Gapless MLP problem

[Savageone79]

I am making some compilation discs from some of the dvd-a titles I own but a few of them are live and while the original is gapless between tracks when I try to use Discwelder Chrome to burn the mlp files it inserts a gap between them and there is no way to have it not do that. Is there a way to join mlp tracks before I import them into discwelder or is there another progam that will burn gapless mlp tracks? I am using dvda explorer to grap the mlp files but it will only let you do one song at a time so that is my limitation.

Thanks!

[JonUrban]

Ya might have to wait for Neil on this one. Not too many folks have Chrome/MLP software - - (He says with envy! )

[Savageone79]

Any other progams I can use to burn the seperate mlp files and make them gapless? Or anyway to combine seperate mlp files into one big file?

[neil wilkes]

Chrome allows gapless PCM tracks, or with MLP you have to create one long file with the entire album, encode to MLP, and import this into Chrome.
Once this is done, right click on the track and choose "insert track point".
You'll get a box asking you to enter the correct offset for where you want the track point to go. This is automatically gapless, and you should see a green "G" next to the time of the track.

You cannot combine separate MLP files into one long track. You need to create the MLP file as one long one first - much easier that way.
MLP support is limited to Chrome, and Sonic's DVD-Audio Creator. AFAIK, no other apps support it. MLP encoders are either from SurCode or direct from Meridian.
Dolby's next generation of Dolby Digital encoders will have Dolby Digital Lossless, AKA MLP.

Another approach to this might be to either record the output of the streams to WAV, or even use the (educational purposes only) tool to extract from MLP to WAV

[Savageone79]

The mlp to wave extractor (for educational purposes) is what I am using and is what introduces the gap. For some reason it adds a slight gap at the end of each track that ruins the continuity. The only program I know of to extract the mlp files is DVDA explororer but I can't figure out any way to get it to grab more then one song at a time so I am left with a bunch of seperate mlp files.

[neil wilkes]

Can you not extract the WAV files as WAV files and stitch them together in a sequencer?
Then re encode to MLP again, and off you go?

The gap is, I think, being caused by one of 2 things:
1/. The extraction process -
2/. A fault in the WinDVD software (which is used as the basis for the rips, if you'rew doing what I think you are)

AFAIK, you will need to get down to pure WAV files and join them together - a fast crossfade at equal power should take care of this.

[Savageone79]

So far that is what I am having to do is stitch the individual waves back together and cut out the gap that is introduced. The weird thing is that they don't exactly line up and it looks like there is a very small fraction of audio missing between the tracks where the silence is. Anyway I can fix this pretty noticeably by doing what you suggested with the cross fade but editing 6 Waves at 96000/24bit takes forever on my computer let alone to have to do this on every song! I was hoping there was a simpler way such as being able to extract more then 1 song into an mlp file with dvda explorer or to burn gapless with mlp files.

[neil wilkes]

There is no way to restitch apart from the method given - the trouble with tools such as the ones you mention, DVDA Explorer, the incorrectly named PPCM Ripper (should be CPPM Ripper!) and the like is that they are based on illegal reverse engineering of the codecs in WinDVD to rip protected content.
So, if these are badly written & introduce gapping - the solution is either as suggested, or else simply record the analogue output from the player to it's own WAV files. The only way to hide the gap is to do the latter.
If an encoded MLP file has a silent section, you cannot burn it gapless.
If an encoded MLP file has no silent section, of course it will burn gapless.

That is the problem with cracked/back engineered tools - they never work correctly.

[Savageone79]

Thanks for all the help