Spotify mp3-recording starts too late

[matwer]

Hello,

I've recently bought RM to record from Spotify, and it works fairly well.
However when I listen to the recordings (on my iPhone) I discover that they often are cut in the beginning of each song. You don't hear the "attack" of the first sound/tone in the song, half a second (or so) is missing. This sounds quite bad, actually.

Is this something that is possible to fine-tune with some settings? Or is there something wrong with the mp3 encoding?

// M

[Anordlun]

Just minimize the Volume level cutoff to minimum (43)

[merlin55]

I have been using Replay Music for years(No problems) and have been using it with Spotify, But all of a sudden with Spotify it starts recording about 15 seconds after the music has started, and after 41 sec when the track is still playing it tries to identify the track, has spotify come up with some way of disabling Replay I wonder.

[matwer]

Hello,

Great, it works. I set Volume level cutoff to 43, and also I raised the volume in Spotify to max (don't know if that had any effect). Now it rips fine.

// M

[AdrianM]

I have been using Replay Music for years(No problems) and have been using it with Spotify, But all of a sudden with Spotify it starts recording about 15 seconds after the music has started, and after 41 sec when the track is still playing it tries to identify the track, has spotify come up with some way of disabling Replay I wonder.

I think the most recent upgrade to Spotify - Version 0.3.23 (revision 65324) in my case - has implemented a serious countermeasure.

Replay Music has a checkbox in the splitting tab that is titled "Ignore audio close split (Use this option if tracks always split prematurely at the same place)"
If if this function is enabled the track breaking every 30~40 seconds you describe doesn't seem to happen - but then the start/end of tracks are no longer defined "digitally". One major drawback of this is that the beginning of tracks seems to go missing and tracks may merge into each other. Also, where this alters the apparent track length by more than a second or two, it defeats the auto-tagging. Still investigating and my assumptions may be wrong (I'd love to see some official clarification on the function of the audio close split checkbox). Unfortunately it seems like this makes Replay Music little use with Spotify.

[Cheryl Wester]

Each system is different. With some systems if there seems to be a split at the same time for each song by selecting the ignore auto split it prevents this. We are not able to test Spotify in the US and I understand they have a new player. Make sure that the volume is split slightly to the left of the middle in the output tab.

[AdrianM]

Each system is different. With some systems if there seems to be a split at the same time for each song by selecting the ignore auto split it prevents this.

Yes, I guessed there is some kind of flag in the stream that marks a break in the digital audio stream and that Spotify was spoofing it. Whether my guess is right or wrong, setting RM to ignore "audio close" does stop this particular problem.

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to adjust the other parameters (minimum silence, volume level cut-off) to get a usable recorder. It seems that using "audio close" was the only reliable way to make recordings.


We are not able to test Spotify in the US and I understand they have a new player. Make sure that the volume is split slightly to the left of the middle in the output tab.

Are you referring to the "Recording Volume" slider in the Output tab? I'm wondering what influence this could have on track split processing? It hasn't helped doing as you instruct.

I'm pretty sure there are ways around the artificial transatlantic barrier - you guys need to keep on top of the game if liberty is to flourish.;)




While I'm up on the soap-box, I want to take the opportunity to say that I think the service Spotify provides is about as close as anyone has come to providing the ideal solution for the recording industry (whether they know it or not). This is because it's almost good enough to out-compete file-sharing. The convenience of not having to maintain local storage and the simplicity of sharing pointers to music rather than the payload itself are two of its main advantages over file-sharing.

The only reasons I have for wanting to record are to plug gaps in the service: first is for burning mp3's for the car, which is unlikely to ever benefit from any on-line service any-time soon. Second is that Spotify has yet to demonstrate security of its content - from time to time recordings become unavailable. Now my feelings about this are very strong as I become very attached to some music and while I could go out and buy the odd mp3, I am finding more than I could ever afford to go out and buy. Another way of putting it is that if Spotify was to suddenly close down, I would feel an enormous loss that would be impossible to replenish. Allowing the casual recording of material for personal access is, in my opinion, a way around this and would make the widespread abuse of IP through file-sharing obsolete.