Gapless playback snips things out

[CaptainSiberia]

Something is wrong with Winamp's gapless playback. I'm using Directsound Output, and as far as I can figure, it's set up correctly. But when I play a CD or flac files where tracks flow into each other, the gapless playback doesn't work right. As it changes tracks, it snips a fraction of a second off the end of the first track, or perhaps off the beginning of the second, so the transition becomes jarring instead of smooth. What's going on here? How do I fix it?

[MrSinatra]

thats odd, b/c i don't notice that unless its something thats "old" meaning encoded by an older codec.

is it everything, or just some things? perhaps post some example files at 4shared.

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by CaptainSiberia

I'm using Directsound Output, and as far as I can figure, it's set up correctly.

Exactly how is it configured? It may not be correct or you may need a minor adjustment.

[CaptainSiberia]

It's set, I believe, to the prescribed config.

Device is Primary Sound Driver. Allow hardware acceleration, Create primary buffer.

Buffer length of 1000 ms. Same for Prebuffer and Buffer-ahead. Enable CPU usage control. And I think I've tried varying the buffer length and gotten the same result.

Default fade length 0 ms, all fades disabled. "Don't abort" is checked, incidentally.

Silence remover not enabled. Volume control disabled, because I like it that way. Smooth volume changes is checked, and control is set to linear.

[MrSinatra]

doesn't sound like defaults to me.

note your current settings, then reset to defaults, then try it.

[CaptainSiberia]

But I never said defaults. I said "prescribed."

Well, I tried reseting the plugin. Didn't help. There's still a small bit of snipping and sometimes a tiny click during changeovers.

I tried using a 4-second buffer for everything. No change. I played around with the CD Plugin settings; just got undesirable changes.

[MrSinatra]

i didn't say you said defaults.

regardless, exactly how did u "reset" it?

[CaptainSiberia]

Nullsoft DirectSound Output v2.6 > Reset All.

Isn't there anything else I can try here?

[MrSinatra]

i wonder if u have to do that for each tab, as the buffering tab has a second reset button?

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by CaptainSiberia

It's set, I believe, to the prescribed config.

Device is Primary Sound Driver. Allow hardware acceleration, Create primary buffer.

Buffer length of 1000 ms. Same for Prebuffer and Buffer-ahead. Enable CPU usage control. And I think I've tried varying the buffer length and gotten the same result.

Default fade length 0 ms, all fades disabled. "Don't abort" is checked, incidentally.

Silence remover not enabled. Volume control disabled, because I like it that way. Smooth volume changes is checked, and control is set to linear.

Those 'prescribed' settings are not very good. Who prescribed them?

Anyway, you may get better results by setting the output device to the actual device you want to use. Leaving it set to "Primary Sound Driver" leaves the choice up to the OS (what is set as the default device in the Windows sound control panel).

Hardware acceleration is no longer supported by the Windows versions since XP.

Creating a primary buffer is only recommended for old sound cards and even then it may not help, if the card and/or driver is very old.

Buffer lengths are associated with fades and silence removal. If all fades and the silence remover are disabled, then the buffer and fade lengths and abort options do not matter. Likewise, if volume control is disabled, then the associated volume control options do not matter.

Those settings would have disabled the DirectSound output control (including gapless playback) and what you have left is the input plug-in's decoded output passed through to the Windows mixer and your sound device's driver. It appears you need major adjustments.

As MrSinatra suggested, you should check all the DirectSound output plug-in options after trying the reset function. It may not reset everything.

The 'sure' way to get back to the installation defaults is to shutdown Winamp and then use a text file editor (like Notepad) to remove the DirectSound output plug-in section from the Winamp configuration file (winamp.ini). It will be rewritten to the installation defaults when Winamp is restarted. Do not mess with winamp.ini, if you are not comfortable with editing *.ini files.

Search for posts on 'recommended' gapless playback settings.

[CaptainSiberia]

Ok. Looks like it was actually one of my DSPs that was causing trouble. I turned it off, and things went as smoothly as you please.

Incidentally, I tried changing the buffer settings. I turned them all the way down, since you said they didn't matter. Turns out they do. When they're all the way down, gaps at changeovers get bigger. The buffer is used for more than just crossfades.

[MrSinatra]

note to self:

remember to always get a one for nunz list first.

(assuming that DrO isn't going to forbid it)

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by CaptainSiberia

Ok. Looks like it was actually one of my DSPs that was causing trouble. I turned it off, and things went as smoothly as you please.

Incidentally, I tried changing the buffer settings. I turned them all the way down, since you said they didn't matter. Turns out they do. When they're all the way down, gaps at changeovers get bigger. The buffer is used for more than just crossfades.

Glad you found the problem.

I said that the buffers are also important to silence removal. Did you re-enable the silence remover? If not, thanks for that info. It means that the DirectSound plug-in now works a little differently than what has been described in the past.

[CaptainSiberia]

No silence remover. The buffer just buffers ahead on track change so it can occur smoothly. (Unfortunately, the program will not play tracks that are shorter than the buffer. If you've got a one-second sound bite and your buffer is set to two seconds, it won't play the song, unless it's sandwiched between longer tracks.)