Full Version: WMA lossless to MP3 Converter (gapless question)
Does anyone know of a good (and preferably free but it doesn't have to be) WMA lossless to MP3 converter that will convert files and keep the ones that are supposed to be gapless, gapless? I don't want to have to go through the trouble of directly ripping all of my CDs again after I just ripped them to WMA lossless, but maintaining gapless play back on live albums and others (Darkside of the Moon) is very important. So does anyone have any advice or experience? I would greatly appreciate it
foobar2000 + LAME.
BTW, mp3 is gapless only if player supports gapless mp3 playback.
BTW, mp3 is gapless only if player supports gapless mp3 playback.
Note that MP3 is not inherently gapless. Support for gapless playback depends on the encoder (LAME is fine) and the player combined, but essentially mostly on the player.
The only way to ensure gapless playback of DSotM on all MP3 players is to encode the whole album (or each side of the original continuous LP) as one single MP3 file. I think Foobar2000 supports WMA Lossless (if not you can convert to any other lossless format before importing) and by selecting the whole album then right-click, Convert... you have the option to convert to a single file. You'll just need to install the LAME encoder and point foobar2000 to it to create MP3 files. If you have CUE sheets, players that support them will allow you to access individual tracks within the single whole-album MP3 file.
Another option might be CUEtools (which can also verify your lossless rips against the AccurateRip database (subject to finding or guessing the correct CUEsheet settings) and warn of ripping errors (likely somewhere in your rips if you used Windows Media Player to rip them all rather than a secure ripper), and even offset-correct them) but it does not support WMA lossless, so you have to convert to another lossless format (e.g. FLAC) first. It can also create a CUE sheet, though players that support them are limited - e.g. foobar2000 (software) and Rockbox (hardware DAP).
For file-per-track MP3, gapless playback is rare. Certain players like foobar2000, newer Winamp version and iTunes support gapless playback of LAME-encoded MP3 files natively (as does LAME itself, when decoding) and among hardware players most iPods and all Rockbox-enabled players properly support gapless LAME too as do a small selection of other hardware players. Many, perhaps most, varieties of software and hardware players do not support gapless playback of separate MP3 files. If you only use compatible players, then great.
For much more information and links to further reading, Wikipedia's Gapless Playback entry is quite comprehensive. I'm led to believe that certain Sansa MP3 players also support gapless with recent firmware, though they're not listed in the Wikipedia article.
The only way to ensure gapless playback of DSotM on all MP3 players is to encode the whole album (or each side of the original continuous LP) as one single MP3 file. I think Foobar2000 supports WMA Lossless (if not you can convert to any other lossless format before importing) and by selecting the whole album then right-click, Convert... you have the option to convert to a single file. You'll just need to install the LAME encoder and point foobar2000 to it to create MP3 files. If you have CUE sheets, players that support them will allow you to access individual tracks within the single whole-album MP3 file.
Another option might be CUEtools (which can also verify your lossless rips against the AccurateRip database (subject to finding or guessing the correct CUEsheet settings) and warn of ripping errors (likely somewhere in your rips if you used Windows Media Player to rip them all rather than a secure ripper), and even offset-correct them) but it does not support WMA lossless, so you have to convert to another lossless format (e.g. FLAC) first. It can also create a CUE sheet, though players that support them are limited - e.g. foobar2000 (software) and Rockbox (hardware DAP).
For file-per-track MP3, gapless playback is rare. Certain players like foobar2000, newer Winamp version and iTunes support gapless playback of LAME-encoded MP3 files natively (as does LAME itself, when decoding) and among hardware players most iPods and all Rockbox-enabled players properly support gapless LAME too as do a small selection of other hardware players. Many, perhaps most, varieties of software and hardware players do not support gapless playback of separate MP3 files. If you only use compatible players, then great.
For much more information and links to further reading, Wikipedia's Gapless Playback entry is quite comprehensive. I'm led to believe that certain Sansa MP3 players also support gapless with recent firmware, though they're not listed in the Wikipedia article.
Well the reason I ask is because I used an MP3 converter that used LAME to do this before (Switch media files converter, I think is the name) but when I went to play the tracks that were supposed to be gapless in the Zune software (because I was thinking of buying one) it had gaps. Also, I owned a Rio Karma when they first came out, and I just ripped my files as mp3s and listened to my albums and no gaps. I didn't even know that most players didn't support gapless playback until my Karma died and I found out it was the exception. I now am going to try and use rockbox, but I really want to just convert my WMA lossless files to a lossy library and be done with it. so...
From Rockbox FAQ:
Maybe this can make MP3 files to be played gaplessly.
QUOTE
LAME and maybe other encoders allow to encode an album in a way that the song ends are slightly shifted to end up exactly on frame boundaries (the LAME -nogap method; the shift is max. 1/2 frame length, i.e. usually not noticeable). These files can be played gapless regardless whether the player handles the LAME tag or not.
Maybe this can make MP3 files to be played gaplessly.
I wouldn't be surprised if Zune does not support lame-gapless headers. Maybe you should try aac on it, as the aac-standard does not suffer from the gapless problems like mp3.
From the Wikipedia page on Gapless Playback I also linked to above:
Perhaps check for the 2.5 firmware or above. However, it doesn't state that the Zune will play MP3 files gaplessly (or LAME MP3 for that matter), so may only work with any inherently gapless formats that it supports (including various WMA formats, I believe). I guess for you it's worth looking into that more closely.
QUOTE
Optimal solutions:
* Cowon S9 supports gapless playback without software dependency since 2.31b firmware
* Microsoft Zune supports gapless playback with Zune 2.5 or later firmware.
...many more deleted, my emphasis
* Cowon S9 supports gapless playback without software dependency since 2.31b firmware
* Microsoft Zune supports gapless playback with Zune 2.5 or later firmware.
...many more deleted, my emphasis
Perhaps check for the 2.5 firmware or above. However, it doesn't state that the Zune will play MP3 files gaplessly (or LAME MP3 for that matter), so may only work with any inherently gapless formats that it supports (including various WMA formats, I believe). I guess for you it's worth looking into that more closely.
I'm not really digging Foobar2000, are there any other good converters that would convert to mp3 and carry the gaps etc?
QUOTE (Dynamic @ Oct 10 2009, 12:01) 
Perhaps check for the 2.5 firmware or above. However, it doesn't state that the Zune will play MP3 files gaplessly (or LAME MP3 for that matter), so may only work with any inherently gapless formats that it supports (including various WMA formats, I believe). I guess for you it's worth looking into that more closely.
The Zune device tries to be gapless for all formats it supports including MP3, though it may not be perfect in all scenarios due to probable bugs. The Zune Marketplace sells unprotected MP3s whenever possible, so it's key they support gapless on MP3.
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