some suggestions...

[thEFrawg]

First of all I want to say:
this program IS GREAT!

It certainly ROX all other thingys I tried for converting.
I haven't checked the player much so far as I only installed it - I use myMP3pro as mp3player so far as I feel it gives me the best chances to iron out mp3 audio quality loss (if in doubt check the stereo spread, the enhancer, the loudness...it even has a compressor at hand for some very rare cases...)
So I doubt it will be a tool replacing this great steinberg app for me in days or weeks to come.

I wondered about whether some things could be implemented - both for the converter and the app...

1) How about adding VST/DX support?
This would give this tool access to thousands of plugins. I'm not sure what goes on internally when converting, but in case I am right in assuming that all comversions (i.e.: ogg to mpr or ram to mp3) work via .wav only, the converter could definitely benefit immensely (think about using compressors, equalizers, deessers or whatever other tools in between the decoding and the reencoding of the files...wow!)
Of course, this would require a prelistening feature to be added, but I guess this would be the least of all problems...(I guess the headphone feature could do this trick already, though I didn't yet mes with it)

2) There was a post about cutting silence when playing tracks.
This is a great idea, but I'd go further than that - let me start on this topic with a different point:

2a) I'd love to see a file merging option capable of blending files into one single track (such as for dj mixes that were ripped straight off cd as single tracks - these are usually unusable for car stereos, as the gaps will destroy the mix when played back on such devices). This function is available in some tools, yet I found NOT A SINGLE ONE to do the job nicely and allover satisfyingly (I use the editor coming with myMP3Pro for now and do it by hand, saving from mp3 back to mp3 - as you might imagine THIS SUX HARD as it takes a LOAD OF TIME)

2b) Alongside with this merging option, there should be a feature such as the one asked about in this thread.
Best if the silences could automatically be detected and removed (even better if one could additionally choose to set the duration of silence to be removed in case the automatic procedure doesn't work).
Maybe an extra option can be added so the user can choose to ONLY remove silence at the beginning and/or end of the tracks - so the problem stated in this other post (removal of silence intentionally present in tracks such as breaks or pauses...) could be avoided.

2c) Last not least, this function should also appear in the player, making it possible to play back above-mentioned files in a way that'd preserve the mix.

2d) How about an editor? Great thing to cut off stuff not needed from files - I have no idea if this could be done to any other format - but certainly for wav, aif and mp3.

3) Important for me (though not top priority, of course) is the overall looks and customization capabilities of the program.

3a) The single components should definitely be merged into a single user interface. A smart way would be to have a base being loaded, running when dbPowerAmp is started, then launching the various parts (such as the fileselector, the converter, the player or the cdwriter) on demand only, but FROM WITHIN the same interface. (Bring on those flashy devises unfolding with a silent 'switshhhhh' or 'humm', hehe)
It just sux to go to the start menu to launch a different part of the same program - at least that#s my opinion.

3b) More options to tweak the size/look/font of parts of the program. One thing that puts me off the player is the looks - I tried some skins and thought some of the looking nicely. Yet the options dialog is far too big and I found no way to customize its size. The sizing features of winamp are really smart but I guess they also added a lot of sluggishness to the whoel program performance...

3c) SKINS, SKINS, SKINS!
We need more skinning features - also for the converter (or if you should decide on thinking about my point 3a) - for the whole interface...

4) The tooltip feature is a great way to get information about mp3 tracks - I just love it!!!
Yet - it could be improved a lot:

4a) The time after which its being displayed and also after which it vanishes should be customizeable

4b) The amount of info being displayed should be customizeable (Maybe a nice options menu with a tick for each item)

4c) The font/background colour should be customizeable

4d) More tags have to be added (Why is there no info on real files, for example?)

5) Localisations should be made possible
I guess it would be no problem to find people that are willing to translate the program - it's just a question of providing the necessary files (xml standard for example would make skinning and localizing a matter of minutes)


I guess that's it for now
I hope I didn't thoroughly annoy you with these suggestions - sorry about the long read.
Yet - then again: what's this forum for if not for suggestions, hehe.
Hope this didn't sound too greedy - I just think it's a GREAT TOOL already, so mym natural response is trying to help making it better...


Of course any comments are WARMLY WELCOMED if not DESIRED...

greetings to the board, courteous bows to the codeheads involved
and a warm THANK YOU for this great program


ahh - and just one more thing:
how about adding support for shoutcast?
making it capable of both streaming to and from the users box...

[donny]

This is more or less some answers:

2d)We already mentioned some editors that exist and that are free... the most mentioned name was Audicity. It has some interesting features, filters and stuuf. it already supports wav, mp3 and some other formats. And if the format isn't supported you can always use dbpoweramp converter:D

3a) I can make an app such as that (the inteface for all programs) if it is really needed... Maybe it is easier to add shourtcuts to desktop? Maybe just one - to the start menu folder where these are?
3b) Why do you need skins for the converter? It is as it is, you can only change the way the buttons look... If you want to you can alter the images in the compresion\skin\ folder, then pack it up with Spoon instaler (or whatever you prefer) and then distribute it around...
I think that the options where done like that so that in case the skin is looking weird and you can't find what you need you can always go to options... Resizing algorithms are kinda slugish indeed, that is one of the reasons winamp3 is so slow...

4) I think the ideas with the tooltips are good... that thing with the real audio files is because the plug-in isn't done completly, so it doesn't read those tags at all...
And for now you can customize it thru windows - aperance - it is just a standard tooltip.

5) about localisations - it is more or less in progres - take a look at the "general\multilanguage brings a lot of users" thread... most of the problems and ideas are there

Keep on rocking!

[Unregistered]

Look for software called 'FileMerger', this will merge ANY file, into one file. I use it to do exactly what you are looking for, in creating one huge MP3 from multiple MP3, even different bitrates, sample rates, but obviously if they are all the same first it will make things easier on whatever you play it on

Be warned it does, I believe, NO file checking at all, thats why its capable of merging any file, video, audio, streams, the lot, with no gaps, as it simply adds whatever filelist you choose, and adds the files onto each other saving them as one big file

I've also used it for merging AVI files that nothing else could touch, it did it without complaint and the results were what I wanted, not what the software though I wanted, same as MP3

Get the software here, its free, and very small, just don't expect it to look 'nice', it does the job its been written for perfectly and thats all it will do, File Merge, nothing more, nothing less

http://home.planet.nl/~doesw008/filemerger.html