mp3DirectCut

Frequently Asked Questions

Contents

Installation / Codecs
Program usage / appearance
Requests for new features
Known bugs / more troubleshooting

Installation, Codecs

Sytem requirements	The program should run in every 32 and 64 bit Windows (9x, 2000, XP, Vista, 7). It also works with Wine under Linux (mpglib.dll recommended for decoding). For playback you need at least: 200 MHz, an MP3 ACM or the mpglib.dll. For AAC playback you need the libfaad2.dll (or renamed ff_libfaad2.dll). For recording you need at least: 400-500 MHz, an MP3 ACM or the Lame_enc.dll.
How do I install the software?	The installer is a selfextracting ZIP file. It simply copies the files to the selected folder and creates a desktop icon. To copy the files to the default "Program files" folder, it's usually needed to run the Installer "As Administrator" (right button). Alternatively you can open the distribution file with an archive utility (Winzip, Winrar...) and extract the files by yourself. To let the program appear in a Start menu, you must create a shortcut on your own. You can also associate one or more of the supported file types (mp3, mp2, cue, mpd) to mp3DirectCut if you want to open them easily from the explorer.
How do I uninstall the software?	To uninstall the program, delete the delivered files, the .ini file (created by mp3DirectCut) and the Start menu link if you made one. The program does not write to the Registry or to system folders. If the program folder is write protected, mp3DirectCut stores the settings into the Application data folder of the current user profile. To easily delete this entry (if it exists), you can use the button "Uninstall settings files" in the Operation tab in the settings dialog.
Where must I put the mpglib.dll and the lame_enc.dll?	These decoding/encoding libraries must be either in a directory that is in your PATH (like "C:\Windows" or "C:\Windows\System"), or you can put it into mp3DirectCut's directory.
I have no MP3 ACM and the mpglib.dll seems not to work.	Please check if the mpglib.dll is activated in the program settings. Under Settings / Configure... / Devices / MPEG decoder select mpglib.dll.
Where can I get an ACM Codec for MP3?	There are several applications that bring along an MP3 Codec for the Windows ACM (= "Audio Compression Manager"). And there are different MP3 ACM Codecs (free and non-free ones, mere decoders and de-/encoders). The Codec (*.acm in System dir) must be installed by an application installer. Then it can be used by any software that wants to access it. Windows XP, Vista and 7 are already supplied with a decoding MP3 ACM.
Strange characters in Record name, Split pattern, Working folder, Recent file list	This problem came with enabling Unicode mode by default in version 2.14. The issues should simply disappear if you set these values new. If this doesn't work, delete either the whole ini file, or the lines from "file_recent=..." to "split_name=..." from the ini file. You easily get to the ini file with the "Explore settings folder" button in Settings / Misc. Remind to first close the program before deleting or saving the changed ini file.

Program usage, appearance

How can I move a Cue point?	Cue and gain points can be moved by dragging the gray markers with the right mouse button. This does not work if the gain or cue point is also a cut.
Where is the Gain button? The Gain dialog produces clumsy results.	The Gain dialog is obsolete and should only be used for special purposes. Tip: Create volume changes or fades by adding cue points and dragging their gain fields.
My MP3 file cannot be opened.	Yes it can. If the file is 'pure' MPEG audio, the program should open it. A file open error may be caused by a too large ID3v2 Tag.
I can't edit a 40 hour file containing 600 tracks.	mp3DirectCut handles files up to 4 GB. The maximum number of edit parts is 500.
What happens if the file info says 'No sync' or the MPEG graph shortly disappears?	Nothing bad if your MP3 is not corrupted. An MPEG audio file consists of a "frame" structure (e.g. about 38 frames per second on 44.1 kHz). The program always looks for a frame beginning when you scroll, select or cut. In some rare cases the program is confused by something that looks like a frame header but isn't it. If you scroll further the program should re-sync.
I got 'Re-syncs' on saving, what do they mean?	That the program could not find a frame* header where it was expeceted. It was necessary to search for the file position of the next header. This can happen in corrupted files, at cut or paste positions, at a file end or in some cases within VBR files. Often a Re-sync does not mean that anything went wrong. But sometimes, some frames in the output file may be skipped. As not all possible error and corruption constellations are examined, it cannot be excluded that the program can hang or crash in some sync fail situations. * (see previous answer)
Why can't I zoom out further than these three steps?	Because mp3DirectCut is always accessing everything directly. The program is designed not to care about the file size and shows a fixed area around the current position. Increasing the zooming out levels would cause longer file scannings every time the display is updated.
Why does the position cursor rock, especially on VBR files?	The cursor is placed dynamically in the graphic view to compensate the variable displacements of VBR visualisation. This was the best solution to keep the file access fast and provide an acurate position pointer.
On VBR the times of cues or selections are wrong.	mp3DirectCut calculates the times using an average bitrate and optionally the "TOC" of the VBR header. But the relation between time and file position may still be incorrect, especially on longer files. Creating or importing a Cue sheet with accurate cue positions and times on VBR is supported since version 2.10.
After saving a VBR file the length seems to be wrong.	Maybe the VBR header was not written correctly. You should try to open the complete file and save it again, to write a new VBR header. If even this does not help, you can disable writing the header by unchecking the option in the Tag/Info dialog.
My saved Cue sheet files are empty!	Only the split points with a "Cue flag" are saved to the Cue sheet file. If a split point does not have a "Cue flag", it will not be saved. A flag can be set easily by Ctrl+Q or in the Names and properties dialog for the highlighted split point (locator right to it). To set multiple flags, you can use the function "Set Cue flags for all simple split points" in the Edit menu. When loading a Cue sheet, the flags will be set automatically. If an edit point has the "Cue flag" set, it is displayed as dotted line.
Why can't the program record in 44.1 kHz Stereo at 128 kbit/sec or more?	It can. But you seem to use a limited ACM (usually to 56 or 128 kbps). Get the free Lame encoder, copy the "Lame_enc.dll" to your Windows or mp3DirectCut folder and switch to Lame in the encoder settings.
My recordings are empty.	This problem is not mp3DirectCut related. If the VU meter does not move on record, you should check the signal flow and the input level by the mixer applications of the system and your sound device. In mp3DirectCut you only have to choose the correct Wave-in device in the settings.
Why are some silences shown with a constant high level?	This problem can occur on files encoded by Lame to Joint stereo but may also concern other formats. It seems at frames with absolute silence, the main gain of an mpeg frame is irrelevant, and some encoders set it to a mad value. If mp3DirectCut's display would try to correct this, it could occur that also the level of some frames with normal level is not shown (happened in earlier versions). So we have to live with those ugly silences. But you can even cut them - as they are only silences ;)
The Cue sheet does not work: Audio file not found!	The audio file given in the Cue sheet file must exist. You can check this by opening the Cue sheet file in a text editor. Unicode Cue sheets cannot be created or read by mp3DirectCut. As a Unicode filename will be converted, filenames created with some international character sets will be false then. Solution: To make the Cue sheet work with a Unicode filename, open it with Notepad, paste the correct filename and save the sheet as Unicode/UTF-8.
How can I create Unicode Cue sheets?	To create a Unicode/UTF-8 Cue sheet open it in Notepad after editing the indexes: Use the function "Save cue sheet and open in Notepad" in the Special menu. In Notepad insert the correct names for file and titles and save the sheet in UTF-8 format. After that remove the .txt extension added by Notepad. To open a UTF-8 Cue sheet in mp3DC it must be convertet to ANSI first - you can also use Notepad for this.
After saving a VBR file the encoder changed to "Xing"	In the ID3 tag/Info dialog check "Keep encoder data in VBR/Info header".
How do I join or append audio pieces?	By using the virtual Cut, Copy & Paste: Open a second instance of the program, there copy the part you want to append. Then paste the selection the end of the other track. "Save all..." creates the combined file. You can also paste multiple selections. The program copies the real audio data only on saving, so you must keep every source file until you saved the result. Automated joining can be done by the Batch processing feature.

Feature requests

Insert silence	This is not planned for several reasons. A silence must be created by pasting a silent part of audio (either recorded or down gained). The audio parameters (format, stereo mode, samplerate) of the inserted part must fit.
Can you add Ogg Vorbis support?	Vorbis seems much more difficult to cut than MP3 or AAC. An MP3 can be cut nearly everywhere and it's still playable. Cutting an Ogg file without adapting anything here and there will produce broken files. By now I could not find an understandable documentation of a structure in Vorbis files.
WAV/PCM support, UTF-8 Cue sheet support	This has low pri and will be complicated. Can't say when there is time for making it.
Can I have the source code?	No. mp3DirectCut is not Open Source.

Known problems and more troubleshooting

General	mp3DirectCut is tested with many different MP3/MP2 types. In some cases it can still behave strange or crash. As there are many differences in the apearence of MPEG audio files, it is not easy to predict which errors might occur.
MPEG Visualisation	The main MP3 graph does not show the correct audio level. But this is not an error! The graph contains only higher frequencies. It can also be too high or too low over the whole file. In rare cases the display doesn't show anything. Visualisation of Layer 2 is (much) worse than Layer 3. Don't ask if a silence appears as mountain...
Editing, Saving	The Duration threshold on silence detection is not accurate. Silences below 2 seconds may not be detected reliably. Saving a selection or splitting a file may in rare cases use incorrect ranges. It's recommended always to check any new saved audio file, especially selections and split files. Cue sheet indexes and cue times on AAC are not accurate.
Play/prelisten	Cuts in MP3 files may sound noisy or squeaky, especially at lower bitrates. This is not an error. The MP3 format originally is not made for cutting, because some frames in a row often depend on each others. Solution: make cuts at silent positions and the noises will be less perceptable. On playback interruptions try a larger "frames per buffer" value. It's also not recommended to maximize the window. On playback noises or clicks, varying the "Maximum wave buffer" value may help. The "High priority" option may reduce sound interruptions if other cpu intense applications work in the background. If the MP3 file is not on a local harddrive, playing and scrolling may be interrupted.
Program crashs/hangs	Some users reported that trying to save some selections from a large file caused a crash. Others reported, saving files of seven hours works excellent. As there isn't an extensive file corruption management, unforeseen errors may occur. In earlier versions, there were reports that the program did not work at all and opened with a General Protection Fault. In these cases try to close other processes and applications which may interfere with this one.

Thanks for using mp3DirectCut!
Copyright © 2000-2013 Martin Pesch