BogProg X-Fade 2.0 (Input Crossfading)

[thinktink]

BogProg X-Fade 2.0.0.1 is now available.

Download

This plugin is for SHOUTcasters ONLY! Instead of relying on your soundcard and the Output plugin to crossfade your music, you can now do it instead with this plugin at the input stage before it reaches the DSP. However, there are some caveats:

• You really should use a NULL Output plugin (preferably ZeroPointer) as the active output plugin. Not doing so will probably make your station timing rate all jacked up. NoFlush is also acceptable but it's not a null output plugin so expect a couple of quirks while using it.
• The plugin only supports audio files who's native decoding input plugin exports fully functional transcoder functions. If you're using an audio format that doesn't support the transcoding functions, blame the developer, not me.
• The plugin will not crossfade through audio tracks that are not at least twice as long as the specified crossfade time.

Changes from previous version:

• Removed all of the VCL dependencies (Borland's IDE framework.)
• Added re-sampling support.
• Internal bug fixes.
• Installer includes BogProg NoFlush output plugin.

Details:
So the biggest reason for the major version bump is because of the VCL removal. I basically reused all of the old source code but I had to modify it for use outside the VCL, dump the original plugin's project files, and add in-house replacements for the removed VCL functions. Giant pain-in-the-a** to do. I did this for several reasons; 1) to eliminate the VCL as a suspect in a number of very rare and intermittent crashes (these are the hardest to debug) and 2) for file size.

RE-SAMPLING ADDED! I added the same set of re-samplers to X-Fade that I did to DiskWrite (not related.) That means that now a file that's 48000,24,6 can now be crossfaded through a 44100,16,2 file. Now you won't have to resample and re-encode your music for crossfade compatibility, it gets done for you automatically on the fly. It should be noted however that even though I included re-sampling rates other than 44.1k I don't recommend using them if you're using the SHOUTcast DSP for a number of reasons too long to explain here.

The NoFlush plugin is included with the installer. What it does is allows you to use another Output plugin ("Nullsoft DirectSound Output" is the default) with X-Fade but without the internals calling flush reaching it. Instead, it mathematically emulates the effects of the flush call (transparently to Winamp) and won't pass the call on to the selected Output plugin. What this all means is that X-Fade can use an output plugin other than a null output plugin but not have the playback timing interrupted and you won't get any pops or clicks or other audio artifacts when X-Fade crossfades the next audio media. However, since the size of a signed 32 bit integer is not infinite, when total playback time since the last actual flush goes over approximately 2 weeks, on the next call to flush, flush is actually called and the emulator is reset. Can't be helped, that's just a hard limitation of a signed 32 bit integer. NoFlush is compatible only with X-Fade playback so if X-Fade is not present, it won't perform the primary function (there are several reasons for this.) In total, NoFlush will let you playback your audio to your soundcard using X-Fade.

ZeroPointer is still the preferred output plugin to use with X-Fade however.

Enjoy

[Aminifu]

Hi thinktink,

You nailed it!

You clearly said X-Fade and NoFlush are for "SHOUTcasters ONLY" and I'm not a SHOUTCaster, but I decided to give them a try since I've been looking for a way to do crossfading at the input stage for a long time.

I've tested with mp3 files and my processing train is Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder v4.103 to BogProg X-Fade v2.0.0.1 to SA Stereo Tool v7.51 to BogProg NoFlush v1.0.0.0 to Matrix Mixer v0.9.163d to Nullsoft DirectSound Output v2.64d. It all works flawlessly (for straight playlist playback, no seeking), sounds great, and no artifacts at the crossover point.

I'm using the logarithmic crossfade and the high quality default re-sampling in X-Fade. Stereo Tool is a DSP plug-in. Matrix Mixer is an output plug-in to re-sample and up-mix for my 5.1 speaker system and 24/96 soundcard.

My mp3s were encoded at various quality rates from 128 to 320 kbps (mostly constant and some variable) and some are not 44100,16,2 files. X-Fade's re-sampling makes them all look the same to the DSP (at 1411 kbps according to Winamp). This alone is a benefit, even if the crossfading didn't work. I use the DSP to apply a slight enhancement which really helps the lower quality mp3s sound much better through my low cost Logitech speakers.

The X-Fade stats says that the process buffers are off and the DirectSound output status shows 0 dropouts during playback.

I've not tried seeking back and forth within a song or skipping songs ahead or backward. That may cause buffering issues, however I'll not be doing that with this setup anyway.

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

Hi thinktink,

You nailed it!

...

Outstandingly gratifying music to my ears.

I really do hope the VCL removal is worth it. I've been wanting to put in re-sampling support into this plugin for a long time, just never found a good re-sampling mechanism to do the job correctly 'till I really hit-the-books with DiskWrite.

Originally Posted by Aminifu

...

The X-Fade stats says that the process buffers are off and the DirectSound output status shows 0 dropouts during playback.

I've not tried seeking back and forth within a song or skipping songs ahead or backward. That may cause buffering issues, however I'll not be doing that with this setup anyway.

The stats window is mostly for me (for debugging purposes.) I probably don't need it anymore since I've not had an issue with incorrectly interpreting the input plugin transcoder function data for a while now. I guess I'm just too lazy to take it out. However, just FYI, the "ProcessBuffers" item should only ever show "On" during an actual cross-fade. I don't know what "dropouts" are but it sounds bad and having zero of them is probably good. Idunno...

Seeking is very laggy depending on which output plugin you use and if the output plugin (like out_ds.dll) has large buffering. Expect lag and weirdness when seeking. Also, with X-Fade and NoFlush running, you won't get any seek fading support from out_ds.dll since out_ds.dll doesn't ever know a seek is taking place (which is what the flush(...) function is usually used for.)

[thinktink]

Version 2.1.1.10 is now available for download.

Updates and fixes:

1. Fixed major issue with resampler where large upsamples (i.e. 22050Hz upsampled to 44100Hz) were causing high CPU usage and chopped off file playback.
2. Fixed crash issue with ultra-short files.
3. Fixed metadata handling crash issue.
4. Fixed temporary hang issue from conflict with another plugin.
5. Added the ability to specify a file to not be crossfaded. This feature is accessed by opening the Unified File-info Editor Pane (Alt+3) and selecting the added [BogProg X-Fade] tab. This tab only appears for files that can be crossfaded. Screen shot of the new tab below.

[/EDIT]
Ack! I almost forgot:

Currently, all (as far as I know, all) of the official input plugins do not support writing of custom metadata fields. Because of this, I had to create a work-around. The attempt is made of course but if the attempt fails (and as of this writing it will) then the file information will be written to a plain-text file at "%appdata%\Winamp\Plugins\BPXFade.tdb". The full file path is included so if you move a media file to a new location then the state information will not follow the file. If you move a media file and still want it to block crossfading for that file then you will need to set the option for the file in it's new location again.

[Aminifu]

Hi thinktink,

Thank you for this update. I have been having some random crashes, but they never were repeatable. Everything would work fine for hours (and during multiple sessions) and out of nowhere Winamp would hang/crash. After restarting with the same playlist, everything would be ok again.

Care to say which plug-in was involved with the temporary hang issue? Also, was it a particular tag that was miss-handled or was this a random issue?

The "Block Crossfading" feature is a good addition. Now I don't have to disable the plug-in when playing certain albums.

[Aminifu]

Hello again,

I wrote the previous post before I tried the new version. Unfortunately, crossfading does not work for me with the new version. I've tried everything I can think of (changing the crossfade point, enabling and disabling re-sampling and logarithmic transitions, and deselecting the NoFlush output plug-in).

Also, data is not written to the "BPXFade.tdb" file until Winamp is shutdown. I had the crazy idea that the new feature might be working in reverse, so tried enabling the crossfading block for a few files to see if crossfading would then work.

Version 2.0.0.1 does work for me. If it has something to do with the random hangs/crashes I've been having I can live with them, since they are rare. Maybe it has something to do with when NoFlush allows an actual flush to occur. I'll start documenting what I was doing and the total elapsed playback time between occurrences.

[thinktink]

Ok, that's disconcerting. I had no problems at all for the past three nights crossfading music.

I'm at work at the moment and I need to finish off some things. In the meantime, please post an Info Tool report and list the file types you're generally playing that aren't crossfading, post a sample file if you can. Also, make note of the CPU usage during playback and just before it's supposed to crossfade. I put code in to pre-load the transcoder functions for the next song (after a delay) and I'm wondering if maybe CPU usage is preventing crossfades on your system (I doubt it but it doesn't hurt to check.)

The conflicting plugin was WebJockey, but I'm assuming you don't use that.

"BPXFade.tdb" not being written until shutdown is normal and expected operation.

The random crashes you were seeing are very likely to be related to the metadata handling crash fixes in this latest release.

On it's own, NoFlush passing on an actual flush (where it would normally block) only occurs if the playback has been continuously longer than two weeks, and even then only does it once (then another two weeks, flush... then another two weeks, flush... so on and so forth). If it seems NoFlush is passing flushes on when it shouldn't then it might mean that X-Fade believes (for some inexplicable reason) it can't crossfade the media (and then is calling Out->Close(..) and Out->Open(...) and not Out->Flush(...).) An output chaining plugin that logs calls would be a good way to determine that. I'll see if I have one floating around somewhere...

[thinktink]

Here we go. To check for the call to Flush(...) during failed crossfade attempts I'm attaching a plugin in a zip archive that will log the output plugin API calls. To use, copy (or move) the plugin file to the Plugins folder, open the preferences for NoFlush and select it as the output plugin to chain (it will be called BogProg LogOutput.) The plugin itself just loads and passes on the calls it receives to the DirectSound output plugin so everything should function normally. Leave just two files in the Winamp Playlist and from a fresh running instance play the first file and wait for the crossfade to fail. Wait about 2 seconds of the playback from the second file then directly quit Winamp. The log file will be located at "%appdata%\Winamp\BPOutputLog.csv". You will need to put it into a zip file before posting on the forums.

Plugin archive attached.

[thinktink]

Hmm, I found a flaw in my pre-load check and processing code. After about 20+ times starting playback on a fresh instance of Winamp I noticed the very first song played doesn't crossfade intermittently but the following songs do. I've attached v2.1.2.13 installer in a zip archive. See if it crossfades now.

[thinktink]

Version 2.1.2.13 now available for download.

Changes:

• Fixed issue with pre-load logic error intermittently causing the first media item to not crossfade.

I burned one of my fingers on a hot lamp (the kind you use for lighting a space for filming) right at one of the joints. Those are always the worst. Sorry for any misspellings in this post.

[Aminifu]

Hi thinktink,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to work on this so quickly. It appears that we live in close to the same time zone, but I work midnight to 8 am, so half the time when you're normally awake, I'm probably sleeping.

Version 2.1.2.13 is working for me!

I have seen momentary spikes following song transitions using Windows Task Manager to monitor Winamp's CPU usage. A few of them have been quite large (up to 70%), but they have not caused any problems on my system. It depends on the songs and the DSP plug-in I'm using (SA Stereo Tool) normally adds up to an additional 20% itself.

But (there's always a but ), this version exposes a problem with the crossfade blocking feature. The song immediately before the songs selected to be blocked also does not crossfade. It seems like your plug-in does not 'see' it. There is no spike in CPU usage following the transition of the song prior to the first one that is selected for blocking.

I would only want to block a group of consecutive songs, so the work-around for this issue (if it can't be fixed) is obvious (just start the blocking with the second song in the group), so it's no big deal. It is a little inconvenient that Winamp must be restarted before the blocking is activated or removed. However, this is better than having to disable/enable the plug-in for various groups of songs.

As to the crashes I was having, I never run Winamp continuously for over 2 weeks at a time (I'm still not broadcasting). If the crashes were related to your plug-in, it probably was the metadata handling issues. If the crashes return, I'll use what you suggested in post #8 above.

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

...

But (there's always a but ), this version exposes a problem with the crossfade blocking feature. The song immediately before the songs selected to be blocked also does not crossfade. It seems like your plug-in does not 'see' it. There is no spike in CPU usage following the transition of the song prior to the first one that is selected for blocking.

...

I'm having a hard time understanding your description. The crossfade blocking should only be blocking crossfades of songs that are marked for blocking on both the start and end of the song (no intro or outro crossfades.)

Here's a text-based illustration using five songs in a playlist:
Songs marked with X are blocked. Songs marked with O are not blocked

-------------------Song 1----------------O--
crossfade allowed
-------------------Song 2----------------O--
crossfade blocked
-------------------Song 3----------------X--
crossfade blocked
-------------------Song 4----------------O--
crossfade allowed
-------------------Song 5----------------O--


The goal of the crossfade blocking feature is so that advertisements on SHOUTcast stations can be protected from crossfading. Must keep those advertisers happy.

[Aminifu]

Ok, I understand now. The feature is working as it should. My fault for using a plug-in designed for SHOUTcast and not knowing what that needs and does.

This site says that the link in post #8 above is invalid.

Thank you again for some great work!

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

Ok, I understand now. The feature is working as it should. My fault for using a plug-in designed for SHOUTcast and not knowing what that needs and does.

...

Man, you gotta stop scaring me like that! Thanks for responding and letting me know.

Originally Posted by Aminifu

...

This site says that the link in post #8 above is invalid.

...

I removed the attachment it points to since it was no longer necessary.

Originally Posted by Aminifu

...

Thank you again for some great work!

Thank you for using it.

Please let me know if you see any more crashes, rare or not.

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by thinktink

Man, you gotta stop scaring me like that!

Yeah, sorry about that.

Take care of your finger. I hope you are a fast healer.

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

Yeah, sorry about that.

Take care of your finger. I hope you are a fast healer.

Thanks. It ain't the first time I've been burned nor probably will it be the last, although usually it's from a soldering iron, not a stupid lamp. The burn is gone, as painful and annoying as it was it wasn't the biggest burn.

[Aminifu]

Hi thinktink,

I just discovered that X-Fade prevents Winamp from playing CDs. Winamp just cycles thru each song on a CD when it tries to play them. Winamp (or Windows) generates a "CD drive is in use" message prior to each track (acknowledging each message allows Winamp to advance to the next track).

Is this a known limitation?

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

Hi thinktink,

I just discovered that X-Fade prevents Winamp from playing CDs. Winamp just cycles thru each song on a CD when it tries to play them. Winamp (or Windows) generates a "CD drive is in use" message prior to each track (acknowledging each message allows Winamp to advance to the next track).

Is this a known limitation?

You're still using CDs?! That's soooo 5000BCs...

Kidding aside, no, this was not a known limitation, but it is now. However, I don't know if CD drives would be able to decode audio tracks simultaneously anyway, which is what's required for X-Fade to be able to crossfade playback.

I just had a look at the CDA input plugin and it seems that it should at least play 1 track at a time. And if an input plugin's transcoder functions cannot provide decoded file audio data then X-Fade should be failing back to a man-in-the-middle plugin and I'm a bit surprised it's not.

Do me a favor and open X-Fade's configuration window and then click the [Plugins...] button. In the "Input Plugins" dialog window that opens up click the [File] button then select a CDA track from your CD drive. Then copy-paste the results from the big box beneath in your next post.

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by thinktink

You're still using CDs?! That's soooo 5000BCs...

That's funny.

I still use them in my car. It has an old audio system; radio, CDs, and .... tape cassettes! , no input for digital players .

Actually someone recently posted that their Winamp crashes when trying to play CDs. I couldn't remember the last time I played a CD with Winamp, so I tried it. When it wouldn't work, I realized that whenever the last time was, X-Fade was not installed. So after I disabled it, the CD played with no problems. I didn't think it thru at the time, but I agree that most, if not all, CD drives would not be able to play 2 tracks at the same time.

Here is the info you asked for:

"Handled by: Nullsoft CD Plug-in (MusicID 2.6) v4.02 (in_cdda.dll)
An unspecified error occured while attempting to open the file for testing with the Trancoder functions."

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

...

Here is the info you asked for:

"Handled by: Nullsoft CD Plug-in (MusicID 2.6) v4.02 (in_cdda.dll)
An unspecified error occured while attempting to open the file for testing with the Trancoder functions."

And with that piece of information I can say the plugin should be failing back into man-in-the-middle mode. It's odd, I thought I tested for this when I had a development computer that had a CD drive. Unfortunately I'm developing on my little Acer and it doesn't have a built-in drive to test with. I'll have to find an external drive to investigate this further.

[thinktink]

AH HA! It's not my fault! More info to come later...

[thinktink]

Ok, so, at least with Winamp v5.666 (build 3516) I removed ALL 3rd party plugins (including my own) and did some tests. I tried with both cda://E,1 and E:\Track01.cda and got the same results. Every time you try to use the Transcoder functions on any CD track, any attempts afterward to play CD tracks normally will fail with that message "CD Drive is currently in use". For example, if you try to Transcode a CD track to WAV, MP3, FLAC, or any other codec, it will fail of course, but then subsequent attempts to play will fail with the aforementioned error dialog. If you restart Winamp then you can then play CDs again until the next time you try to use the Transcoder functions of in_cdda.dll

But with X-Fade installed it's a bit different:

• If you try to play cda://E,1 it will play fine.
• If you try to play E:\Track01.cda it will fail with the error. Subsequent attempts to play E:\Track01.cda will fail twice.
• If you try to play E:\Track01.cda it will fail (once or twice) and then also fail on cda://E,1 (twice) afterwards.
• If you try to Transcode cda://E,1 it will fail but not produce the error dialog. But it will still play just fine afterwards.
• If you try to Transcode E:\Track01.cda it will fail with no error dialog. Any subsequent attempts to play back any CD track will also fail with the error dialog.

So you CAN play CDs with X-Fade installed, just only use cda://[drive letter],[track #] and never try to Transcode CD tracks.

However, these results indicate something is wrong with in_cdda.dll plugin.

P.S.
I found an error with Volume/Pan handling while doing these tests (man-in-the-middle failover doesn't happen very often on my machine) and should be releasing an update that addresses it soon.

[thinktink]

Version 2.1.3.14 now available for download.

Changes:

• Fixed issue with volume/pan playback for files without transcoder support.

[Aminifu]

The in_cdda.dll plug-in is being updated anyway since Gracenote's MusicID is no longer being used to provide track metadata and the Sonic code is too old to be relied on for accurate rips.

Is "cda://[drive letter],[track #]" a command line argument?

Thanks for the v2.1.3.14 update. I do not normally use Winamp to play CDs, but it's good to have a way to do so without having to disable X-Fade. Also, I've been using EAC (Exact Audio Copy) for ripping instead of Winamp.

The person who reported crashes trying to play CDs has not posted their Info Tool report, so what's causing that issue remains unknown. I doubt he/she is using X-Fade.

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

...

Is "cda://[drive letter],[track #]" a command line argument?

...

No it is not, it's an alternative method to add a CD track your playlist, you enter it via the "Add URL" option and not "Add File" option (if you're using a classic skin.)

[thinktink]

Version 2.1.4.17 now available for download.

Changes:

• Found and fixed an issue with Unicode file names on file systems without 8.3 file name support.
• Updated NoFlush: Version 1.0.1.2

  • Fixed an issue when the description/version of the selected output plugin was changed/updated and subsequently failing to automatically select a new output plugin after Winamp restart.

• Fixed an issue with the X-Fade tab appearing on the Unified File Information Pane ([Alt]+[3] File Info dialog) for unsupported media.

[Aminifu]

Happy New Year,

I just wanted to let you know that the new versions have been working flawlessly for me. Any idea how many people are using them? I've been promoting them whenever I get an appropriate opportunity.

[djpete]

I've tried this a few times and have always uninstalled it as I couldn't see what it does.
Will it enable a better crossfade than default crossfader?

If so can someone explain simply how to setup?
Thanks

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by djpete

...

Will it enable a better crossfade than default crossfader?

If so can someone explain simply how to setup?
Thanks

Well "better" depends on the criteria you use to judge. These plug-ins allow you to start and hear the beginning of the next song in a playlist at the same time you hear current song ending. The amount of overlap is adjustable in milliseconds. These plug-ins are designed for SHOUTcast users and can provide other features (discussed in this thread), but they can be used by non-SHOUTcast users also.

These plug-ins are setup and controlled by their configuration options, there are no controls in the skin UI. Link to the latest versions is in post #26 above.

Read posts #16 and #17 in this thread (http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....88#post3049688) for simple setup instructions to get you started.

There are zero artifacts at the point of crossover. What you hear during the overlap period depends completely on the encoded characteristics of the consecutive songs (i.e. their relative ending and starting volumes and the amount of any starting and/or ending silence encoded in the songs). There is an option called "Logarithmic Transitions" that can be used to provide an automatic volume fade out - fade in between songs during the overlap period.

[djpete]

ok I think I got it.
I just disabled the crossfading on Direct Sound Output.
Sounds more or less similar to Direct Sound Output to me. not sure if better or worse, but I understand it has other features. Thanks

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by djpete

ok I think I got it.
I just disabled the crossfading on Direct Sound Output.
Sounds more or less similar to Direct Sound Output to me. not sure if better or worse, but I understand it has other features. Thanks

These plug-ins apply the crossfade at the input side of the processing string before any DSP and/or equalizing effects are applied. DirectSound applies the crossfade at the output side of the processing string after any DSP and/or equalizing effects. They should sound the same with an equal crossover period and no DSP and/or equalizing effects applied (and no fading).

As thinktink said the resampling must be used if the consecutive songs have different sampling rates. I use the high quality resampling and don't hear any degrading of the sound when it is enabled. I suggest you set the sample rate and bits per sample in X-Fade and in the Windows sound (playback devices) utility to match that encoded in most of the songs you will be playing. If you will be using 24-bit per sample source files, be sure to enable 24-bit output in the Winamp "Playback" preferences.

[djpete]

Thanks for the clarity. I don't think it's of use to me then by sound of it, unless it improves the sound quality. Sounds like I stick to standard crossfading using Directsound. Good work just the same

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by djpete

Thanks for the clarity. I don't think it's of use to me then by sound of it, unless it improves the sound quality. Sounds like I stick to standard crossfading using Directsound. Good work just the same

If you followed my suggested setup instructions, you are using DirectSound for the final output to your sound device. X-Fade just provides the crossfading feature that basically merges tracks the same way that DirectSound does. X-Fade just does it on the opposite side of the sound processing process.

Crossfaders simply blend tracks together. Crossfaders are not supposed to change how the source files sound, imo. For that use DSP, equalizer, or other (so called) sound enhancing plug-ins.

[thinktink]

With the DirectSound output plugin doing crossfades, you have to enable Sound Card mode in the SHOUTcast DSP and "Stereo Mix" (or similar) on the soundcard to actually broadcast the songs crossfaded. The reason why I wrote this plugin was so that I could crossfade music without having to rely on my crappy soundcard for the crossfades. Now for a typical end-user (not SHOUTcasting or anything similar) the DirectSound plugin crossfades are fine since the user is going to be listening to the music from the very soundcard the output plugin is mixing the crossfades on, which makes perfect sense. Personally, I have no problems with the way the DirectSound output plugin crossfades music for my personal enjoyment. But with cheap Windows boxes with cheap built-in soundcards that are usually used for SHOUTcast DSP broadcasting it becomes a problem, especially if "Stereo Mix" input recording on the soundcard is unavailable or disallowed by the OS (*coughDRMcough*). I also wanted to avoid using the DirectSound output plugin for crossfades because it would also screw-up the playback timing on the SHOUTcast DSP (remember, it's processing two audio files at the same time but there's only one audio processing chain (*hint* *hint*)) with LiveWire (a DSP for talking over the music).


IMO, anybody broadcasting from Winamp should have X-Fade installed, even if they're not crossfading, since X-Fade smooths out a bunch of small but cumulative-over-time timing quirks with Winamp's playback processing chain.

[thinktink]

Attached.

[thinktink]

Version 2.2.5.20 now available, attached.
Changes:

• Internal API changes.
• Potential string handling crash glitch fix.

[MrSinatra]

this is fascinating to me, (i did shoutcast for my college station). i wonder if xfade would resolve the problems with very short files linked in my sig?

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by MrSinatra

this is fascinating to me, (i did shoutcast for my college station). i wonder if xfade would resolve the problems with very short files linked in my sig?

For very short files it won't crossfade them but it will handle them gracefully without issue. Just remember that X-Fade is for SHOUTcast setups only, not casual users so there will be quirks, especially seeking. Read the entire thread first before you install it.

[MrSinatra]

well, maybe i was somewhat opaque...

the bug i reported was def for very short files. however, i wasn't trying to do shoutcast, and i am pretty sure i was not crossfading. just a normal, vanilla local winamp setup.

for some reason, winamp just intermittently, but pretty often, skips short files, esp if they are quick in succession in a scratch playlist. more info at the link in my sig below.

you think xfade would completely "cure" this?

[thinktink]

Originally Posted by MrSinatra

well, maybe i was somewhat opaque...

the bug i reported was def for very short files. however, i wasn't trying to do shoutcast, and i am pretty sure i was not crossfading. just a normal, vanilla local winamp setup.

for some reason, winamp just intermittently, but pretty often, skips short files, esp if they are quick in succession in a scratch playlist. more info at the link in my sig below.

you think xfade would completely "cure" this?

"Cure" would not be the right word to use in this instance. X-Fade just does things very differently with the audio processing playback chain. It hooks all the compatible input plugins and then does "it's thing" for playback. If you have multiple short files right after another it loads them the same as any other file and plays them end-to-end without interruption in between the files (unless your computer is too slow or too low on resources.)