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Hi, new to the forum, having used dBpoweramp for only a few weeks, but gaining great use from it. Thank you. To start with I am certainly no IT/PC techi, simply wanting to get the most from my music. I have been downloading Hi-Res files (usually FLAC) from a number of sites e.g. eclassical and Qobuz, and then using a USB stick to play through my Naim DAC. Great pleasure/sound being achieved, but of course bugged by the issues of gaps in playback, particularly on classical and live recordings. Having searched the internet, appears that this is a particular problem for many. However, I tried using Music Converter to convert files from FLAC to WAV and using the DSP function - "remove gaps". I had not held out any great hopes for this as the pop-up box suggested this would only work for CD ripping. However, to my surprise and joy it does appear to create gapless playback on a couple of downloads I have tried? I also tried to convert it from FLAC to FLAC with gapless, but this didn't appear to work. This may be the solution to gapless playback...downloading Hi-res FLAC and then converting to WAV. Only problem is the file sizes, hence having had all my library as FLAC. I would therefore welcome any comments, the more tech savi amongst you have, as to whether this was already known or not, and if it appears a workable option. Also, if this is possible, is there any way of just converting from FLAC to FLAC to preserve file size. Many thanks.
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Typically gapless would only be used where the piece of work is intended to be gapless, such as a mix dance disc, where one track is mixed into the 2nd track. All lossless formats are gapless, so it does not matter if FLAC or WAV is used. Using a DSP 'remove slience' effect can remove the 2 seconds of silence typically stored at the end of a track, however these tracks were never intended to be gapless. -
Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Thanks for the speedy response Spoon. I understand (I think) what you are saying. But, I have to say the effect of using the "remove gaps" function has been to preserve the continuity between tracks which I am sure was how it was intended when recorded/mixed. For example, the continuation of applause on a live track as it moves from one track to another. Without the convert to WAV and "remove gaps" there was an abrupt break in applause etc. before the next track commenced, as though different tracks were being spliced together. However, unsure from your comments, ("all lossless formats are gapless, so format doesn't matter"), why I appear to have these "gaps" on recordings when the downloaded format was lossless FLAC?? Thanks.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Perhaps they (the store) encode differently depending on format.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Odd as I have many downloaded FLAC files of live concerts and they all are gapless without me having to do anything special to them. And if I convert from FLAC to FLAC (or FLAC to mp3 for that matter), the files remain gapless. And if I rip a CD that is gapless (Dark Side of the Moon or Abbey Road) it comes out gapless when I have the resulting FLAC files. No special commands/DSP needed to achieve this. A normal flac rip.
What are you playing these files on. Some *players* can't handle gapless. I know some versions of VLC can't handle gapless properly. On a PC, try foobar2000 for example to see how gapless playback should work.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Aha. I suspect you are playing through this DAC using some sort of DLNA/upnp based player system. These can be hit or miss in terms of support for handling gapless playback. Is your Naim DAC also a networked music player or are you using some other sort of player? If so, what player are you using. If the Naim is a networked music player too, what model is it. A quick search of some Naim products indicate that they support gapless playback. Bottom line is you need to investigate the playback chain; the basic FLAC files ripped with dbpa are gapless by default. (also note that there have been reported problems with downloaded FLACs from Qobuz. These are easily solved by converting the FLACs from FLAC to FLAC to fix the files. Note that FLACs are lossless, so one doesn't lose anything with this conversion).Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Thanks for your response. The Naim DAC is standalone (not a network player), and supports an all Naim system, including CD player. I therefore use it to enhance CD replay and to play 16 and 24 bit downloads, via a USB stick. My music files are stored on my PC, and manually downloaded to the USB when I want to play non-CD based music. I appreciate the Naim Unitiserve would rip and do this job for me, replacing the USB route. I am considering this, but wanted to "dip my toe in the water" first before fully committing to this replay format. As you say, it may therefore be something to do with the USB/DAC interface? As I said I am certainly no IT/PC techi, so my understanding of the process is very basic. Your comment about converting FLAC to FLAC is interesting, and I will give it a go. Are you saying this is done without needing to use the DSP gapless option? Thanks.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
yes, do NOT use thee DSP gapless option. Can't hurt to try a few files converted from FLAC to FLAC. However, I suspect strongly that this is not your problem. I'm convinced it is in the playback mechanism in the DAC/USB stick. Probably pretty basic and simply doesn't deal with gapless.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Yes, I'm thinking you are probably right. I have just tried FLAC to FLAC on a couple of files and gaps still evident. I will investigate further the interface, and speak with my hi-fi retailer, to understand if the problem lies with the USB/DAC interface. Cheers.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Do keep in mind that, unfortunately, most (actually *all*) upscale Hi-Fi dealers I've talked with about digital files, digital music playback, etc. are full of misinformation and generally completely wrong. Beware if they start spouting off things about FLAC and "cue files", etc. It's not really their fault as they sometimes get their knowledge from audio magazines (which have some laughable articles if one actually understands the subject), or even worse some of the "audiophile" websites/forums. Anyhow, just be careful.
And bottom line is that I listen to lots of FLAC files, created using default methods (i.e., no GAPLESS DSP, etc.) and they play back perfectly gapless in my networked music players played through DACs, etc. But I'm using a networked music player system rather than a USB drive plugged into a DAC.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Thanks again. I've not yet spoken to my hi-retailer, who I have known and bought from for nearly 30 years, but as said I believe the problem may lie with the USB/DAC interface. When launched, around 2009 I think??, the Naim DAC supported WAV and not FLAC through USB. There was a subsequent firmware release which addressed this problem. I didn't buy mine until 2013, when the FLAC issue had already been sorted. However, I wonder, and I might be wrong, whether there is still a problem with playing FLAC files through the DAC using USB? They sound fine ( the Naim DAC is a first rate player), but as I said in my original post, gaps are evident. However, when converted to WAV using dbpoweramp...hey presto no gaps!! I have tried this with a few downloads now, from different sources with the same result. What surprises me is that a search on the Naim Users forum does not appear to recognise/discuss this problem. Hopefully, when I speak to my retailer, an answer, and possibly a solution may be forthcoming. I'll post my findings if you are interested. Cheers.Comment
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Re: Music Converter appears to be able to create gapless tracks?
Interesting. And this is further evidence of some sort of problem with playing FLAC files gaplessly inherent in the USB/DAC player setup. (and yes, Naim has good hardware!). I did a bit of a google search on this and found some threads/posts related to problems with FLAC playback on NAIM but everything I saw was several years old.Comment
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