Enhancement: LP4 Gapless DAO?

[kpmgeek]

Is there a technical limitation preventing gapless LP4 uploads? this would be very useful for audiobooks where you want to have track breaks in the cue file but don't necessarily want to find a way to put the track breaks in times of silence.

[Jo2003]

There is no technical issue. I simply thought there wouldn't be a need for this.

[kpmgeek]

Yeah, I know LP4 is painful for music but its perfect for audiobooks.

[Jo2003]

Which version do you need? Linux, Mac, Windows? I have prepared some builds.

[kpmgeek]

Linux AMD64 and Windows AMD64 here.

[Jo2003]

Ubuntu: x86_64 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BakKQDiO-vUNRKtpitRSmmVyA3-HY9r6/view?usp=drive_link
Windows: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xxVKt81MKyfToeKJSNmqgENTugrtSptp/view?usp=drive_link

Could you please tell if it works?

Thanks,
Jörg

[kpmgeek]

I can test this tomorrow. Is this built from the current main branch? I'm on arch and don't want to deal with trying to unpack a debian package.

[Jo2003]

Yes, it's the current main branch.

[Airell]

I have tested it (the Windows version) and it transfers OK with LP4 DOA. However 'at the end of the disc', it seems the calculation of the remaining free time is pretty off at LP4. After a few Transfers the application showed 3:36, but after a 'stop' on the MD player (TOC Edit on MZ-N510) and a "(Re)-load MD" click, it re-read 1:20. This resulted in an error while transferring a to large track and it seems to mess-up the TOC info. There somehow was a track again on disc I was (almost) sure I had deleted...

Also with the new transfer list/button, after a successful transfer the remaining time goes back to 'SD time' and not to the selected 'Transfer Config' in the drop down. I think it only recalculates it after a drop down value change.

Also changing from a portable to a deck (no SP DAO), the calculation seems to go pretty wild. Almost 10 hours on LP on a 74minute disc:

[Jo2003]

Yeah, I have to look into the free time stuff again. Currently this is bound to the combo box only (which isn't enough). For the free time on a NetMD deck .. I multiply the reported free time dependent on the transfer quality. So, I wonder where you get the 9 hours from. The maximum should be 80 minutes * 4.

[Airell]

I'm not doing anything funny with the 10 hours stuff. I load a blank 74 minute disc in my MDS-JE780 deck, hit "NET MD" on the deck, press "(Re-)load MD" in the application and it shows 2:29:58 in SD mode:

When I select LP4, it goes to 10 hours (list is shorter because of the SP DAO not supported):

Free time after loading a fresh MD in my portables (the N510/N520's) is not an issue, but it is after recording. I think the last track is not fully processed/TOC written? I do need to hit 'stop' on the portable and reload in the app to get have it report the new remaining free time.

[Jo2003]

@Airell it looks like it doubles the free time. The only reason I can think of is that you configured the device to record in Mono.

The other differences ... I'll have a look.

[Jo2003]

The difference in the disc time (when using portable NetMD devices) is an rounding issue. As more tracks you add, as larger might be the difference between calculated time and recorded time. I'll change this to be more exact. Nevertheless, the correct free time you'll only get after MD reload.

[Airell]

Ok fair enough, but after writing a track (TOC edit?) whilst doing DAO, it looks like the time is recalculated every time. Is it not possible to do this 'stop' action (whatever the portable is doing, a TOC write?) and do the reload in the application after a DAO?

[Airell]

Ah! My deck is already in LP2 recording mode! It gets 8998 seconds from the deck. The doubling in the app is doubled again... I just open the app and it already says 2:29:58 in SP after a reload.

cd2netmd_gui.log

[Jo2003]

My app has no way to know if LP2 mode is enabled on your device. It uses the values it gets from the device. So, please set it to SP when using NetMD transfer.

I can do the reload after an operation finishes. In DAO modes SP, SP Mono, and SP preenc. this should already be the case (this must be done after TOC manipulation).