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Old 13-12-03, 12:56 AM   #1
petriburg
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Angry ALBW decoding - a puzzlement

This has me completely stuffed. I was highly pleased to complete a download of a recently released album via i-mesh, which was posted as albw.mp3. So now I've wasted better part of two hours trying to decode the darned thing. Tried first in ALBW Extractor, which said "not a valid albw file", so went searching on Google, and found albw-fix - same response as soon as I'd installed that!
Then I went to Source Forge and got their alba proggy, and whaddya know, it also said "not a valid albw file".
The strange thing is, the thing has a file extension of.mp3 following the albw designation, and it plays OK (as a continuous thing) but no track ids. But why in hell would anybody encode an album in a manner that rendered it undecodable - because neither they nor their friends would be able to break it up into tracks for recording after downloading? Doesn't make sense, so.o.o.o. - is there a way to decode an album encoded as albw.mp3? If so, I should be mighty glad to hear about it (with urls etc.). Thanks, everybody!
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Old 13-12-03, 01:40 AM   #2
multi
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Default this is probably not what you want to do..

i know nothing of these albw files...but
if you can get it(that continuous album file) to load in to a wave editor like an mp3 you could manually edit that file and make seperate mp3's of the tracks
of that album..
you should be able to see clearly from the waveform where the track stops and starts
alot of editors you can highlight the part of that wave and save that highlighted selection as..
an .mp3
a little bit of work but ...i was thinking if you can play it as one continuous album
like an mp3..you should be able to seperate the tracks with an editor and if you wanted to go further you could then burn those .mp3's back to a cd
(rearanged in a sequence of tracks how you liked it ..even)

but i hope u find an easier way..
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Old 13-12-03, 05:00 AM   #3
napho
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Big Laugh

There's another program that splits albw's and also other mp3's. If this doesn't work then you might have to get that album elsewhere. This might drive you insane.

http://mp3splt.sourceforge.net/


btw- this one runs through DOS commands


The easiest way to get your mp3splt installed is to copy just the file mp3splt.exe
(included in package) in Windows main directory (usually C:\WINDOWS).

Or, for more experienced users: you can extract mp3splt.exe in another directory
and then add that directory to PATH environment variable.

IMPORTANT NOTE: MP3SPLT IS A TEXTUAL UTILITY. TO RUN USE MS-DOS PROMPT!

For people who don't know how to use ms-dos prompt:
- First copy mp3splt.exe as described before.
- Run MS-DOS prompt in Start Menu -> Accessories or just Choose
Start -> Run... then type
command
(or cmd32, depends on which Windows you are using)
- You will have a black window writing C:\WINDOWS> or something similar.
- Now you have just to move to directory where mp3 are using 'cd' command, type:
cd X:\directory1\directory2\mp3\mymp3\
followed by ENTER key and where X is the the drive (for example C or D)
- Ok, now just type
mp3splt
you will se an help message on how to use mp3splt.

NOTES:
1) When file or directory contains a space, you should use quotation marks "".
for example: mp3splt "My Album.mp3"..... or cd "My Mp3"
Or temporarily rename file to something shorter
2) On latest version of Windows (XP) you can use auto-complete function,
by typing part of the filename and pressing the TAB key, name will be
automatically completed.

From this point you will be able to use mp3splt correctly.
Please read man.html for a complete documentation and example of use.
____________________________________________________________ ___________________
--> The .BAT Trick (used by Batman
-->
--> PART 1
--> If you don't want to run the MS-DOS prompt, you can use .bat files:
--> 1) Create a new Text file (.txt file) in dir where the mp3 is.
--> 2) Open with notepad or another text editing tool.
--> 3) Write the line corresponding to what you want to run inside this file.
--> For example:
--> mp3splt -c file.cddb "My album.mp3" -o @n-@t -d new
--> 4) Save the file and change extension from .txt to .bat
--> 5) Double click on the .bat file and all is done
--> In this way you don't have to use 'cd' to change current directory
-->
--> PART 2
--> If you often run mp3splt with the same command line. For example
--> mp3splt -w album.mp3 -d New
--> There is a trick that can save lot of time:
--> 1) Create a new Text file (.txt file) in dir you usually have mp3s.
--> 2) Open with notepad or another text editing tool.
--> 3) Write the line inside the file as you were writing it to run mp3splt
--> but replace the filename with "%1". Example: mp3splt -w %1 -d New
--> 4) Now save the file and rename it to a file with .bat extension.
--> Example: if you saved the file dewrap.txt -> dewrap.bat
--> 5) Drag and drop the file to be splitted on the .bat file you just
--> created and the play is done.
--> Now for each file you wish to dewrap, you can just drag and drop the mp3 file
--> on the bat. Of course this trick can be applied to any use of mp3splt.
--> Be careful on where file have been created, maybe they are in root dir (C:\)
____________________________________________________________ ___________________

I know, you are thinking all this is too difficult. This is not true, listen me;
I can assure that once you get experienced using this program you will be really
fast. Is faster to open a window program, selecting all files to open, select
output file and then start, or instead to write only: mp3splt -w file.mp3 ??
However don't worry, I will try to write a Graphic Interface as soon as possible.

COMPILING INFORMATIONS

In package you will already find a binary of mp3splt (mp3splt.exe),
that has been compiled with MingW v. 2.0.0 (http://mingw.sf.net).

From mp3splt 1.4 you need also these libraries:

libogg - http://www.xiph.org
libvorbis - http://www.xiph.org
libmad - http://www.mars.org/home/rob/proj/mpeg/

To compile using MingW or any gcc compatible application type:

gcc -o mp3splt.exe -Wall -O2 *.c -lvorbisfile -lvorbis -logg -lm -lwsock32 -lmad

However, you can compile it using M$ Visual C or any other compiler, but I don't
know if all functions are supported.

Good luck!
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Old 13-12-03, 02:22 PM   #4
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napho. I've just read thru all that for the third time, and while I'm sure it's a functional program, I have the feeling that there are far too many areas in which I could screw it up! Setting that lot up is a daunting prospect for a guy with my relatively short experience with computers - how about you do it for my by remote assistance? Or would it simplify things if you were to translate the hypothetical drive/file references into the actual file paths, if I were to give you those. (btw, I am on WinXP Pro.) I will, meantime, download the necessary stuff from source forge. And thanks a bundle for taking the not inconsiderable time and trouble to compile that instructional message.
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"And you hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on you head -
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
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Old 13-12-03, 04:20 PM   #5
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Actually i just copy/pasted the info text. No way am I gonna get involved in a program that runs from a command box. I'll see if I can get that album for you myself. It's the easiest way.
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Old 13-12-03, 05:46 PM   #6
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I've found lots of albw files that won't split properly. Usually what I end up doing is manually splitting them in an audio editor. Half the time I find that the first track in the wrap is the bitrate shown and the rest are low bitrate crapola. I end up pitching it out. There's an awful lot of people sharing junk files out there.
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Old 13-12-03, 07:54 PM   #7
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napho, fokker - it seems to be as I said in my original post - people seem to be putting files out there for sheer nuisance value, there can be no other valid reason. Thanks, all, for replying, and napho - you had me wondering about that command line program when i first read it, and on the second reading as well ! I really don't think its within my capabilities, but.....if I run across somebody skilled in that kind of thing, well, that'll be a whole 'nother story.
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"And you hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on you head -
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
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Old 13-12-03, 10:34 PM   #8
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You could try the Mp3directCut program.

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/au...3directcut.cfm
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Old 14-12-03, 02:31 AM   #9
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would i be right in saying albums in .zip file format with .mp3's inside is the best way to get albums out there?
slsk..ect
(probably not the fastrack network)

i have usually found ftp with folders of the albums with the .mp3's inside is the safest..
but i have never done it much..
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Old 14-12-03, 07:48 AM   #10
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well for soulseek the common practice is to use folders. i've yet to find even a semi-serious member who doesn't have dozens of them. you can always download an individual track from inside the folder, but for transfers of complete album packages including graphics, liner notes and what have you the folder system is the way to go. (note to canadians: according to the copyright board of canada the downloading of any material which may be under copyright is legal.)

- js.
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Old 14-12-03, 11:51 AM   #11
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It's a two step process..

1) Generate a CUE sheet from the freedb database using MP3Cuey. The generated cue sheet could be used for playing back individual tracks in either foobar2000 or Winamp (with the WinCue plugin).

2) Load the cue sheet into musiCutter and split them up into individual tracks.
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Old 14-12-03, 01:38 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally posted by multi
would i be right in saying albums in .zip file format with .mp3's inside is the best way to get albums out there?
slsk..ect
Yea. I would agree with that.

That's what's good about d/ling full albums from irc. They're packed in rar or zips.

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Old 14-12-03, 02:20 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kris404
It's a two step process..

1) Generate a CUE sheet from the freedb database using MP3Cuey. The generated cue sheet could be used for playing back individual tracks in either foobar2000 or Winamp (with the WinCue plugin).

2) Load the cue sheet into musiCutter and split them up into individual tracks.
This can work nicely ONLY if the freedb song times match the wrap you're trying to cut. That isn't usually the case though.
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Old 14-12-03, 03:04 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally posted by fokker
This can work nicely ONLY if the freedb song times match the wrap you're trying to cut. That isn't usually the case though.
Thats' true but if it's a full length album with the same track order, the cut off point for tracks could be pretty close and could always be adjusted manually with musiCutter. Alternatively, you can type the cue points (timings) manually into the app.

ALBW never worked for me correctly either and I hate it hate it hate it. Good, now that's out of the way. RAR/ZIP is the way to go for full length albums and if it's a continuous one such as a dance album/concert, EAC > WAV+CUE > MP3+CUE is the best option
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