Bugzilla – Bug 838
Gapless MP3 playback has "gaps"
Last modified: 2008-12-18 11:54:15 UTC
Overview Description: Tracks encoded with LAME (V. 3.96.1 in my case) are playing flawlessly with foobar2000 and Winamp with the in_mpg123.dll plugin. Gapless track are playing without any noticeable �gap� even though albums have not been encoded as one big MP3 with a cue sheet but rather as separate tracks. However, there are gaps when listening to the same tracks on the Slimserver. Gaps are shorter than, say, when using Windows Media Player, but they are still very annoying. Many classical and new age albums and most live albums are especially affected by this problem. Steps to Reproduce: Just place attached tracks to playlist in order and play them sequentially. In the transition between tracks, a small gap will be audible with both Softsqueeze and the Squeezebox. Using foobar2000 or Winamp will play the files correctly. Attachements Description: Included are some sample tracks showing the problem. They are encoded at a low bitrate (96Kbps) to save space but this does not affect the tests. When played used Winamp or foobar2000, the playback without any gaps. Gaps will be noticeable when playing over the Slimserver. Additional Information: - The analog outputs of the Squeezebox have been used. -As proposed by Kevin Pearsall, no bitrate limit has been in the Player Settings. No image tags (or other special tags requiring stripping from the server) are included in the files. In fact, all tags have been removed in the attached tracks, as suggested. - The player is not synchronized with anything else than the Slimserver. Also, others are reporting the same problem in the developers forum, such as Kim Suominen : [...] "I've been using gapless encoding with LAME and the files play back perfectly (gapless) on Winamp (no special plugins used), the Turtle Beach AudioTron (AT), and through Icecast (streamed MP3). I haven't been using mpg123 anymore for quite some time, but back in 1997/1998 is was playing the gapless MP3 files perfectly gaplessly as well. I just did an experiment with the Squeezebox (and SlimServer V6): 1: The Alan Parsons Project / Eye in the Sky - 1. Sirius / 2. Eye in the Sky 2: Marillion / Misplaced Childhood - 1. Pseudo Silk Kimono / 2. Kayleigh / 3. Lavender / 4. Bitter Suite First test had a slight break in the rhythm over the song (file) change -- less like a gap and more like a couple of frames *missing*. I replayed it on the AT, and it played perfectly on it, so something happens differently with the Squeezebox. I tried it a couple more times on the Squeezebox, and it always does the same "quick-step" between the tracks. The second test plays the first two transitions perfectly on the Squeezebox. However, the third transition has a tiny but audible gap. Just to verify, did the replay on AT to make sure all transitions play perfectly without gap there." [...]
Created attachment 268 [details] Michael Nyman gapless tracks sample Encoded with LAME 3.96.1 with "-alt-preset extreme" settings.
Created attachment 269 [details] Mike Oldfield gapless tracks sample Encoded with LAME 3.96.1 with "--alt-preset 96" settings.
Comment on attachment 268 [details] Michael Nyman gapless tracks sample Wrongo. The files were encoded with LAME 3.96.1 with "--alt-preset 96" settings, not "--alt-preset 128"
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 1026 ***
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