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[Iggy64]

I am running XMPlay 3,4,2,1 under Windows 2000.  (Yes, I know -- I need a new PC and OS!)  I very much appreciate the Write to Disk feature of XMPlay.  However, I have one small problem in using it.  When I have XMPlay save the stream as separate tracks, the tracks are not cleanly separated. That is, the cut is not made in the "dead air" between a pair of tracks, but instead just after the second track starts.  As a result, the "head"of each track is chopped off, and can be found at the tail end of the preceding track.  The error is very slight, but it is quite audible in many cases. 

Of course, I can repair this by cutting and pasting in MP3DirectCut, but this is very tedious.

Has anyone else experienced this problem?  Is there a way to adjust the cut position?  Or is there a simple workaround? 

Forgive me if this has been already asked and answered.  I could not find the answer with my search attempts.

[Jace]

I remember there being discussion about this earlier, but can't find it right now. The gist of it was that XMPlay splits the track when the stream lets it know of the track change, which rarely is at the same time on radio stations.

Did find one post which might be helpful for you though:

I've been recording internet radio streams as mp3 with cue sheets.  This particular stream usually puts a short gap (dead air) between songs.  I take the one big file, fine-tune the break points, and then make it into individual mp3 files.
...
It would be awesome to have XMPlay "write to disk" with cue sheet have an option to limit filesize, limit time, or limit number of cues and then re-start with another filename (could use consecutive numbers or append start time to the filename).

Why don't you try Streamripper? It can detect silences between tracks, so it splits the tracks and saves them with correct tags and filenames. In addition, it can relay the stream so you can still listen to it with XMPlay.

[Jimmy Neutron]

Yes, that's the solution.

StreamRipper which is a command-line program (runs fine under Windows, you just have to open a cmd.exe window) does an awesome job of writing an internet stream to disc.  I have used it extensively.  Here's the link: http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/

A newer GUI program is StreamWriter, which appears to do a great job too.  I don't have much experience with it.  Here's the link: http://streamwriter.org/en/

There's some others, too, including one that is based on the StreamRipper engine called StreamRipper32.  Link: http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/sr32/

And you can also try Screamer http://www.screamer-radio.com/download/ which is a bit older but works fine and TapinRadio http://www.raimersoft.com/tapinradio.aspx which is the successor to Screamer and has more up-to-date features and radio station list that is maintained.

[Dotpitch]

The gist of it was that XMPlay splits the track when the stream lets it know of the track change, which rarely is at the same time on radio stations.

Correct. This is a limitation of the streaming protocol (metadata updates appear on fixed intervals in the stream), not a bug in either XMPlay or the streaming server.

[Iggy64]

Wow!  Thanks for all the really quick replies.  I appreciate your explanation of the source of the problem.  It helps me see why I won't be able to fix this issue using XMPlay.  I'll definitely try out Streamripper, and perhaps some of the other suggestions. 

You guys are saving me a ton of time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.