Microstudio Play (2.604) Discs and Hard Drive Play the Same?

[jahern]

OK My thing against getting any new versions of Microstudio is that I am waiting for an issue to be solved:

Microstudio Play cuts the music short if there isn't a long silence in the song at the end.

The new Demo has great improvement there. But only in the CD-ROM play not Hard Drive play.

The Demo only plays 75 seconds so I had to create a song, lasting less than 75 seconds, that would cut short. I gave no space at the end of the music and found to my surprise that on the created cd, even my Component player snips things a little short!! Maybe 0.4 seconds (Yes I'm a Lakers fan)

However the Demo did not snip the song short on the CD. It does on the hard drive cdg file however.

Does the real version have a hard drive improvement?

Good Job Guys!!!!

[mlepine]

Jahern,

The problem of cutting 2-3 seconds is not on the extraction but only on the playback with Microstudio!

Let me explain: I've just extracted to my hard drive (using latest Micro) a song that normally Micro will cut the last 2-3 sec from the CD-Rom or Hard drive and converted it to mp3+g and than played it with another software, this time it played correctly with out cutting anything!

My test was done using a back up cdg done with a previous version of Micro so this shows that any back up we make will be fine.

regards

[jahern]

Thanks for the explanation. Trust me. I did already understand your point even though it might have seemed otherwise. (I have been a maniac on this for quite a while)

My point is that in the Playback, the Demo showed a remarkable improvement in not cutting the song short. (Some discussion was spent explaining how I created a song that could be cut short by the Demo.) While playing the disc, the Demo did better than even my stand-alone player!! Maybe a lot of players do a little cutting.

While playing the file on the hard drive, however, the Demo cut the song short.

Thanks for your input. It sounds like you are very handy with those file conversions.

Sorry if my entry was not clear.

Good Luck and Mucho Exito

[jahern]

I tried the new demo and was pleased that it plays discs without cutting the song short 2 or 3 seconds. However, when it plays files, the cut is there. Does the full version have the correction for both discs and files?

[mlepine]

All I can say is that the full version still cuts 2-3 second when reading from cd-rom and/or hard drive.

Wonder how you were able to test the demo if it only plays 60 or 75 seconds? (don't remember!).

Like i said on another thread, it only cuts on playback not when it imports or when it copied.

regards

[jahern]

I'm disappointed that the full new version still cuts the songs short in both disc and file formats.

I created a very short cdg with absolutely no silent space at the end for the test. To my surprise my stand alone player cut the song a little short. Playing the disc, the demo did a better job!! I would say it was close to, or was at, perfection. (Playing the disc only)

Thanks for the answer; now I better understand your response in the other thread.

[admin]

We will research the cut-off problem with the next major release. To fix this, we must do it at the start of a new release to beta test it umpteen zillion times. This code is very complex to modify and make work correctly.

Hey, 2.604 now does continue playing when you click to any other program. And the new Installation program is far superior than before. It now displays live error messages if you have a problem registering so you know right then... exactly what you need to do differently to register.

Please keep in mind, Microstudio is designed to PRACTICE your songs at home. it is NOT... designed to run Karaoke shows. That is Hoster's function. Thus, our market for Microstudio does not demand we fix this cut-short problem.

I understand both of you want it fixed, and George recently clearly documented that the cut-short does happen, when he had never noticed it before! However, out of tens of thousands of users... how many do you see posting on this problem?

It is very hard to justify fixing a VERY EXPENSIVE problem, for a VERY FEW users when there is no real problem with the intended product use.

[mlepine]

I will agree with you that this is not a major issue and that it could wait until a new released.

This version has good improvement and I would recommend it even if all you need to pay is $15.00 if you own an older version of Microstudio.

Microstudio is by far the most friendly cdg player on the market and as a bonus it let's you make back up of your cdg's!!

Regards

[admin]

If you have Microstudio 2.506 or higher, 2.604 is a free upgrade.

And yes, I agree. If you have version 2.4 or prior, $15 is a good deal for all the changes and improvements we have made.

[jahern]

Quote:

However, out of tens of thousands of users... how many do you see posting on this problem?

It is very hard to justify fixing a VERY EXPENSIVE problem, for a VERY FEW users when there is no real problem with the intended product use.

Please don't come after me that way. If Microstudio play cuts things short, then Hoster cuts things short because the Play function is the same right?? And Hoster is designed for a professional show.

I was excited that the demo showed some improvements. I wanted to know if the full version was a little better.

I love your products and I don't know why you think that talking about numbers will change my observations. Who cares if I'm one in a million if I'm right? l understand economics; you don't have to come at us few like we are some kind of enemy.

The issue is simple:

If Hoster does cut things short like Microstudio play, then some time in the future, someone is going to ANGER a customer with their "Professional" show. If it doesn't, then I would never expect you to fix it on Microstudio. Spend your money on something more important.

[admin]

If I came across too harsh, I'm sorry. We do appreciate both of your comments. In fact jahern, I updated the Microstudio 2.604 manual to include what you discovered. If you click the Karaoke button in the Import Tracks Tab, and import an Audio CD, it will create a CDG file. No one knew about that!!! Even George was surprised, and now is mentioning it in other posts. We just simply couldn't believe that everyone in beta testing and our programmers... had missed that feature that you found.

However, the cut-short problme is just not happening in Hoster, and the few reporting it in Microstudio indicates it is not a "perceived problem" by our client base. George did special audio editing to prove/disprove your posts and... PROVED YOU RIGHT! We can no longer think it is your system, or your perception. You are RIGHT... and you did a good job of reporting it!

The core problem is that touching the audio player code can cause audio dropouts or aural glitches. Bryan (MTUSUPPORT) accidentally discovered the Microsoft PROBLEM that was causing Microstudio to stop play when you click to another program. That told us what to do, but it took our programmer digging to find out HOW to do it! Microsoft tools leave LOTS to be desired.

Understand... the depth and continued response from me to you can clearly be read as I hear and agree with you. We just don't have the resources to solve this problem right now.

We had to study Windows "threading" to make Hoster stop dropping audio. Isn't Win2K and XP supposed to be multi-tasking, multi-threaded? Well, the joke's on us developers! Due to the diligence and experience of our programmer, it looks like Hoster 2.207 "MIGHT" be free from audio dropouts. We "THINK" we now understand what is required. Our beta testers will prove us soon... right or wrong.

The next Microstudio biggie is replacing how we interface to the CDR/DVDR drives. Mlepine, thanks to your heads-up warning we are preparing for this! Staying in business 35 years has given us lots of insight how to survive. If Plextor (the only new drive available today) drops CDG read/write prgrammatic control support... we have a "killer" problem that establishes what MTU MUST DO NOW! We have no choice.