We'll consider adding that feature in a future version,
This is the direct response that I've been asking for regarding the capability of the LAME "silence" metadata. It's obviously not what I wanted to hear, but thank you for answering it directly.
but people who are very concerned about audio quality usually use a lossless encoder. You can also rip to a single file.
I'm not trying to beat a dead horse, but these suggestions simply do not offer the "solution" that they're being presented as doing. Neither of these suggestions work if you want to use the rips for other sources, such as iPods or car CD players that have mp3 playback capability. If you want to keep a single inventory of compressed songs that can be easily used for other purposes, mp3 files are still the best format to use.
Similarly, the "remove silence" option just does not work for the music I listen to. As others have pointed out, the removal of "intentional" silence is just as big a problem (if not bigger) as the gaps in many cases, as is the removal of parts of the song that are not entirely silent. The crossfade option, while being a bit better than the "remove silence" option in most cases, is still easily hearable in many cases.
This is why I was excited when I heard about the LAME solution to this problem, which is actually a "solution" and not a workaround. This would be a fantastic feature for MC to include for those of us who are essentially forced to use mp3s for specific reasons, yet who have always wished for a solution to this issue.
Given that MC is typically at the head of the pack when it comes to features, I would hope that the LAME "metadata solution" would be seriously considered as a future addition. I think that the desire for this feature is being underestimated.
Thanks again for all the help here (and thanks Alex and Pink for confirming that other CDs of "The Wall" have the same pops that mine does, and to Alex for the wavform pictures and all the extra testing.)
Larry