[BRBJackson]

I had thought I had read that gapless playback (without ripping the whole album as a single song, that is...) was enabled as default on the Zune. I just finished re-ripping my first 2500 tracks, though, and the first gapless album I played on the Zune has the dreaded GAP! <shudder>

My process is a follows:
dbPoweramp CD Ripper; rip to FLAC
dbPoweramp Batch Converter; convert to LAME, alt preset Extreme
Zune software, add to library automatically
Zune software, transfer to Zune device

I cannot find a 'Gapless' option on any of the three applications, nor on the Zune itself. What am I doing wrong?

Sorry, but I'm just getting my feet wet with this whole "Rip your CDs into Lossless as archive" business... up until this point I just ripped to MP3s.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

I dont know...maybe you enabled the option to add a 2 second gap in dbpoweramp. There is a plug -in named "Write Silence".

 

[BRBJackson]

Since v2.5, I know that the Zune software itself offers gapless playback on the PC, but now I'm realizing that the functionality doesn't extend to the Zune device itself

...

YET.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BRBJackson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since v2.5, I know that the Zune software itself offers gapless playback on the PC, but now I'm realizing that the functionality doesn't extend to the Zune device itself ... YET.

Seven things to know about Zune software version 2.5. Overview of the May 2008 "spring update" of Zune PC software and firmware. By the editors of Zunerama.

Quote:

3. Gapless Playback Some people cannot live without it. Well, wait no longer, gapless playback is here with Version 2.5. You can go gapless now in Zune software on your PC, and on your device.

Try ripping using the Zune software to exclude dbpoweramp as culprit of your issues.

 

[pata2001]

Microsoft never explicitly says what codec the Zune can play gaplessly. To ensure gapless playback, rip your music to WMA. That's the only codec that the Zune can reliably play gaplessly. Other codecs are a hit-n-miss.

 

[BRBJackson]

Interesting, thanks to both of you... the odd thing is that the MP3s I've transcoded through dbPoweramp play gapless-ly just fine in the Zune app on my PC, so I'm a bit baffled. I'll try using Zune S/W to rip a gapless CD to WMA, and see what happens.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Zune.net

Zune.net

Zune.net

Zune.net

 

[BRBJackson]

Thanks for the enlightening links, Ricardo.

After a full day of futzing aroung, I can confirm 2 things:

1) The Zune software, if you let it automatically scan subdirectories for music files, is the buggiest piece of garbage the world has ever known...

2) WMA Lossless IS gapless, at least in my instance.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Quote:

1) The Zune software, if you let it automatically scan subdirectories for music files, is the buggiest piece of garbage the world has ever known... `

takes too much time scanning your folders ?

 

[swanlee]

It is very hit or miss on the device seems every other firmware release it is either removed and put back or the effects are adjusted.

As of the latest firmware release it does not work on my device using WMA lossless.

 

[BRBJackson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricardo Dawkins /img/forum/go_quote.gif takes too much time scanning your folders ?

No, far worse than that. The S/W randomly decides to recognize my library... or not. Then, it loads files from phantom subdirectories that don't exist. What a pile

Thankfully, switching to manual management seems to straighten things out.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BRBJackson /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, far worse than that. The S/W randomly decides to recognize my library... or not. Then, it loads files from phantom subdirectories that don't exist. What a pile Thankfully, switching to manual management seems to straighten things out.

Well, use the Collection Reset tool and keep an eye over the monitored folders for music at settings - software - collection

 

[Mediaogre]

I'm grave digging this thread a bit. Sorry.

But BRBJackson, if you're still monitoring, I'd love to know which quality/bit-rate setting(s) you're using to get gapless to work on your Zune. Do you have a flash-based Zune or hard drive? I have a Zune 80 v2 and I've tried so many combinations since learning it was *finally* supported (Yeah, right. My theory in a minute.) on the device and haven't had much luck. Sometimes, with WMA VBRs, the first few songs will play gaplessly, but inevitably, gaps rear their ugly heads. Concept or progressive albums? Forget it. Also, the issue is codec agnostic.

My Theory: The device codec (WMA?) was updated to support gapless playback, but the Zune hardware isn't powerfully enough to process, buffer and refresh the data and metadata in order to play it back smoothly. I wish I had a diagnostics utility. All I have to go on is my intuition as an IT tech, and trial and error. One glaring test that points to a hardware inadequacy, is WMA lossless files skip on the device. (For a while I thought this was a codec issue, but after three updates, the issue persists.) That's what got me thinking about the hardware. The higher the bit-rate, the harder the processor works, the larger the file, the more RAM is used, etc. Another thought is that maybe the code which manages the buffer is inefficient.

Any updates, tips or advice would be great. It's a bitter comfort I'm not alone in this. Figures I'd find folks howling about this issue on Head-fi.

 

[jonhapimp]

Funny gapless works almost perfectly fine on my zune 120 device and software(with wma lossless, don't have any mp3 where it would matter)
The problem seems to be is that the device doesn't cache the other song in time before it changes so if you go to the next time and see that it gaps(yes i just turned that into a verb) and go back to the previous song and play it through that song again it will be gapless

 

[Mediaogre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonhapimp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Funny gapless works almost perfectly fine on my zune 120 device and software(with wma lossless, don't have any mp3 where it would matter) The problem seems to be is that the device doesn't cache the other song in time before it changes so if you go to the next time and see that it gaps(yes i just turned that into a verb) and go back to the previous song and play it through that song again it will be gapless

Grr. I'm quite envious. I can't play WMA lossless on my 80. Every song has a couple tiny little skips. Enough to bug.

The cache or buffering issue is exactly what it seems like. I'll try your test. Although, once confirmed it will likely just make me more pissed. Sometimes knowing isn't half the battle. Sometimes, knowing is holding a bag of s*** with an M80 in it.