When your recording looks shorter than the release
What it is
Sometimes the file you upload holds a lot less music than the album you picked. The most common reason is simple: the recording stopped before the last side. When we notice, we stop and tell you before cutting anything, and the choice of what to do next is yours.
Why one file holds the whole album
We cut a recording by matching it against the album's tracklist — the track count, the running order, the length of each song when the listing has it. That only works when the file holds every side, start to finish, in one take. Half a record is half the map: the track count is wrong, the song lengths point at the wrong places, and the cuts come out confidently wrong. So we ask for the whole album in one file. Lift the needle at the flip, leave at least 10 seconds of quiet, and keep recording.
How we notice
Before cutting, we compare the length of your file with the album's listed running time. When the listing carries no times, we look for a matching edition of the same album that does, and use those. If the file comes up well short of the album, we don't guess — we stop with a card that says what we found.
What to do
- Proceed anyway. We cut from the audio alone, every cut opens zoomed out, and you'll be fine-tuning by ear. Any track that isn't in the recording still gets a name from the tracklist, so expect the titles to drift. This is the path for a recording you can't redo.
- Select a different release. Some pressings run longer than others — a deluxe edition, a version with extra tracks. If yours is the shorter one, pick it and we'll measure again.
- Start over. Record the whole album, all sides, into one file, then upload it. This is the fix when it's really just the rest of the record that's missing.
When you won't see it
- When the listing has no track times and no matching edition carries them. With nothing to measure against, we cut what's there.
- When the file is only a little short. A few seconds of runout or a trimmed ending won't trip it.
What we never do
We never trim, stretch, or alter your recording to make it fit. Nothing about the comparison leaves your Mac except the lookup of the album's listing. And we never stop you cold — the card is a heads-up, and the way forward is always yours to pick.
Still need help? hit us up.