[Flac-users] Re: questions about 1.1.0 release

[Josh Coalson]

--- "David W. Tamkin" <dattier at panix.com> wrote:
> Thank you very much for the explanations, Josh.
> 
> | the seekpoints are not the only places in the stream that can
> | be seeked to, they are just hints about regular locations in
> | the stream.  you can still seek to any sample.  the number of
> | seekpoints are just one factor in determining how fast the
> | decoder can find any particular sample.  I did a lot of testing
> | before deciding on -S10s.
> 
> So you can seek anywhere, but if it isn't on a stored seekpoint, the
> calculation will be interpolated between the preceding and following
> seekpoints?  I'll have to try it and see what happens.

no.  the decoder uses the seekpoints to estimate where in the
stream to start decoding to get a specific sample.  if it is
wrong by a lot, it binary searches closer, and when it gets
to the right frame, it decodes and discards samples before
the target sample.  it all happens so fast it just seems like
the decoder just knows where to seek.

> Come to think of it,
> what bugs me about Winamp's seeking through APEs is not so much the
> precision
> of locating the destination as the willingness to part from the
> current spot;
> it tends to stay where it is for a noticeable fraction of a second
> before
> jumping, while Winamp moves immediately if it's playing a FLAC file.

it should still be immediate with -S10s.  I tested this on a 300
MHz pentium and it was still immediate for me well beyond -S90s.

> | > Third, 4 KB of padding is now the default; isn't it needed a lot
> less
> | > often than it is not needed?
> |
> | it depends on how you encode, if you use --tag and --cuesheet
> | at encode time or later then you probably don't need it.  a
> | little bit may come in handy though.
> 
> Well, does --no-padding produce a file that is about 4 KB smaller? 

yes.

> In a boundary condition,
> where the files just miss fitting onto one CDR (or N CDRs), would
> omitting the
> padding help?

yes, but I believe CD capacities are not so rigorous even though
the authoring software may be.

> | yes, you can add padding and seekpoints with metaflac now.
> 
> Can you remove padding or seekpoints with metaflac now?

yes.

Josh


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