[vorbis] Format comparison

Wilson defiler at null.net
Wed Jun 20 21:11:32 PDT 2001



Too bad I didn't catch this thread starting earlier in the evening, but it's
not too late.
Basically, MP3 tosses out the first and last half frame of each track.
Unless two files need to be seamlessly connected, you won't be able to hear
this. The real problem shows up with continuous mix/live CDs. There are a
couple things you can do to solve the problem. (I own at least 150 CDs that
fit into this category, so I'm used to dealing with it.)

1. Rip the whole CD to a single WAV file and encode it as a single MP3.
Of course, these don't fit on portable players, you can't skip between
tracks, you can't use track titles, etc, etc, etc.

2. Rip the whole CD to a single WAV file, encode it to a single MP3, then
use a tool (MusiCutter on Windows platforms) to slice it back into MP3s.
This adds a bunch of extra steps, and you can't easily do VBR encoding.
Also, if you're listening to them in Winamp, you need to use the Gapless
Output plugin.

3. Just use Ogg.
You'll still need to use the Gapless Output plugin in Winamp, but Ogg
entirely kills the problem. I've tested this many times, both with actual
CDs and with test tracks. No gaps whatsoever.

In response to Craig's message, there are quite a few Gold/Platinum albums
that do this. Many of them have already been mentioned.  Moby's album "Play"
is gold/platinum in 10 countries worldwide.

--Wilson.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Sieber" <dsieber at mediaone.net>
To: <vorbis at xiph.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 11:24 PM
Subject: RE: [vorbis] Format comparison

> > I have to disagree a bit. Vorbis delivers higher quality in less space,
> > removes the silence gaps that we have with MP3, delivers a better
tagging
> > system and also gives us bitrate peeling that removes the need for
> > reencoding. How's that for solving some problems for the consumer?
>
> I'm curious about the silence gap thing. I'm new to Vorbis, and have been
> encoding some of my CD's with it. They sound great, BTW. Anyway, I encoded
> an Eddie Izzard CD last night, a single live performance as 25 tracks on
the
> CD. I loaded them up in Winamp with the latest Vorbis plug-in, played
them,
> and there were definite gaps between tracks. Granted, much smaller than
MP3
> files, I think, but they were there and quite noticeable.
>
> Is this an issue with the Winamp player or plug-in? Or maybe something
about
> the way I encoded them? (using CDex with the Ogg encoder that came with
it,
> "version 1.04, engine 1.04")
>
> --
> dave
>
>
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