foo_dsp_continuator, crossfading plugin Options

[CyberSnooP]

Would it be possible to define some menu-actions for enabling and disabling foo_dsp_continuator quickly? It doens't always detect seamless transitions with my MP3s, so I do want to disable this great plug-in once in a while.

[Smiff]

um I think i have a bug to report:

if there is no next track (i.e. you're listening to the last track in a playlist - i don't use non-default play orders) there will be a skip near the end of the that track. presumably continuator is getting confused looking for a next track. can anyone else confirm? i'm pretty sure it happens every time here.

thanks, otherwise i've grown to love this plugin, cheers.

edit: i'm using continuator v0.1.8 and foobar v0.8 final.

edit2: after reading the post above, i don't think continuator ever detects gapless mp3s for me, it always crossfades, any ideas why? yes i have "disable overlapping..." selected. this is a different issue sorry.

This post has been edited by Smiff: Mar 28 2004, 03:21

[Cpt. Footure]

@ CyberSnooP and Smiff

It doens't always detect seamless transitions with my MP3s

after reading the post above, i don't think continuator ever detects gapless mp3s for me, it always crossfades, any ideas why? yes i have "disable overlapping..." selected.

Detecting seamless transitions with mp3's is somewhat tricky, because the encoding and decoding process adds new signal samples (a gap) that destroy the seamless transition. You (i.e. me) have to guess where the original ending and starting points have been and then guess again if that was a seamless transition.
Anyway, i know there is room for improvement with my seamless transition detecting, but i don't have much time now, sorry.

@CyberSnooP

there will be a skip near the end of the that track

try a longer output buffer length (preferences->playback->output)

@ Lyx

Maybe a simple way for continuator to fix this could be to even if seamless transition is detected, a small amount of frames gets overlapped?

Yes, that could fix it, but again, no time yet.

[Sylt-Tomten]

Is it possible to make it crossfade when changing tracks manually?

[Lyx]

not with foo-continuator - but with cpt footure's other plugin "directsound extended 2.5".

- Lyx

[Sylt-Tomten]

Okey, thanks for the quick answer

[Cpt. Footure]

but with cpt footure's other plugin "directsound extended 2.5".

I woudn't call it 'my' plugin, since i only took v2.0 from the SDK and made some extensions.
download

[kode54]

Detecting seamless transitions with mp3's is somewhat tricky, because the encoding and decoding process adds new signal samples (a gap) that destroy the seamless transition.

You are referring to MP3 files which lack encoder delay/padding information, correct?

[Cpt. Footure]

yup

[ears]

Cpt.,

Great work--I've been looking for something like this for a while now.

3 Questions:

1. The last song in a playlist will end just a little early-especially noticable with a song that has a long fade out. I've tried increasing the buffer for the Wave Out output, but it still happens. Due to the drivers of the professional audio card I've got, Wave Out is the only output I can use. Any ideas?

2. No chance of making it fade-while-seek or fade on manual change within this plugin?

3. It sounds like the fade you've implemented is a linear fade. Any chance of having some control over that? I think long logarithmic fade is the most 'natural' sounding for most fades.

Many thanks on a great plugin.

ears

[Cpt. Footure]

Hi,
sorry for the delay, i'm quite busy these days.

Q1:
I will fix this if i find some time.

Q2:
Sorry, no. This has to be covered by output plugins.

Q3:
Unless you don't check 'Force fade-out to desired fade rate', there is no fade at all. If checked, it is assured, that the ending track will fade with 'at least' the desired fade rate, which is in dB/sec and hence logarithmic. No correction is made if the ending tracks 'natural' fade is 'quicker'.

Bye.

[Cpt. Footure]

Hi,
fixed the last-track-skipping-near-end-bug: download Continuator v0.2.2

bye.

BTW: i can't edit my account information or add a new plugin on the third party plugins page. any action following a successful login seems to take me back to the login page. happens with Opera 7.5 and IE 6. any ideas? and yes, cookies are enabled.

[ludox]

Thanks for the update.
The new plugin is on the third party plugins page now.

[Squeller]

It crashes very often between 2 tracks: the first is a vbr at 200kbps average, the 2nd a 40kbps cbr 22050Hz.

Illegal operation:
Code: C0000005h, flags: 00000000h, address: 7800124Ch
Access violation, operation: read, address: 014BB000h
Call path:
playback_core_i::g_thread_func=>playback_core_i::thread_func=>dsp::run
This is the first crash logged by this instance.
Code bytes (7800124Ch):
7800120Ch: 78 8B C6 5F 5E C3 55 8B EC 57 56 8B 75 0C 8B 4D
7800121Ch: 10 8B 7D 08 8B C1 8B D1 03 C6 3B FE 76 08 3B F8
7800122Ch: 0F 82 65 20 01 00 F7 C7 03 00 00 00 75 1B C1 E9
7800123Ch: 02 83 E2 03 83 F9 08 73 07 FF 24 8D 44 13 00 78
7800124Ch: F3 A5 FF 24 95 68 13 00 78 8B C7 BA 03 00 00 00
7800125Ch: 83 E9 04 72 0C 83 E0 03 03 C8 FF 24 85 34 13 00
7800126Ch: 78 FF 24 8D 78 13 00 78 23 D1 8A 06 88 07 8A 46
7800127Ch: 01 C1 E9 02 88 47 01 83 C6 02 83 C7 02 83 F9 08
Stack (0365FD5Ch):
0365FD3Ch: 77883618 FFFFFFFF 0012F9E8 77E77738
0365FD4Ch: 00000000 00000003 780153F4 780050CF
0365FD5Ch: 0145C2D8 FFFCB749 0365FD94 009B1EAE
0365FD6Ch: 02813078 014B0FD0 FFE5BA48 0000002F
0365FD7Ch: 014C69E0 0145C2D8 02813078 014C69E0
0365FD8Ch: 014B0FD0 000348E6 0365FDB8 009B181C
0365FD9Ch: 014C69E0 00000000 014C69E0 0145C2D8
0365FDACh: 0142600C 00000001 00035D54 0365FDE4
0365FDBCh: 009B345D 00000000 01FB31E8 00000000
0365FDCCh: 0040ABB3 0365FEFC 014183CC 00000000
0365FDDCh: 00000000 01FB31E8 0365FE70 0040AA69
0365FDECh: 0000003C 0365FEFC 014183CC 00000000
0365FDFCh: 0365FE28 00000000 01426008 00000000
0365FE0Ch: 00000002 00000004 01FB31E8 00000020
0365FE1Ch: 00444904 00000000 0365FE44 00000000
0365FE2Ch: 00000000 0109001F 00005622 45BAE3C0
0365FE3Ch: 400810B1 E6C5ACBA A26BB0CE 00420EA6
0365FE4Ch: 01DA48D0 0000002F 00000001 00005622
0365FE5Ch: 0365FED8 0365FEFC 00420E71 0365FED8
0365FE6Ch: 00000000 0365FFA4 0042028A 0365FEFC
Registers:
EAX: 0130CA18, EBX: FFE5BA48, ECX: 3FF94686, EDX: 00000000
ESI: 014BB000, EDI: 0281D0A8, EBP: 0365FD64, ESP: 0365FD5C
Failed to get module/symbol info.

Version info:
foobar2000 v0.8.3
UNICODE

[Cpt. Footure]

Would it be possible to define some menu-actions for enabling and disabling foo_dsp_continuator quickly? It doens't always detect seamless transitions with my MP3s, so I do want to disable this great plug-in once in a while.

It crashes very often between 2 tracks: the first is a vbr at 200kbps average, the 2nd a 40kbps cbr 22050Hz.

Hi,
version 0.2.3 is uploaded:
- menu item added (Components -> Continuator -> Enabled)
- 'new-track-has-different-samplerate' bug fixed

Enjoy

[CarlosTheTackle]

Wow. This is a great plug-in. It was the thing that finally convinced me to make the switch from Winamp (and the great sqrsoft crossfader). Well done, Cpt. Footure.

Couple of suggestions for future development:

1. It's great that you've included the 'Disable fade if seamless join' feature. However, the only problem I have with this plug-in is when a track that is from a continuous (live or mix) album ends, the crowd (or whatever) cuts out hard at the end. Perhaps you could include an option for if the outgoing (and incoming) track has sound right up to the end, then do a forced fade on it from <specified> seconds out.

2. Ok, I'm getting really picky now, but it's worth a mention. I find the crossfading slightly annoying on tracks that have a really distinct sudden end. Musically speaking, the new track starts too soon. It needs a little 'breathing space'. Perhaps you could complicate the algorithm a little so that if the song has a large change in level right at the end (say, more than 10db drop within 1/2 second), then let the next track start a little bit (user specified) later.

Cheers. Loving foobar (and this plug-in of course)

[Cpt. Footure]

Hi,
good to hear that i could help to save another soul

If one day i will find some time to continue the Continuator, your suggestions will be remembered.

Bye.

ps: Is there any interest in the source code, so that my lack of spare time doesn't matter anymore?

[PlazzTT]

Great plugin! I'd like to see more updates to it.

I've been having a problem recently with it, where it sometimes crashes foobar2000 if I try to seek through a song alot. It rarely crashes if I just try to skip forward a few seconds, but if I make one big jump it seems to crash it.

BTW, is there any other similar crossfading plugin being developed?

This post has been edited by PlazzTT: Dec 18 2004, 19:31

[kelesh]

Great plugin! I'd like to see more updates to it.

I've been having a problem recently with it, where it sometimes crashes foobar2000 if I try to seek through a song alot. It rarely crashes if I just try to skip forward a few seconds, but if I make one big jump it seems to crash it.

BTW, is there any other similar crossfading plugin being developed?

i love this plugin, but it does crash on seeking. any updates or bug fixes??

[aharden]

Great plugin! I'd like to see more updates to it.

I've been having a problem recently with it, where it sometimes crashes foobar2000 if I try to seek through a song alot. It rarely crashes if I just try to skip forward a few seconds, but if I make one big jump it seems to crash it.

BTW, is there any other similar crossfading plugin being developed?

i love this plugin, but it does crash on seeking. any updates or bug fixes??

I don't mean to pile on, but I've been having FB2K crashing problems with an instance I'm using to stream with Oddcast v.3.0.3 and I think I've narrowed down Continuator as the culprit, even though Oddcast is listed as the component that takes the exception. The combination causes intermittent crashes on song or playlist changes. I've been working with Oddsock to try to narrow this down, and created a bare FB2K instance to build up to try to isolate this. I've just removed the Continuator plugin from the mix to see if stability returns. If anyone would like more info (Cpt. Footure?), let me know.

[Zeugma]

First of all, great job, Cpt. Footure ! Your plugin is the element that made me definitely switch from Winamp to fb2k !!

aharden> I also broadcast with continuator enabled and had problems at the beginning. Now that I use this config



I have no crash problems. That probably means that the code in threshold control or fadeout rate control is involved in these crashes, but I don't know more than that.


I'd like to request an "Apply" button in the plugin config dialog, so that it becomes possible to change the fadeout rates & overlapping lengths while playing.
I currently have to stop and restart the playback for any change to take effect.
With an apply method, your plugin will become really handy for broadcasting live mixes

Please let us know if you can do it...

Regards.

[aharden]

aharden> I also broadcast with continuator enabled and had problems at the beginning. Now that I use this config
[..]
I have no crash problems. That probably means that the code in threshold control or fadeout rate control is involved in these crashes, but I don't know more than that.

Thanks for the reply. Disabling the threshold control is something I definitely haven't done, since (in my opinion) the plugin would be lobotomized as a result. The fact that the plugin is threshold-based (like the SQRSoft Winamp crossfader) is what's made it so appealing to me.

Since removing Continuator from the picture, I'm actually learning to appreciate the "Music Choice" vibe one gets from no crossfades. But I would enable it again in a heartbeat if the conflicts with Oddcast were ironed out.

This post has been edited by aharden: Feb 13 2005, 13:52

[CarlosTheTackle]

Small request: The current command to enable this plug-in is a toggle. Could you make it so that it has a seperate 'enable' and 'disable' command, as this would make it easier to control via hotkeys and the command line?

Cheers,

C

[Lyx]

Actually, having a toggle is easier for hotkeys, because that way you only need one key instead of two - but nothing against having the choice

- Lyx

[CarlosTheTackle]

Actually, having a toggle is easier for hotkeys, because that way you only need one key instead of two - but nothing against having the choice

Except when you forget what it was previously set on when you restart playback and you have to look up the menu to see. And when you have it setup to be triggered in conjunction with other settings (such as track gain vs album gain, or shuffle vs default), and it gets out of sync with how you want it to be. But you're right, having the option would be good.