mid-song playback error

[Sea_gypsy]

I haven't seen anyone post this problem using LORII. I'm using an older laptop (same one I programmed on LORI) and a MP3 file. When I use the playback range for anything option other than from the beginning my timing for already programmed tracks appears to be way off. For instance, I'm working on Monster Mash and I start from the beginning and when "It was a grave yard smash" is playing my timing appears to be right on. I get ready to do the next set of lights and I start the sequence in the middle of the song, my programming "It was a grave yard smash" is off by several events. There doesn't seem to be any consistency in the number of events that it is off. I then start the playback from the very beginning and everything is right again. Any programming I've put in using any option other than from the beginning is not correct. I've had to start from the very beginning for each step of the programming to get it correct. I've listened to the first 2 minutes of this song so many times that I'm hearing it in my sleep.

Is my problem with the computer, the software or the MP3?

[Steven]

Other people have suggested that you convert the MP3 to a WAV file for the purposes of sequencing.

[Denny]

Also, are you using a constant bit rate on your MP3? If it is a variable rate, you will have problems too.

[Richard Hamilton]

I've had so many little picky issues with mp3 format in LOR in the past, that I just don't bother with them any more. I use WAV and everything has always worked.

[Denny]

Richard Hamilton wrote:

I've had so many little picky issues with mp3 format in LOR in the past, that I just don't bother with them any more. I use WAV and everything has always worked.

I agree 100%. I too use WAV all the time.

[John Hertig]

Denny wrote:

Richard Hamilton wrote:

I've had so many little picky issues with mp3 format in LOR in the past, that I just don't bother with them any more. I use WAV and everything has always worked.

I agree 100%. I too use WAV all the time.

Ok, you've convinced me. 2 questions though.

1) How do I convert a MP3 to a WAV?

2) I presume, since I have the LOR DC-MP3, I'll have to convert the WAV back to a MP3 in order to create the SD card. Will this reconversion introduce any differences into the sequence? Is the process just the opposite of converting from MP3 to WAV?

[Richard Hamilton]

There are many programs available to do the conversion, and you can convert mp3 to wav or vice versa. Some converters are free and some cost money. We just happen to use Roxio Easy Media Creator. I'm sure others will post some good choices as well. Try Googling for "MP3 Converter" or "Music Ripper", or something like that.

For our own displays, we only use wav since we don't have the DC-MP3, but wehn designing for commercial displays that use the DC-MP3 we do it this way....

I keep all my music in mp3 format for the reason that MP3 format only consumes roughly 1 megabyte of disk space per minute of music whereas wav format is about 10 megabytes per minute of music. I convert the songs to wav that I am use in the sequences and work with them in the sequence editor, but I include the MP3 version when copying the files to the DC-MP3 SD card. I haven't had any issues with that approach.

When you do the conversion, use 128 K bits/second constant bit rate, and don't let the converter add any silence to the beginning of the song or else your music will be out of sync. Most converters won't do that unless you make the selection to add a silience to the beginning or end of song.

[Denny]

Many of us use Audacity which is a free program. Convert to WAV for sequencing and then convert it back to MP3. You can get Audacity here http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[John Hertig]

Denny wrote:

Many of us use Audacity which is a free program. Convert to WAV for sequencing and then convert it back to MP3. You can get Audacity here http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

I've heard good things about Audacity, will give it a try.