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[shock]

I'm _really_ wanting to love this program. Maybe I'm doing something wrong ...

Win XP Pro.  I just downloaded what appears to be (according to Help->About) version 9.0.  I've set the encoding options as follows:

Encoder: Ogg Vorbis
Quality: Custom
Command Line: --alt-preset extreme
Normalize before encoding 100%

Other than the temp and location directories (which I've verified exist), that's all I've changed (IIRC) from the standard install.  When I click Start, it Copies and Normalizes the first track, then displays Encoding.  And that's it.  It sticks and doesn't move.  I've given it hours.

If I reboot, it'll work just fine.  However, on the next CD, it's the same thing.  I'm forced to reboot.  After a reboot, it'll do it's thing.  But if I check/verify the options, I'm stuck until I reboot again.

Surely I don't have to reboot after every rip or anytime I want to verify/modify the encoding options.  

What am I missing?

[slikvik]

This is very similar to what I am experiencing.

http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=MediaCenter;action=display;num=1058518668;start=0#0

Basically, MC9 can 'Analyze' the first CD inserted after a reboot, but as soon as it's removed and MC9 has to 'Analyze' the change it freezes and I have to restart!

I know John is looking into this, but it's getting really frustrating. Nice to know I'm not alone as it might get resolved.

P.S. I found that disabling autorun in the registry help with this problem a lot. Find:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom]

Change Autorun to 0 to disable.

Let me know if this helps.

[xen-uno]

shock...

Problems abound here with your encoding options:

Encoder: Ogg Vorbis
Quality: Custom

Command Line: --alt-preset extreme
This is a mp3 VBR option...the only switch you can use for vorbis is -q x where x is a quality number between -1 and 10...I use 8

Normalize before encoding 100%
You will likely introduce clipping by setting this value so high, max should be no more than 98%...you should set it around 90% to allow for a little more headroom

10^-27

[Matt]

Just as a side-note: it's totally safe to normalize to 100%.  I wouldn't normalize at all though -- MC's replay gain works much better if you're trying to make things sound the same volume.

[xen-uno]

Matt,

Everything I've read has said that normalizing a wav to 100% then encoding to a lossy format can produce clipping due possibly to round off errors or the (imperfect) compression process itself.

shock,

Replay Gain via MC, WavGain, VorbisGain, or MP3Gain is definitely the way to go. No clipping danger whatsoever unless you overide the 89 dB target setting. FYI: MC only understands tag based MC gain or data modified WavGain & MP3Gain files.

10^-27

[Matt]

Everything I've read has said that normalizing a wav to 100% then encoding to a lossy format can produce clipping due possibly to round off errors or the (imperfect) compression process itself.

Ah, good point xen.  Silly lossy formats