Handling track gaps

[arthurb]

I may be asking a dumb question here, but I cannot find a definitive answer elsewhere. Does CD Ripper automatically append any CD Track Gap (Index 00) to the end of the previous track, and if so is it always created as silence? Is there any way to specify what action to take with the gap?

[longhorn]

Re: Handling track gaps

I may not understand your question, but when I rip CDs, the tracks are ripped to separate files and there is no "gap" in front of or at the end of the audio file that I know of.

However, when writing back to CD using the CDWriter, I am given the option to create gapless audio or standard (with gaps). I don't see options to regulate gap duration ect.

[Spoon]

Re: Handling track gaps

Gapless CDs are ripped as gapless, for ordinary CDs there is silence at the end of the track.

[arthurb]

Re: Handling track gaps

Thanks Longhorn and Spoon for the quick replies.

Sorry to question you again Spoon, but from your reply it appears that:

- CD Ripper decides whether or not the complete CD is gapless or has standard (2 sec) gaps, and then acts accordingly throughout the rip.

- when the CD is not gapless, a silent pause is added to the end of the preceeding track.

Are these two statements correct?

If so, I clearly do not fully understand the format of CDs, as I thought the track pre-gap was defined, in Index 0, using sub-code (or channel) Q on a track by track basis. Thus I also thought this would mean that gap/gapless would not be defined for the whole CD - as I said, I am mystified. Is there an issue with compatibility for older CD drives, or even, older CDs?

Again, I am sorry to be taking your time.

[Spoon]

Re: Handling track gaps

The silence gap is actually inbetween the tracks, you can identify it by reading the subcodes, but if nothing is done to identify the gap it will be left at the end of the track.

[garym]

Re: Handling track gaps

Not getting into the technical details of CDs, I can simply say that my gapless CDs are ripped gapless without me doing anything special (to both FLAC and mp3,lame). So, old CD versions of say, Abbey Road or Dark Side of the Moon, play perfectly gapless.

[arthurb]

Re: Handling track gaps

Not getting into the technical details of CDs, I can simply say that my gapless CDs are ripped gapless without me doing anything special (to both FLAC and mp3,lame). So, old CD versions of say, Abbey Road or Dark Side of the Moon, play perfectly gapless.

Gary, on Abbey Road, do you get separate files for each track (the tracks as indicated on the album cover information), and if so, when you play them as an album (i.e. continuously) do you get pauses (inter-track silence) where the CD has pauses, and no pauses where the CD has no pauses. Put another way, does your player play these separate tracks just as they are on the CD with a mixture of gaps and no-gaps?

In any case thanks for taking time to reply...

[arthurb]

Re: Handling track gaps

I may not understand your question, but when I rip CDs, the tracks are ripped to separate files and there is no "gap" in front of or at the end of the audio file that I know of.

However, when writing back to CD using the CDWriter, I am given the option to create gapless audio or standard (with gaps). I don't see options to regulate gap duration ect.

Hello Longhorn

I am specifically interested in CDs with varying behaviour between tracks. This is what I was referring to when in my opening post I said: 'Does CD Ripper automatically append any CD Track Gap (Index 00) to the end of the previous track ...'. The key word there, which I admit I should have expanded on, is any, that is to say: where there is a gap, is it appended to the preceeding track, and where there is no gap specified in the Index 00, is the transition then, as it should be, gapless?

It appears from what Spoon is saying that it is an all-or-nothing situation.

[arthurb]

Re: Handling track gaps

The silence gap is actually inbetween the tracks, you can identify it by reading the subcodes, but if nothing is done to identify the gap it will be left at the end of the track.

OK, does 'you can identify it' actually mean 'one can...' or that CD Ripper does identify the varying gaps (e.g. 2 secs, 14 secs or 0 secs), and then, if the CD has a mixture of gaps and no gaps (Index 00, sub-code Q eq 0?) how does CD Ripper react?

I have to say I have so many variations in the ways my various CDs work, that I get quite confused as to what should be happening, and once again, thanks for taking time to explain...

[longhorn]

Re: Handling track gaps

Hello Longhorn

I am specifically interested in CDs with varying behaviour between tracks. This is what I was referring to when in my opening post I said: 'Does CD Ripper automatically append any CD Track Gap (Index 00) to the end of the previous track ...'. The key word there, which I admit I should have expanded on, is any, that is to say: where there is a gap, is it appended to the preceeding track, and where there is no gap specified in the Index 00, is the transition then, as it should be, gapless?

It appears from what Spoon is saying that it is an all-or-nothing situation.

The short answer is, I'm simply not sure. Even though I have ripped nearly one thousand of my audio CDs to FLAC, I'm not sure how the ripper handles this with regard to your specific question. All I can do is tell you what I have observed and that I was under the impression that only the audio is ripped and that the FLAC files I have created do not contain extraneous data and that the Writer program handles adding or leaving out gaps. However, I trust that spoon knows what he is talking about. I will try to find a disk that has easily noticeable track gaps and see if it is possible to reproduce them without gaps.

I can tell you that I have reproduced perfectly gapless audio from jambands and yes it sounds perfect. If you were not watching the track number change, you would not be able to tell that it has.

Hey Spoon, Can you give us a little more info? Particularly what you mean about identifying the gap?

[Spoon]

Re: Handling track gaps

CD Ripper will not detect/remove the gaps between non-gapless CDs.

[garym]

Re: Handling track gaps

Gary, on Abbey Road, do you get separate files for each track (the tracks as indicated on the album cover information), and if so, when you play them as an album (i.e. continuously) do you get pauses (inter-track silence) where the CD has pauses, and no pauses where the CD has no pauses. Put another way, does your player play these separate tracks just as they are on the CD with a mixture of gaps and no-gaps?

In any case thanks for taking time to reply...

I'm away from home so can't test this at the moment, but I recall in listening to my ripped Abbey Road, that the first side plays with gaps as expected and side two of the album plays gapless as expected. If I can remember, I'll test this for sure in a week...