Re: Liszt - A Faust Symphony

"Steven de Mena" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> appears to have caused the
following letters to be typed in news:yqOdnZ9SmIkpBEveRVn-uA@xxxxxxxxxxx:

>
> "Steven de Mena" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:74OdnQJnTNT1CkvenZ2dnUVZ_sCdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> "Matthew B. Tepper" <oyþ@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:Xns97558246CB3E1quackandflap@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> David Wake <dwake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> appears to have caused the
>>> following
>>> letters to be typed in news:m364o9r0kw.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
>>>
>>>> Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> In message <Qb-cnYhb84-9gEveSa8jmw@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Alex
>>>>> <alex1385NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
>>>>> >
>>>>> >"Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio" <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
>>>>> >message news:yAp5lYC2fb1DFwJF@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>> >
>>>>> >Just downloaded it - bit irritating that there is one long mp3
>>>>> >track for the whole work (55m, slightly abridged, it says), could
>>>>> >it not be split?
>>>>> >
>>>>> It can be - using the associated cue *** file as explained on the
>>>>> website you can create a seamless audio CD with track markers
>>>>> automatically inserted at the appropriate points. Cue sheets are
>>>>> simple text files (about 1K or less) which most PC CD writing
>>>>> software can use in conjunction with MP3 or WAV files. (The notable
>>>>> exception is Roxio, who allow this only with WAV files)
>>>>>
>>>>> The reason for not splitting it into individual movement is that all
>>>>> MP3 files begin with a short period of total silence. Where there is
>>>>> continuous background sound (in this case, from the residual surface
>>>>> noise) this is a huge irritant - far more so than one big file,
>>>>> believe me! When this gets onto the Chandos website, by the middle
>>>>> of next month, you can try it out for comparison as they do issue
>>>>> individual movements as MP3 files. We considered this seriously but
>>>>> ended up rejecting it on aesthetic grounds.
>>>>>
>>>>> One day there'll be enough bandwidth going around to release these
>>>>> as non-compressed downloads, but in the meantime I'm afraid this is
>>>>> a part of the MP3 spec (I think the same thing happens with other
>>>>> compressed formats), and there's nothing we can do about it.
>>>>
>>>> Not true: .OGG and some other formats (including LAME MP3) support
>>>> gapless playback:
>>>>
>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapless_playback
>>>
>>> And unfortunately I have seen no signs whatsoever that Apple intends
>>> to fix
>>> the design flaw in the iPod.
>>>
>>> I've now looked at the Wikipedia entry, and I wish for comments on one
>>> of the references, Gapkiller.
>>
>> Check out http://www.oro.net/~tfabris/gapkill.htm
>>
>> I have not personally used it yet but plan on looking at the Winamp
>> plugin mentioned at that page. I currently have Winamp configured to
>> play files seamlessly, so the 3rd and 4th movements of Beethoven's 5th
>> (for example) sound smooth, but unfortunately the side effect is that
>> the 1st and 2nd movements (where there should be a pause) also run
>> right into each other.
>
> I looked at it and can not recommend Gapkiller. The visual interface is
> WAY too bright and the dialog box for browsing for files is ancient and
> only supports 8.3 file names.

I don't want to marry it; I just want to use it occasionally. See here:

Somebody made a copy for me of a Japanese CD of a certain Del Tredici work,
and I just found this CDR (it was in that box that had gone missing, and
was only just lately re-found). Unfortunately, the technology used by the
copyist caused a silent period of two-and-a-fraction seconds to be appended
to each track, chopping up the work most unpleasantly when I play the CD.
This silent stretch persists in the .WAV files I've ripped from the disc.

I've already tried using an audio editor to reverse each track and then try
to cut the precise amount of silence from the head of the resulting file,
then reverse it again, and play them gaplessly; but a couple of the joins
just don't work.

Would I actually buy this recording if Decca were to condescend to release
it here? In a heartbeat. Would I buy the Japanese CD if it were available
again? Probably. Would I buy a downloadable version from Decca itself?
Maybe, if the price were right and the quality and convenience high.
Unfortunately the head of Universal Classics is too busy strutting around
with his thumbs under his armpits, admitting his own magnificence, to do
any actual work in this direction.

--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
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I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made. ~ FDR (attrib.)
.