finally… i just received the excellent james hyman quentin tarantino mash-up, excellent grand, fabulous stuff! it is definitely up there with the strictly kev raiding the 20th century mix. and that means alot in my book.
but unfortunately when i listen to the mp3s the mix, that is supposed to be a seamless dj-mix, slightly skips on the transitions. i had noticed this before. when you rip a seamless djmix from cd to mp3 this tends to occur.
i don’t really understand why this is happening. i mean technically. does anyone know why?
i seem to have read somewhere, that it has to do with the mp3 algorythm introducing a slight fade in and fade out at the beginning and end of each track. that’s why when you then play the tracks next to eachother there is a small, yet audible whitespace. but this might just be my wild and unqualified guess. a google search has not given me more information, because, sadly whenever you add “mp3” to a search, all these mp3 scam sites show up.
so does anyone understand why this is happening?
and the most important question would be: how can it be avoided? when ripping cd’s as well as when playing them? any tricks? anyone?
edit: here are a few solutions to this problem. when ripping a seamless djmix either use AAC as compression or use the function “join cd tracks” under “advanced” in iTunes.
Nothing of these fade in/out-nonsense.
MP3 is compressing frame by frame, each block having a fixed length depending on the bitrate. There’s no method in the algorithm which allows to stop playing a frame once it has started.
So sometimes (often) the music ends but the frame has like 0.05 seconds left. That’s where the gap appears.
Alternatives: Use another format (LIke AAC or WMV) which can stop early. Or use some MP3-player which tries to recognise the early ending (Winamp does it, I think).
thanks so much for the info! that also explains why some gaps are more pronounced than others. i of course knew that if i rip to other formats this problem does not occur. but often that is not an option. especially if “someone” ripped for “me”, and mp3 it is…
winamp only exists for windoze. so i’ll have to look which mp3 player works like that in osX.
would you know if AAC is a valid option already, meaning can most mp3 players recognise it?
If by most players you mean the iPods, then yes. I don’t know about the other players…
As for Mac-software: No idea. iTunes is cheating: It can avoid the gap by crossfading two tracks.
by most players i actually meant software mp3 players. i do not own an iPod, never will. i think they are utter crap. but thats just me…
re: iTunes. yeah, of course, but the crossfade is always audible… that winamp thing does sound more appropriate for my situation. but hey.
are they single mp3’s or just one biggo file? my proposed solution differs…
single mp3s…