Stereo Tool

I do not know if this is a setting issue or Bug, tried to search for any references with the word buffer, found none. When playing a folder I noticed that the last second or so of previous song gets re-played during the first part of next song, I am using Winamp 5.541 Stereo Tool 3.03. With Winamp alone there is no buffer re-play however when Stereo Tool is used as Plugin there is a buffer replay. Is there a setting to flush the buffer between songs or is there a way just set the buffer to zero?


Thank you

I do not know if the following info is needed, will include just in case.
Computer quad core q6700 intel proc.
mem 4 gig
Os vista 64

I also have experienced this problem. Any way to fix it?

There is a fix for this, but it requires changing some settings in the input plugin (!). I found it some time ago, but I don't remember the details, so I have to look again. I will get back on this.

I found a workaround, I made a playlist then made a mp3 of 4 seconds of silence and put that after every song, that way the buffer is flushed, I think that other people have been doing this.

Oops, I completely forgot this one! The easiest solution is to enable gapless playback. I'll search for the details tonight.

The following should solve the gap problem.

The processing in Stereo Tool causes a significant delay. That's because it needs to look ahead what is coming next - and especially the Loudness filter causes a lot of delay.

There are 3 ways to get rid of the gap between songs.
The easiest method is probably the one described here: http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion ... 02390.html . Note: You need to increase the setting "Buffer length" first, then you can increase "Buffer-ahead on track change".

So:

• Go to Winamp Preferences -> Plug-ins -> Output
• Click on Configure. This configures the currently active output plugin (usually DirectSound output, but it can also be WaveOut or anything else)
• In the new window, select the "Buffering" tab if needed (this is needed for DirectSound output, not for WaveOut)
• Increase "Buffer-ahead on track change" until the gaps are gone. This setting cannot be set higher than "Buffer length", so you might need to increase "Buffer length" as well.

Alternatively, you can turn on Direct Soundcard Access in the FM settings window. That way Stereo Tool takes direct control of the sound card and you will also get gapless playback. The delay won't go away, but the gap between songs will.

Alternatively, you could use another player than Winamp (radio automation programs such as SAM4, RadioBOSS etc. include nice cross fading options - but they are very expensive).

Hello here!

I have the same Problem, but changing the buffersize does not help also not the direkt access to soundcard.

It only makes a delay of hearing the next track, but then still it starts with bits of the last track

What else can i do now, then with this Problem we can not realy work

Thanks for Help

_________________
Greetings from Germany:
Andreas Duswald - Radio Lechtal

Hello RadioLechtal,

Can you give me some more details about what you are doing? If you are playing different tracks in a row, increasing the buffer size SHOULD work (I will check it again tonight). But, if you play a track, then take a break (talk a bit etc.) and then start the next track, you will indeed hear a short piece of the previous song before the new song starts. This is a limitation of Winamp...

If that's the case, here's a better solution:
1. Start a SEPARATE player to play the music
2. Use a program like Virtual Audio Cable (costs $20) to send the output of that player to another player. (Some sound cards drivers support this, if that's the case you don't need Virtual Audio Cable).
3. Start a 2nd player which reads the input from Virtual Audio Cable, and performs the processing and streaming.

Note that this solution has a big advantage: You can enable cross-fading in the first player. (I've tried Jet Audio Player some time ago which cross-fades very well). This gives a far more professional sound.

Alternatively, you could use software that is aimed at broadcasting like SAM or RadioBOSS. Like I said, the problem is Winamp related, other programs don't have this problem.

I'll get back on this tonight. Can you tell me what your problem is exactly (ie. gaps directly after the start of a song, or the fact that the last part of a track is played at the start of a new track after a break)?

Hi,

I have the same problem - if I hit the next track or previous track button I get a short piece of the current track replayed (it seems to be the fraction of a second that was just played) before the track changes. Also, any crossover or fading effect that I've set seems to be lost.

Crossover and fading won't work when you're using a DSP plugin that causes a delay. (like Stereo Tool).

To make this work, you'll need to use the Virtual Audio Cable solution as described above, OR a different player (NOT Winamp) that supports cross-fading BEFORE the DSP plugin is called.

This is unfortunately a (very annoying) limitation of Winamp.

Note: To REDUCE the amount of data that is sent to the next song, it does help a lot to enable "low latency" in Stereo Tool. This won't help a lot for cross-fading though.