keith mac

Hi Jerex and thanks for your reply. In response: "To try and answer your query, the current generation of Sony players (NWZ series) does not feature gapless playback with any compressed music encoded as individual tracks, that means MP3, AAC, WMA etc. There will always be a 1-2 second gap between each track, and possibly some compression artifacts (i.e. pops and clicks). I'm not sure if different codecs/encoders are able to reduce or eliminate the artifacts, so it would just be a short gap." That's just what I learned from research and was hoping the info was out of date. "I guess your best option for now would be to use the second method, of encoding gapless albums as one continuous file, and 'non-gapless' music normally, as individual tracks. I would recommend using Exact Audio Copy (EAC) rather than WMP11 for all your music, as most people agree it is the best, most accurate ripping program and may help to eliminate or at least reduce artifacts. Have you tried using the LAME MP3 encoder? It's included in EAC and is one of the best lossy codecs (at bitrates above 160kpbs)." I've done everything you've suggested here - EAC (one large file, no tracks) worked but it's SO SLOW! It's a good thing I didn't have many CDs to rip.... LAME MP3? Yes I used that after the initial ripping problems and the results were better by far (no clicks, fuller sound) than WMP but still with missing music... WMP with WMA was fairly good, too, but still the music was broken. Shame. I didn't know why ATRAC gave such good results - thanks for the info. I still have - and will use - my MD player, particularly if I need a 'live' radio or TV sound recording. If I'm sitting down I prefer a trusty portable CD player - no compression losses, no clicks, pops or gaps and 'nicer' sound (I think - it's hard to be really objective) The Sony MP3 player is brilliant for podcasts but I wish I had chosen an iPod now..... I never knew there would be such difficulties... thanks again - it seems that I've done all I can

A simple answer so it must be me who can't understand it. I get the WAV bit. But I have WMA files playing without gaps as a single large file so what does "Sony does not do gapless with compressed rates." actually imply please? I don't use any Sony compression software so do you mean it is the Sony O/S which will insert gaps? Do you mean iPods - ripping with Apple's software - will play MP3 (or other file formats) without problems - gaps, clicks etc? I'm getting really confused by the answers I'm receiving but perhaps that's down to me - am I asking the wrong questions or using the wrong terminology when I ask my questions?

After all the discussion/bickering about 829 and its ability to play gaplessly my own query got rather left out. Will someone please help with the following. I was under the impression that it is the software used when ripping into MP3 that causes clicks, gaps or extra gaps to be added to the sound track. Is that correct? If so, can it be avoided? Presumably ripping continuous classical music from CD - without breaks but with notional track points - would suffer in a similar way to my own recordings ie clicks, pauses and/or gaps? Along with audio losses caused by heavy compression does this mean that such music just isn't suited to MP3 compression? Am I, then, wasting effort trying to achieve a compressed version of my original CDs in any reasonably listenable format? On my minidisc I used LP2 when recording CDs which is, I guess, 50% compression. Can an equivalent be achieved for my 818 without wrecking the continuous music? If so, what software ?

That's what I had thought about WAV. I've got 18 Euphoria compilation CDs which, as WAV files, would swallow all the free (approx.) 7.4Gig on my little 'un. Got to have compression. Didn't know about MP3 issues before I bought or I probably would have got an iPod Classic for $250, rather than my Sony at 100 quid. Hey, ho.

I thought WAV were pretty big files and limited storage space is a problem on flashed based players? My problems - I started this thread - were most noticeable when ripping in .mp3 using WMP11. There were clicks, noticeable gaps between tracks and even pieces of music missing. None of these attributes are on the original CD naturally enough. Ripping with EAC and encoding to WMA files improved things but music sections around notional track markers are still missing. If you're playing .mp3 files without any of the above problems you've done well. If so what software do you use? Perhaps mine isn't particularly suitable for my needs?

What file format have you used for recording? WAV? .mp3?

Gapless or not, isn't 8 Gig a bit small for WAV files? I'd considered it on my own but it wouldn't accommodate many CDS...

Spending a hundred pounds on my present player only to have to replace it with an iPod Classic at $250 minimum to play WAV files doesn't sound attractive! Unless someone knows a better way I'll stick with EAC to rip - rather slowly - any future tracks. I can live with no track marks but not with split tracks - I generally listen to the whole recording anyway. Pity ATRAC couldn't have been retained as one of the alternative formats when the move to .mp3 occurred...

I have an NWZ-A818. I never knew that ripping CDs to mp3 would wreck the (formerly) gapless tracks in various 'Euphoria' compilations, would lose some music between tracks and noticeably reduce the sound quality. With variable bit rate .wma files via WMP11 I did better - but not much. I have searched earlier threads for guidance but can't find what I'm looking for - apologies if I'm going over old ground here! I've now converted most of my CDs using EAC (Exact Audio Copy) extracting the tracks as a single file, encoding in WMA using the highest available VBR bitrate, then dragging and dropping into my player. It's pretty slow going, I lose track details and locations but I do get the original, unbroken recording. Is there anywhere / anybody on this forum with info on alternative, better ways of doing this job? Things are so much easier on my minidisc! ps whoops! Should I be in the Software section? Sorry.....