Nonstop workout music only works if it's actually nonstop. A gap of a second or two between tracks sounds small until you're mid-combo and the room goes quiet.
Where gaps come from
- Silence in the file: many tracks start or end with a bit of silence, which adds up between songs.
- The player: some players stop, load the next file, then start again.
- Crossfade settings: crossfading hides gaps but overlaps the end of one song with the start of the next, which breaks the count.
- Streaming: if the next song isn't buffered in time, you hear the wait.
Why crossfade isn't the fix for phrased classes
Crossfade is great for parties. For choreographed classes it blurs the downbeat you need to start the next 32. Gapless playback is the opposite: the last beat of one song is followed by the first beat of the next, on time.
How to check a service
- Play two songs back to back and count across the change. Does count 8 of one land straight into count 1 of the next?
- Try it on a slower connection and with the screen locked, the way you'll use it in class.
- Play a full 60-minute playlist once before you teach with it.
From the publisher of this guide
Gapless on every Fitness Radio plan
Gapless playback is included from Standard Beat up. Fitness Radio trims silence at the edges of tracks, and phrased tracks end on a full 32 so the next song starts on 1.