'Pops' in quiet passages

BarryManilow · Post by **BarryManilow** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:44 am

I've not had this problem before. I'm running MM 2.5 on Vista (unfortunately), and I've just noticed that quiet passages of my MP3s are interrupted by 'pops' as the signal drops in and out.

I figured first that this was a characteristic of the mp3 file itself, where the coding process interprets a very quiet passage as 'no sound'. But I haven't had this problem before, and most of my files are ripped at 190kbps or better.

Does anyone know if this is a problem with Vista, or is there something in MM or the output plug-ins (I'm using DirectSound 2.2.7) you can fiddle with to sort this out.

TIA, Barry

paulmt · Post by **paulmt** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 2:54 am

This might be the answer to your problem...

BarryManilow · Post by **BarryManilow** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:48 am

thanks for that, paulmt, but I don't think that's it. The pops are during quiet passages, not between songs.

One example is Hayseed Dixie doing 'Hells Bells' - during the intro, where they ring a bicycle bell instead of the big gong sound of the ACDC original, you hear a wavering little bell sound, then pop and total silence, then the bell sound, then a pop and silence and so on. This track is ripped at 256, so it should have minimal artifacts.

Is this just a problem with mp3s I've never noticed before, or is it something I can fix?

Barry

rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:52 am

i thought they meant the silent space in the songs had pop's and clicks paulmt?

it is vista if that is the pop they are hearing in the song then
vista is having trouble with finding that the song did not finish.

of course mm 2.5 is not supported by vista so they are lucky to have it working at all.

mm 3 has support for vista. but it is still in development but almost finished. its release candidate version 3 now.

rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:02 am

BarryManilow wrote:thanks for that, paulmt, but I don't think that's it. The pops are during quiet passages, not between songs.

One example is Hayseed Dixie doing 'Hells Bells' - during the intro, where they ring a bicycle bell instead of the big gong sound of the ACDC original, you hear a wavering little bell sound, then pop and total silence, then the bell sound, then a pop and silence and so on. This track is ripped at 256, so it should have minimal artifacts.

Is this just a problem with mp3s I've never noticed before, or is it something I can fix?

Barry

that's what i thought you meant.

it sounds like the threshold for the silent space is set low enough that the vista program is thinking the song stopped,.

one way i can think of to fix this is use monkey to convert
the song to a wav file.

open the wav file in an wav editing studio.

when its showing the two sine waves on the screen then stretch them out to find the silent areas.

those would be where the wave touches the middle line for the left or right side.

then select just that part that is going with the center line and is silent. use the volume adjustment to rasie it by ten percent
just enough to make the vista program (if vista is doing it) think there is sound there.

that should stop the song from ending and starting in the middle and triggering those popups.

if you don't want to do all that then you might try using the buffers. but i don't think those will help at all for this error.

this error sounds like it is someone's self created error as in they cut the files silent code out or turned it down too far.

BarryManilow · Post by **BarryManilow** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:03 am

where can I get mm 3 from? I'd like to give it a try, although 2.5 has been working fine on Vista (Home Premium) apart from this problem

rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:05 am

from the first sticky thread in the beta testing room.

go to the bottom of the list and get the newest version.

read instructions for installment.

but before you go there read my last reply i think it is your answer.

BarryManilow · Post by **BarryManilow** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:41 am

Thanks cowboy, but that does sound like a lot of work, with a dubious outcome. Most of the tracks I've ripped myself, and I haven't done any sort of adjustment like this, that might be the cause of the error in the first place. Also the process of converting the mp3 to a wav and back to an mp3 would cause a loss of quality.

nohitter151 · Post by **nohitter151** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:50 am

You could always try a new mp3 input plugin (like the MAD plugin). There are directions for install and links here: http://mediamonkey.com/input-plugins.htm

BarryManilow · Post by **BarryManilow** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:14 am

knee high, thanks nohitter, that did the job. Very nice sounding plugin. Like I say, I didn't have this problem before, so it might be a Vista thing. But MAD sorted it out, thanks again.

paulmt · Post by **paulmt** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 1:56 pm

rovingcowboy wrote:i thought they meant the silent space in the songs had pop's and clicks paulmt?

Yep your right rovingcowboy, I rushed in with only a quick read of the post. I saw "PoP" and thought the obvious

Glad you have found the answer BarryManilow

rovingcowboy · Post by **rovingcowboy** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:06 pm

everyone makes mistakes paulmt. i made one by thinking barry had the mad plugin. i have it so i think everyone has it.?

and with as many times a month as that other pop message is asked its no wonder you thought of it first.