On this page I've collected together snippets of information that didn't fit neatly into the other pages on this site, arranged in a question-and-answer format.

Questions:

• How do you configure EAC to do WMA lossless compression?
• How do you configure Winamp for gapless playback with WMA files?

Using EAC for WMA lossless compression isn't obvious, but here's what I find works.

I have installed Windows Media Encoder, version 9 or later.

In the dialog box displayed with EAC menu item EAC: Compression Options: External Compression, I have these settings:

• Use external program for compression: Yes
• Parameter passing scheme: Windows WMA9 Encoder
• Program, including path, used for compression: (Left blank)
• Additional command line options: -a_codec WMA9LSL -a_mode 2 -a_setting Q100_44_2_16
• Bit rate: Lossless
• Delete WAV after compression: Yes
• Check for external programs return code: Yes

When using EAC, I click on the MP3 button instead of WAV, to start the copy process. Yes, really, the MP3 button. EAC rips each track to a WAV file, then invokes the WMA9 encoder in a DOS window to convert the WAV to WMA. EAC continues to rip the next track to WAV while the previous track is being converted to WMA.

EAC can also insert tags in the WMA file. This is configured, I believe, in EAC: Compression Options: ID3 Tag.

Winamp normally goes silent for a fraction of a second between the end of one track and the start of the next track. This gap is distracting when the music is supposed to be continuous. But with a little trouble, the gap can be eliminated.

First you have to get Winamp to start reading the second track while it's playing the last seconds of the first track. In Preferences: Plugins: Output, select DirectSound output. Then click Configure: Buffering and set a suitable value for Buffer-ahead on track change. I find a value of 500 ms (half a second) works well; you might need to experiment.

But that doesn't quite fix it. The problem is that the default WMA input module in_wm.dll is not capable of truly gapless playback. Fortunately the Nullsoft DirectShow module, in_dshow.dll, is capable of truly gapless playback. To get this to work you have to disable in_wm.dll and you have to tell in_dshow.dll to accept WMA files:

1. Exit Winamp if it's running.
2. Using Explorer, navigate to the Winamp plugins directory, usually C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins. Change the name of the file in_wm.dll to in_wm.dll.disabled.
3. Start Winamp.
4. Go to Preferences: Plugins: Input: Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder: Configure. Add ";WMA" to the extension list. Click the OK button.