dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

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FINAL R12 RELEASE as of 25th January 2007

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25th January Notes:

dbpoweramp.com will be updated to r12 in the next few days (codec central etc)

NB Note 25th Jan: Final Codec Versions will appear in the next 24 hours.

Power Pack purcahses are currently R11.5, this will update to r12 in the next 48 hours.

Reference Registration can be purchased:

https://www.swreg.org/cgi-bin/s.cgi?s=3187&p=3187REF

(please note purchasing R12 Reference, entitles to R12 Reference, R13 Reference will incur an upgrade fee)

DSP Effects will be updated to final release in the next week or two.

Links from within dbpoweramp to the Reference and DSP Effects page on dbpoweramp.com currently do not exist.

Thank you for taking part in the dBpoweramp beta test.

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New Features:

Fully Unicode, all file names, etc fully supported.
Gapless and very advanced mp3 decoder.
Windows 64 bit compatible.
Many more options for explorer columns and popup information (see below).
Advanced ID Tag editor (on properties, full unicode compatible),
New Audio Properties page in Windows Explorer,
Much improved dBpowerAMP Converter (almost every aspect is improved) - if you have a multi-cpu, or dual core cpu enjoy.
Command line-able core converter.
Lame 3.97 encoder - more options such as freeformat encoding,
Secure Ripper (AMG meta source with Album Art)

Compatibility:

A page on dbpoweramp.com will appear shortly about keeping a working Sveta Portable Audio, CD Writer, or Auxiliary Input (R12 is incompatible with these until they are updated).

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Please direct all R12 discussions here:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=9738

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To Install (Uninstall Older R12 Betas before installing):

1) Install R12:

Either the Unregistered / Power Pack Trial Version (30 days):

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/bin/dMC-r12.exe

4 MB

or the more featured Reference Trial (21 Days):

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/bin/dMC-R12-Ref-Trial.exe

6 MB

NB Reference Includes These Codecs:

BWF-mp2 & mp2
FLAC
Monkeys Audio
mp3 (Fraunhofer IIS)
Ogg Vorbis
WavPack
[Calculate Audio CRC]

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Codecs (R12 only)

Monkeys Audio Codec
CLI Encoder Codec
Ogg Vorbis Codec
FLAC Codec
WavPack Codec
mp3 (Fraunhofer IIS) Encoder [will require dBpowerAMP Reference on Release]
Musepack Codec
Windows Media Audio 9 Pro Codec
Windows Media Audio 10 Pro Codec (10MB, requires XP or Vista)
Midi Decoder
BWF Mp2 & mp2 encoder (requires Reference)
Utility [Calculate Audio CRC]
Utility [Calculate ReplayGain] (for already existing files, use DSP effect to calculate whilst writing files)
Utility [Arrange Audio] (for already existing files, move files and rename based on id tag)

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DSPs

A hand full of DSP effects (including ReplayGain), copy zip file to \Program Files\Illustrate\dBpowerAMP and extract (preserving folders in ZIP)

DSP Effect Zip

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Windows Explorer Integration

R12 of dBpowerAMP is a significant step forward with regards to Pop-up information tips and Explorer Columns:

Pop-up Information: information which appears in Windows Explorer when the mouse is held over an audio file. Within the program dBpowerAMP Configuration (note: this is now in Start >> Programs >> dBpowerAMP >> Configuration, the old >> Programs >> dBpowerAMP Music Converter is being dropped) is an [Advanced] button next to 'Enable Pop-up Information' click it to open pandoras box, every part of dBpowerAMPs popup can be customized, advanced elements are not shown by default and must be enabled. ID Tags can be further customized, to exclude certain elements or only show standard Artist, Album, etc fields.

Explorer Columns: extra columns that can be added to the details view in Explorer. Customizable exactly as Pop-ups, there are so many possible columns which can be now added to Windows, when adding new columns follow the instructions on the [Advanced] page for Columns in the afore mentioned R12 dBpowerAMP Configuration program.

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R12 is being written with the highest attention to detail (a technical page will appear on full release showing these abilities), but for now a hint of these abilities through exposed elements (exposed to Pop-up information and Explorer Columns):

The usual Bit Rate, Length, Artist, Album, etc (units for number elements are customizable, ie Frequency in either Hz or KHz),
Audio Quality: unique to dBpowerAMP, this value trys to give an idea of the Audio quality for a file, using bitrate and encoder, possible value are: Lossless Varieties, Lossy (Low), Lossy (Medium), Lossy (High) and Lossy (Very High).
Contains: lists what the audio file contains, such as ID Tag types, Replay Gain, Album Art, CRC
Channel Coupling: various lossy codecs further compress audio by using the correlation between channels, such as Joint Stereo, etc
Channel Mapping: Speaker mapping contained within the file,
Encoder: Encoder used,
Encoder Settings: Settings of Encoder, such as CBR 128Kbps, PCM, IEEE Float, ADPCM VBR, ABR, CBR

Mp3 Specific:

MPEG Technical: specific details on mpeg frames, such as bits used, header type (Lame, etc with encoder delays)
MPEG Version: Highligh mp2 and mp1 files within your collection

Wave Specific:

Riff Chunks: Wave files can contain much more than audio data, lists chunks contained within a wave file.

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Command Line Instructions

CoreConverter (find in dbpoweramp install folder, dBpowerAMP Reference only):

Required:
-infile="filename" input file
-outfile="filename" output file
-convert_to="wave" Codec converting to

Optional:
-priority="low" "high" "idle" sets converter priority, default is normal
-silent only outputs errors to StdErr
-errorfile="filename" errors written to filename (otherwise StdErr)

-noidtag do not try to write any id tags
-tag="element=value" specify an ID tag, example -tag="artist=Madonna" use {qt} to put a quote " in the final string
-tag="element1=value1"
-processor="n" allys to a processor (on multi-cpu system), where n is 1=CPU1 2=CPU2, etc

...followed by Codec Compression CLI from below

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WAVE Encoding:

-compression="PCM" "ACM" "WAVEMP3" (non supplied uses PCM)

PCM: -bits="16", or "float" (non supplied uses [as source])
-freq="44100" (non supplied uses [as source])
-channels="2" (non supplied uses [as source]) "1" to "9"

"WAVEMP3" -wavemp3=" >>> mp3 cmd str " replaced with {qt} <<< "
ACM: -acm=" >>> ACM WaveFormatEx Binary encoded EncodeBinary0toF <<< "


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mp3 (Lame):
-V 4 quality (VBR) based encoding (default -V 4 if no commandline supplied)
-b 128 Constant bitrate (or ABR if --abr is supplied)
--freeformat write freeformat mp3 (use with -b 320 to -b 640)

-encoding="SLOW" "NORMAL" "FAST" (none supplied uses NORMAL)

[------Advanced Lame Options-------]

-freq="44100" (none supplied uses [as source])
-channels="mono" "stereo" "joint stereo" "forced joint stereo" "dual channels" (non supplied uses [auto])
-copyright_bit="1" "0" (none supplied uses "0")
-original_bit="1" "0" (none supplied uses "1")
-crc="1" "0" (none supplied uses "0")
-force_iso="1" "0" (none supplied uses "0")
-cbr_only used by wave encoder as cbr is only allowed for wavemp3 (not preserved by settings page as not needed)

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[Calculate Audio CRC]:

-crc Calculate CRC32
-md5 Calculate MD5

if no command line supplied then -crc is used as default

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CLI Encoder:
-cli_encoder="c:\encoder.exe" encoder to use
-cli_cmd="{qt}[infile]{qt} [outfile]" command line to pass to encoder, use {qt} for " If no [infile] then audio is piped to stdinput
-bits="16", or "float" (non supplied leaves as is)
-freq="44100" (non supplied leaves as is)
-channels="2" (non supplied leaves as is) "1" to "9"
-nowavehdr To not first supply a wave header to encoder (frequency etc has to be supplied on command line)
-hi_quality instruct decoder to decode as highest quality
-nodbtag dBpowerAMP should not tag output file after writing

================================================== ======

See help file for respective serperate download codecs for command lines.

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Configuring Secure Ripper

To get best results you need to spend a small amount of time configuring secure CD Ripping, in CD Ripper click options and put the radio option into 'Secure (Recover Errors)' ripping method. Then click 'Secure Settings':

Scroll down to 'c2 Error Pointers...' and click 'Detect c2 support' (you will need a scratched CD). Note c2 support in dBpowerAMP is a help, it is not like EAC where everyone recommends it be switched off, if your drive supports it switch it on - your ripping results will be much better for it.

Next is caching, if your drive caches it will hinder CD Ripper's re-rips (ie it will read old data from the cache and stop the secure part from working), so if you have Plextor click 'Test FUA Support' (this option can disable the cache if supported), everyone else click 'Detect' next to drive read cache (this time insert a new unscratched CD). Plextor owners can test FUA support also when checked with detect drive read cache, it should detect no cache.

Now there are two types of drive, those that support C2 and those that do not, if your drive supports c2 then set 'Maximum Re-reads' to 700, and enable 'Ultra Secure' with 1 Minimum Passes and End after 1 clean pass.

If your drive does not support c2, leave the settings as they are (34 max re-reads, and enable ultra with 3 minimum passes, maximum 6 and end after 2 clean passes).

A poor drive (not very good at ripping without error) try (without C2) a relatively high number of ultra passes (min 6, finish after 3, max 10 or 16).

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Alpha 4:

CD Ripper (with secure mode) and extra audio codecs.

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

With the CLI encoder here are commandlines for:

flac

-f --tag=artist="[artist]" --tag=title="[title]" --tag=genre="[genre]" --tag=album="[album]" --tag=DATE="[year]" --tag=TRACKNUMBER="[track]" - -o [outfile]

wavpack

-i -y -w "artist=[artist]" -w "title=[title]" -w "genre=[genre]" -w "album=[album]" -w "year=[year]" -w "track=[track]" - [outfile]

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Details on dBpowerAMPs secure ripper and how it relates to EAC:

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/secure-ripper.htm

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Updated to Alpha 5, changes mainly to CD Ripper: Profiles, Rating Stars, Preview Tracks, Compilation Button and auto hiding / showing of compilation columns. Column selection (right click on a column at top to select).

The mp3 codec has been updated to detect older lame files.

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Added new ogg vorbis codec & updated command lines for mp3 Lame.

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

dBpowerAMP Release 12 Alpha 6

A significant update for CD Ripper, mainly:

AMG meta data
Album Art
Log files (3 levels of log)
Album Artist Tag
Meta Data ID Tag section, for removing & adding specific tags
C2 ripping enhancements
Prevent AutoRun Option (a low level catch of the new CD notification, no malware will install)
New 'naming' existing users click 'set' and 'default'
Preview of audio tracks

As well as:

FLAC encoder
Album Art supportted in most codecs

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C2 enhancements include a best result from c2 if cannot match 10 frames, also it is recommended that if a drive supports c2 then the maximum re-reads should be set to around 700 (you will see impressive results with this).

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

WavPack Codec added.

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

mp3 (Fraunhofer IIS) Encoder Added (uses latest mp3 surround 5.1 encoder from Fraunhofer)

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

dBpowerAMP R12 Alpha 7 released (changes):

Folder.jpg option
preserve ',' in filename
Crc into log
Sorted out display of different pressing suggestion
% on title bar (ripping complete)
so cannot mess up entering min max end ultra values.
new track right click >> Re-rip Insecure & InAccurate, Secure (Warning), CRC missmatch
Dynamic Naming can work with [artist] or [ArTiSt]
Shown CRC (in track listing) will display Green if matches CRC from last Rip or Red if not
Fix mp3 decoder for corrupted freeformat files (was loosing sync and never picking it up again)
If log file exists add to end

Unrecoverable Frame options:

Abort After Unrecoverable Frames
[ ] Interpolate Unrecoverable Frames
[ ] Mark Track as Error if Insecure

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Musepack codec added.
CLI Encoder updated to allow dynamic settings pages (like the new musepack codec uses), if you have created a setup page with the old Generic CLI codec, you will like this one!

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Re: dBpowerAMP R12 Technology Preview

Windows Media Audio 10 Pro added.
Windows Media Audio 9 Pro added (for windows prior to XP).

Wavpack updated to 4.4, can now embed / extract riff chunks.