SIMPLE track splitter required (-:

Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such as
might have been created by recording an LP - and split it at silences?
It's for an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer literate. It must work
on Vista, and be free.

He's until now been using something called "mp3 workshop", which has a
"split at silences" feature, but it doesn't always work. When it
doesn't, it also offers the ability to split at a given point (such as
3'55" in), but for some reason that's not working; the final option it
gives is to split at a percentage, such as 5.2% in, which so far has
always worked, but he's finding working out the percentages rather
beyond him (he's a retired hot-metal printer, not particularly
mathematical).

_Ideally_, it should have adjustable silence-detection level and
adjustable silence-duration - and/or, and perhaps this would be a best
solution, the ability to play back and forth around the potential
splitting point. But above all it must be uncomplicated to use; I've
thought of showing him GoldWave, but I don't think he'd be able to cope
with all its complexities: something that only does (or helps with) the
splitting, but does it well, would probably be best.

(He's putting all his old LPs onto CD.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

These days it's all Blogs, Twitback and Face Space. But the technology has
only enhanced our relationship with our audience. It has matured, like a fine
wine or a smelly aunt. - Eddie Mair (radio presenter) in Radio Times 3-9 April
2010

On 06 Sep 2014, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:

Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such
as might have been created by recording an LP - and split it at
silences? It's for an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer
literate. It must work on Vista, and be free.

I like Mp3DirectCut

http://mpesch3.de1.cc/mp3dc.html

I believe it has a "split at silence" feature, although I've never used
it. The best thing about it is that it will spilt MP3s without re-
encoding them, which avoids the drastic quality loss you will suffer if
you use Goldwave or other standard audio editor to do this kind of
task.

The worst part of it is that the interface is very odd and unlike
anything else, which makes it a bit unfriendly to use until you get
used to it.

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message

Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such as
might have been created by recording an LP - and split it at silences?
It's for an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer literate. It must work
on Vista, and be free.

He's until now been using something called "mp3 workshop", which has a
"split at silences" feature, but it doesn't always work. When it
doesn't, it also offers the ability to split at a given point (such as
3'55" in), but for some reason that's not working; the final option it
gives is to split at a percentage, such as 5.2% in, which so far has
always worked, but he's finding working out the percentages rather
beyond him (he's a retired hot-metal printer, not particularly
mathematical).

_Ideally_, it should have adjustable silence-detection level and
adjustable silence-duration - and/or, and perhaps this would be a best
solution, the ability to play back and forth around the potential
splitting point. But above all it must be uncomplicated to use; I've
thought of showing him GoldWave, but I don't think he'd be able to cope
with all its complexities: something that only does (or helps with) the
splitting, but does it well, would probably be best.

(He's putting all his old LPs onto CD.)

He might benefit from a copy of my dandies...
http://mysite.verizon.net/xico/dadiOH-dark.htm

It has lots of info re ripping from vinyl, many links to programs, etc.
It is a standard *.hlp file so he won't be able to read it in Vista;
however, there is a link on the site for a viewer from MS.

It is also more than ten years old so many/mostost of the program links
will be dead; the links, not the programs...a Google search should turn up
some useful ones.

FWIW, I never found a splitter that would reliably split at silence; the
problem is, what constitutes "silence"? From vinyl, there is no such
thing. And whatever constitutes "silence" from vinyl can vary greatly.

The name of the program I used to split is CD WaveEditor. It has its own
page in the dandies, best I ever found. It is shareware, 31 day trial,
registration afterward. The program doesn't go belly up if it isn't
registered, still works just fine but it only costs $15 and is worth every
penny.

It doesn't split autmagically, however, requires a minimum amount of work,
said work being explained in detail in the dandies as well as in the
program's help file and on site. Basically, it shows a wave form (like
any other wave editor) and from that gross wave one can zoom in on the
transitional points - easily discernible visually in the display - play at
that point and split where appropriate. Very easy to record an LP as one
big file and split out the individual tracks, highly recommended.
http://www.milosoftware.com/en/index...ody=cdwave.php

Another very useful program is MPTrim.
http://www.mptrim.com/

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

"Nil" wrote in message

On 06 Sep 2014, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:

Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such
as might have been created by recording an LP - and split it at
silences? It's for an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer
literate. It must work on Vista, and be free.

I like Mp3DirectCut

http://mpesch3.de1.cc/mp3dc.html

I believe it has a "split at silence" feature, although I've never used
it. The best thing about it is that it will spilt MP3s without re-
encoding them, which avoids the drastic quality loss you will suffer if
you use Goldwave or other standard audio editor to do this kind of
task.

Have you ever actually _experienced_ that "drastic quality loss" or are
you just repeating what you've heard others say?

At one time I did a lot with MP3s. I have edited/re-encoded thousands and
thousands of files and have never heard a gnat's eyebrow of difference.
One time I started with an MP3, decoded it to wave, re-encoded it and then
did the same with the new MP3. I did this for ten iterations and there
was no audible difference between the original MP3 and the last.
Comparing each new MP3 with its source via a hex editor showed that each
new file had maybe 10 bytes more than its predecessor. That's ten bytes
out of a total of 2-3 million.

Admittedly,I am not an audiophile and I don't use high end equipment to
listen so possibly that would make a difference. I rather doubt it though.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such as
might have been created by recording an LP - and split it at silences?
It's for an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer literate. It must work
on Vista, and be free.

[...]

(He's putting all his old LPs onto CD.)

AAMOI has he tried buying the MP3s he wants? The result is likely to be
better. And more legal.

Also are you sure he really needs to split the files? Many people assume
you should have one file per track but one file per side of an LP is
perfectly viable for many purposes.

--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England

In article , Mike Barnes
writes
AAMOI has he tried buying the MP3s he wants? The result is likely to be
better. And more legal.

What's illegal about altering the way you listen to music you've already
paid for?

If you're copying then selling the original maybe it's dodgy but I've
re-mastered tapes and LP's I own to computer files for my convenience of
listening.

Mike

--
Michael Swift We do not regard Englishmen as foreigners.
Kirkheaton We look on them only as rather mad Norwegians.
Yorkshire Halvard Lange

In article ,
says...

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such as
might have been created by recording an LP - and split it at silences?
It's for an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer literate. It must work
on Vista, and be free.

[...]

(He's putting all his old LPs onto CD.)

AAMOI has he tried buying the MP3s he wants? The result is likely to be
better. And more legal.

Also are you sure he really needs to split the files? Many people assume
you should have one file per track but one file per side of an LP is
perfectly viable for many purposes.

I did that for my collection years ago. I found then that the only
viable way was manually. So I'd record the one side then load it into a
sound editor and cut and paste to a new file each song. That allowed me
to properly name them at same time also. Made for a good summer project
with 400+ vinyl.

I will add, even though vinly was generally pristine and audio gear top
notch I've still ended up replacing many of those recordings with strait
cd rips.

Oh and stick to 192 or higher kbs for mp3s.

Mike Swift wrote:
In article , Mike Barnes
writes
AAMOI has he tried buying the MP3s he wants? The result is likely to be
better. And more legal.

What's illegal about altering the way you listen to music you've already
paid for?

If you're copying then selling the original maybe it's dodgy but I've
re-mastered tapes and LP's I own to computer files for my convenience of
listening.

Just because it makes perfect sense to you (or to the general public as
a whole) and "everybody" does it doesn't mean it's legal. A lot depends
on where you are, of course. Copying from LP or CD to digital files on
your PC certainly used to be illegal here in the UK, but AIUI that is
due to change about now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripping#Legality

One way to avoid any uncertainty is to buy a legitimate MP3. I wouldn't
bother just for legal reasons but some people might. I know someone who
worked in the legal profession and was scrupulous about matters like this.

--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England

In article ,
says...

Mike Swift wrote:
In article , Mike Barnes
writes
AAMOI has he tried buying the MP3s he wants? The result is likely to be
better. And more legal.

What's illegal about altering the way you listen to music you've already
paid for?

If you're copying then selling the original maybe it's dodgy but I've
re-mastered tapes and LP's I own to computer files for my convenience of
listening.

Just because it makes perfect sense to you (or to the general public as
a whole) and "everybody" does it doesn't mean it's legal. A lot depends
on where you are, of course. Copying from LP or CD to digital files on
your PC certainly used to be illegal here in the UK, but AIUI that is
due to change about now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripping#Legality

One way to avoid any uncertainty is to buy a legitimate MP3. I wouldn't
bother just for legal reasons but some people might. I know someone who
worked in the legal profession and was scrupulous about matters like this.

I bought the vinyl, No way here in Canada is it illegal for me to record
that vinyl for my own use. Digital/analog don't matter and if its vinyl,
cassette, cd or dvd same thing. What I do know is we've been paying a
hidden tax on blank media for years now as some settlement made between
government and media industry when vcr's and cassette recorders came
out.

I'm also under the impression it's legal to casually copy for a friend.

Selling is a no-no.

In message , Mike Barnes
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such as
might have been created by recording an LP - and split it at silences?
It's for an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer literate. It must work
on Vista, and be free.

[...]

(He's putting all his old LPs onto CD.)

AAMOI has he tried buying the MP3s he wants? The result is likely to be
better. And more legal.

I don't think he (or more likely his wife) would like him using money on
line; the only reason he even has broadband is his daughter bought it
for him. (Not that he's a miser, just a combination of their having
lived through hard times and them not thinking they would use it
[broadband] anyway,) As for legal, I thought it had finally (though
quite recently) either been established, or the law actually changed,
such that CDing _your own_ LPs is now definitely OK? And as for better -
(a) I agree, but then I'd not personally use the system be has (a music
centre of sorts that produces mp3s) if I was going to make audio CDs
anyway, (b) he's certainly not bothered by the results, (c) doing this
is one of the things that keeps him using the PC at all, and I don't
want to risk breaking that.

Also are you sure he really needs to split the files? Many people
assume you should have one file per track but one file per side of an
LP is perfectly viable for many purposes.

I know where you're coming from. But see (c) above - he's got into the
swing of it, and I don't want to risk him losing interest altogether.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

freedom of speech is useless if nobody can hear you.
-- David Harris -- Author, Pegasus Mail Dunedin, May 2002.

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message


As for legal, I thought it had finally (though
quite recently) either been established, or the law actually changed,
such that CDing _your own_ LPs is now definitely OK?

It has been OK in the US for years.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On 2014-09-06, dadiOH wrote:
"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message


As for legal, I thought it had finally (though
quite recently) either been established, or the law actually changed,
such that CDing _your own_ LPs is now definitely OK?

It has been OK in the US for years.


Florida Log Houses?
LMAO.
For you northernerss... they don't build log houses in swamp land.
Native Floridians learned to build boats, to paddle north from the bugs.
The only reason Florida doesn't float away is because Georgia sucks.


--
An effective way to deal with predators is to taste terrible.

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend something that will take an mp3 file - such as might
have been created by recording an LP - and split it at silences? It's for
an elderly friend, who _isn't_ computer literate. It must work on Vista,
and be free.

He's until now been using something called "mp3 workshop", which has a
"split at silences" feature, but it doesn't always work. When it doesn't,
it also offers the ability to split at a given point (such as 3'55" in),
but for some reason that's not working; the final option it gives is to
split at a percentage, such as 5.2% in, which so far has always worked,
but he's finding working out the percentages rather beyond him (he's a
retired hot-metal printer, not particularly mathematical).

_Ideally_, it should have adjustable silence-detection level and
adjustable silence-duration - and/or, and perhaps this would be a best
solution, the ability to play back and forth around the potential
splitting point. But above all it must be uncomplicated to use; I've
thought of showing him GoldWave, but I don't think he'd be able to cope
with all its complexities: something that only does (or helps with) the
splitting, but does it well, would probably be best.

(He's putting all his old LPs onto CD.)

I use it to record LPs too!


Audacity - Official Site
audacity.sourceforge.netOfficial site

Audacity® is free,
open source,
cross-platform software
for recording
and editing sounds.


http://www.bing.com/search?q=audacit...40774bbd06c758

On 06 Sep 2014, "dadiOH" wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Have you ever actually _experienced_ that "drastic quality loss"
or are you just repeating what you've heard others say?

Yes, I have. There is no question about it. I could show you graphic
evidence of it, but more important to me is what my ears tell me.

MP3 compression discards a whole lot of audio information. If it was
done at high-quality settings, you might not notice much or any
degradation if listening in a non-critical setting. But every time you
decompress and recompress and save an MP3, more audio is discarded. Do
that a few times and even the most tin ear will hear the problem.

At one time I did a lot with MP3s. I have edited/re-encoded
thousands and thousands of files and have never heard a gnat's
eyebrow of difference.

I could easily produce an example for you, but I don't have the time.
]

On 06 Sep 2014, Mike Barnes wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

AAMOI has he tried buying the MP3s he wants? The result is likely
to be better. And more legal.

There is nothing the least bit "not legal" about digitalizing your LPs.