MP3s generated with dbpoweramp not gapless Options

[dancrocker]

I hope this is the right forum and that this topic hasn't been beaten to death. I apologize if I'm wrong on either of these. I searched but didn't find the answer I was looking for. Of course, the amount of info here is a bit overwhelming

I used dbpoweramp to rip to FLAC, then generate 320kbit CBR MP3s. ITunes plays them gaplessly as does foobar2000. However, my iPod (5th generation) does not. There's a teeny "gap" (more like a glitch). My iPhone 3G doesn't play them gaplessly either although the "gap" is more like a click. Meanwhile, MP3s generated by iTunes play on the iPod perfectly.

I know, years ago, there was a lot of noise about apple not supporting gapless. But, I thought this was all resolved. Certainly, it appears to work fine if the MP3s are encoded with iTunes.

Is this a well-known problem? I found some other posts that seemed to say that LAME encoded MP3s (which is what dbpoweramp uses) play gaplessly on iPods. So, I'm puzzled as to while I'm having this trouble. I'd appreciate any help or suggestions.

[kornchild2002]

We could determine if the gap is really an issue or if you are being overly picky. Don't take that negatively. I have seen many people post about iPods not being truly gapless when they can hear a faint click and/or if the music pauses for a millisecond. I then listened to a sample and it turned out that the performance was completely normal.

Another option I haven't thought of (I don't know why) is that you should restore your iPod and then sync the content back on it. This will erase absolutely everything on the iPod putting it back to factory standards. Restoring iPods often fixes their problems and it helps to eliminate sources of problems.

[2Bdecided]

We could determine if the gap is really an issue or if you are being overly picky. Don't take that negatively. I have seen many people post about iPods not being truly gapless when they can hear a faint click and/or if the music pauses for a millisecond. I then listened to a sample and it turned out that the performance was completely normal.

I don't have an iPod, but are you saying that gapless = not quite gapless?!

FWIW "gapless" mp3s (lame, or otherwise) aren't necessarily "glitchless" unless you use pcutmp3 to do the job properly - which gives true gapless and glitchless playback on software that reads the lame header properly (e.g. fb2k). It may not help with an iPod (unless RockBoxed) - it might even confuse it. I don't know!

(You can also make truly gapless+glitchless mp3s using the depreciated lame "nogap" switch - but this isn't recommended, and I don't know how that'll interract with an iPod either).

Cheers,
David.

[kornchild2002]

I don't have an iPod, but are you saying that gapless = not quite gapless?!

Not at all. However, there are some instances when the transition from one song to the next is not smooth. I have heard this on my iPod a couple of times with Nero AAC files. There is a slight (less than one second) pause or click that can be heard when going from one song to another. So iPods are gapless but there are some instances where it might not be perfect (as with any technology). With the other person that I helped, we were able to download the sample and put it in an application. The little click/gap was actually around 0.3 seconds long. It wasn't anything to get all up in arms over.

So all I am saying is that gapless playback may have some instances (in my experience, these are few and far between if I even notice them at all) where it isn't truly gapless. It would be nice to determine if the OP is experiencing behavior like this or if there is an actual problem.

[2Bdecided]

I don't have an iPod, but are you saying that gapless = not quite gapless?!

Not at all. However, there are some instances when the transition from one song to the next is not smooth. I have heard this on my iPod a couple of times with Nero AAC files. There is a slight (less than one second) pause or click that can be heard when going from one song to another. So iPods are gapless but there are some instances where it might not be perfect (as with any technology). With the other person that I helped, we were able to download the sample and put it in an application. The little click/gap was actually around 0.3 seconds long. It wasn't anything to get all up in arms over.

So all I am saying is that gapless playback may have some instances (in my experience, these are few and far between if I even notice them at all) where it isn't truly gapless. It would be nice to determine if the OP is experiencing behavior like this or if there is an actual problem.

I think you're being far too forgiving.

If my CD player gave 0.3 second gaps on "gapless" CDs, then either the CD, or the player, would be going straight back to the shop!

Cheers,
David.