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[petervm]

Hi there,

When I specify 'gapless' as the default for 'Between Tracks' in the playback options, still Media Center is crossfading tracks. 5 seconds before the end of the track, the display already switches to the next song and the previous track fades out while the next track fades in.

Does anybody know what causes this? In earlier versions this worked fine.

Best regards,

PetervM

[Matt]

Make sure you have the latest version.

MC 10 visually switches tracks a little earlier, but has true gapless.

MC 11 (in alpha) doesn't visually switch tracks early. (and also has true gapless)

[petervm]

Hi Matt,

I have MC 10.0.173 and it is clearly audible that it is crossfading for a few seconds, while gapless is chosen. I tested all kinds of settings, but it seems like the 'Between Tracks' option is ignored.

[Matt]

I can't reproduce this.  To test, split a file into two with Media Editor.  Then play the two halves using "Disk Writer" as the output, telling it not to break between tracks.

The output should be sample perfect.  (and seems to be for me)

An uninstall, then reinstall may help if the settings are goofed up somehow.

[Matt]

BTW, do other between-track settings seem to stick?  Like picking a long cross-fade, etc.?

[petervm]

Hi Matt,

I unstalled MC 10 and removed both the registry settings and the media library.

After a reinstall, I imported the same tracks I tested with. Initially it crossfaded because of the default settings, but after changing it to gapless everything works fine again. However, now PowerDVD is not recognized anymore. I reinstalled it and although Windows Media Player does show the properties, it does not recognize the DVD when I select it. Media Center says that it cannot find a DVD decoder.

It seems I am running from one problem into the other...  Well, I will check this one out too. One day everthing must be running OK.

[petervm]

I fooled around with playing DVD's, and it seems the problem is solved spontaneously. When I insert a DVD, Windows asks what action to take. Since I selected 'Play with Windows Media Player' once, the DVD is recognized and it starts playing. After that Media Center also recognizes the DVD and the decoder properties can be selected again. So this problem seems to be solved.

But guess what: gapless is gone again. I only touched Media Center and PowerDVD, so this must have something to do with it. As soon as Media Center recognizes PowerDVD as a decoder, the 'Between tracks' settings are ignored.

Maybe the MP3 codec of PowerDVD is used now? Is there any way to check which codec is used in which case?

By the way, I am using MC 10.0.173 and PowerDVD 6.0 Deluxe.

[Matt]

DVD and audio playback have no interaction.

Maybe make a good gapless test file with Media Editor so you can hear exactly what's happening. (frequency sweep files work well)

[petervm]

Matt , you're right. I found out its indeed not PowerDVD, but it has something to do with DVDSpy.

I use Girder to control my HTPC with a remote control. My PC case has a VFD display that shows the playing artist and other info. The int_DVDSpy.dll plugin provides this information to Girder, which then displays it on the VFD.

As soon as I register the int_DVDSpy.dll, Media Center does not play gapless anymore. If I stop the plugin or uninstall it, gapless works fine again. With older versions of Media Center, I never had this problem. So I tried installing several versions of DVDSpy (1.60. 1.62 and 1.63), but that has no effect. Maybe something changed in Media Center that causes this?

So for now no more trackinfo on my VFD...