[Jakets]

So what exactly is gapless playback, and why does everyone want it so bad? As far as i have discerned, gapless is nothing between tracks, just one track to the next with no pause at all. If this is correct, whats the point? and why in gods name would you want one song to bust into the next without any warning?

 

[AuroraProject]

Ever listened to a 1.5 hour continuous dj mix cd with a gap between each track? Very annoying.

 

[viator122]

Yeah, and ever listen to Pink Floyd?

 

[YamiTenshi]

Or a musical/soundtrack?

 

[camaronkazi]

...or any live album.

 

[DJ e]

Or any album that was meant to be enjoyed as an album, not as separate songs specifically contrived to be radio singles? Sometimes, the enjoyment factor of a song depends on it segueing seamlessly with the next, the way it was meant to be heard. It's like watching a DVD that automatically pauses between each chapter- not fun.

 

[mr.karmalicious]

/me hugs Karma

 

[PSmith08]

Gapless is nice to have for classical, although see this thread for a discussion of that. For opera, it's even more important, just for continuity's sake. A very good example of gapless and its benefit is on The Final Cut, between "The Hero's Return" and "The Gunner's Dream", which are clearly meant to flow together. On a gapless platform, they do flow; on players without gapless playback, there is an annoying skip. It isn't a deal-breaker for me on a player, but it is nice to have.

 

[gshan]

Depending on the can I use, I get a very quiet beep between tracks on my iriver sometimes. There are usually moments of silence at the end and/or beginning of a lot of my mp3s, so gapless would be perfectly fine with most of my music. And yes, I also have a few very nice electronica/trance albums that were mixed with either overlapping songs, or simply perfect timing between them.

Always loved the gapless playback of sony md atrac's, so I'm very happy that they are rolling out mp3/atrac flash players at reasonable prices.

 

[Girdag]

Quote:

As far as i have discerned, gapless is nothing between tracks, just one track to the next with no pause at all.

Gapless does not remove gaps that SHOULD be between tracks. It DOES remove gaps, which should not be there, when one song blends straight into the next (i.e Pink Floyd)

 

[Deadfan]

... for listening to a Grateful Dead concert, of course! But seriously, the Dead frequently segued from one song to another, or played songs in suites--and the segues were some of the best part. It kinda ruins the concert to have a gap. Mike

 

[camaronkazi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject Ever listened to a 1.5 hour continuous dj mix cd with a gap between each track? Very annoying.

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 Yeah, and ever listen to Pink Floyd?

Yes listening to Pink Floyd is very annoying but I think you've gone a bit OT

 

[JeffS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaronkazi Yes listening to Pink Floyd is very annoying but I think you've gone a bit OT

Where I come from that's blasphemy!!!!

-Jeff

 

[Oga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gshan Always loved the gapless playback of sony md atrac's, so I'm very happy that they are rolling out mp3/atrac flash players at reasonable prices.

I think gapless is essential - but frankly you couldn't pay me enough to convince me to ever go back to the dark days of Sony/ATRAC and that piece of garbage known as Sonic Stage. Sony had some good stuff, especially gapless. But they shot themselves in the foot with that - among other things..

They should take a clue from Ipod which has other 3rd party software that you can use to put music on your player eg Anapod and Ehpod. But under no circumstances will I ever buy any sony walkman again, because I will never darken the doors of my computer system with that awful software.