, you can listen to albums without silence between tracks.

    If you make sure you're not adding silence to the MP3s when ripping/converting, then the plug-in is enough.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 551
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    #6
    Of course, one big problem is the unfortunate choice of the word "gapless". There's "gapless" playback ie. no audible gaps between the tracks (useful for your own mixes), and then there's "gapless song/album playback" which is just "the album as it sounds on CD" - "gapless" from a technical point of view (nothing added or removed), but not necessarily gapless from the listener's point of view (eg. quick beatles example - "revolver" has noticeable gaps between songs, "sgt pepper" and "abbey road" have songs running into/related to each other). There's a difference between adding extra silence as you rip, trimming silence from a track permanently or during playback, and just encoding the thing so the mp3 track actually represents the original CD track (and then of course playing it back properly).
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