SIMPLE track splitter required (-:

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

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

 

[Nil]

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.

 

[dadiOH]

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.php?body=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

 

[dadiOH]

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

 

[Mike Barnes]

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.

 

[pjp]

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.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

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.

 

[dadiOH]

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

 

[Darth_Hideous]

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.

 

[Hot-Text]

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=audaci...=-1&sk=&cvid=76190b681c9b48679f40774bbd06c758 >

 

[Nil]

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.
]

 

[Nil]

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.

 

[Nil]

It has been OK in the US for years.

As far as I know it had NEVER been illegal in the USA.

 

[Darth_Hideous]

As far as I know it had NEVER been illegal in the USA.

To copy LPs?
You bought the right to play it, at the time you bought it.
You didn't buy any other rights at the time of LPs, perhaps the right
to make a backup, but I doubt that right was in force at the time of LPs.

When you buy a record, or any music, it is for your private use and
playback.

Backup is OK, copies you want to give to your drunk friends are
illegal.

Period...LP, cassette, 8track,CD,Mp3 ... there is no iffiness.

You buy it for your private use only.
Playing it at a club, where you charge money for your friends to get
liquored up, is commercial use.

This ain't ****ing hard to get.

Buy the songs you want.
Listen to them.
Make a copy for yourself.

Sharing that copy is what they have a problem with.

 

[Nil]

When you buy a record, or any music, it is for your private use
and playback.

Backup is OK, copies you want to give to your drunk friends are
illegal.

There has been no mention in this thread of giving my digitalized LP to
anyone else until you brought it up now. You are moving the goal posts.
This ain't ****ing hard to get.

 

[Stan Brown]

[quoted text muted]

It has been OK in the US for years.

As far as I know it had NEVER been illegal in the USA.

To copy LPs?
You bought the right to play it, at the time you bought it.
You didn't buy any other rights at the time of LPs, perhaps the right
to make a backup, but I doubt that right was in force at the time of LPs.

I'm too lazy to go and check on line, but I distinctly remember a
couple of decades ago, when Usenet was new, a discussion about
copying LPs you own to audiocassettes, and how that was 100% legal in
the US if they were for your own use only. The doctrine was that you
had the right to use what you bought in any format you chose.

That might have changed with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,
but IIRC that applied to _digital_ media, which LPs aren't.

 

[Darth_Hideous]

There has been no mention in this thread of giving my digitalized LP to
anyone else until you brought it up now. You are moving the goal posts.
This ain't ****ing hard to get.

LOL.
Then copy the ****ing thing.
What do I care?

If, its for your private use, its not a ****ing question.

If, you have any other issue, call the music industry, moron.

No doubt, being dumb as a ****ing brick, you were just trying to hook up.

 

[Darth_Hideous]

[quoted text muted]

It has been OK in the US for years.

As far as I know it had NEVER been illegal in the USA.

To copy LPs?
You bought the right to play it, at the time you bought it.
You didn't buy any other rights at the time of LPs, perhaps the right
to make a backup, but I doubt that right was in force at the time of LPs.

I'm too lazy to go and check on line, but I distinctly remember a
couple of decades ago, when Usenet was new, a discussion about
copying LPs you own to audiocassettes, and how that was 100% legal in
the US if they were for your own use only. The doctrine was that you
had the right to use what you bought in any format you chose.

That might have changed with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,
but IIRC that applied to _digital_ media, which LPs aren't.

I believe you.
It's always been about an individual having only the right to the playback
of an artist work.

The person/group/media conglomerate owns the music.

If a person thinks paying 8 bucks for an album gives them all rights
over that material, then using Windows wouldn't be an option.

 

[Nil]

If, its for your private use, its not a ****ing question.

I didn't ask a question. I answered one.

If, you have any other issue, call the music industry, moron.

I don't have an issue. You do.

No doubt, being dumb as a ****ing brick, you were just trying to
hook up.

You are trying to engage others in irrelevant tangents, no doubt
confused about the topic at hand.

 

[Nil]

I'm too lazy to go and check on line, but I distinctly remember a
couple of decades ago, when Usenet was new, a discussion about
copying LPs you own to audiocassettes, and how that was 100% legal
in the US if they were for your own use only. The doctrine was
that you had the right to use what you bought in any format you
chose.

That might have changed with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,
but IIRC that applied to _digital_ media, which LPs aren't.

As far as I can tell from a little bit of online searching, there is no
legal restriction OR allowance for making digital copies or backups of
any of your analog or digital media for your own use, except where you
intentionally defeat copy protection. Otherwise, the courts have so far
declined to address the issue either way.

In other words, go for it.