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[sdcoochie]

I was wondering if Michael Rhoades (Trelane) was working on new plug-ins for the new encoder and decoder for MPC. Files encoded with the new version 1.1 encoder (mppenc.exe) needs the new decoder (in_mpc.dll) to play  the new files. I myself have replaced the original mppenc.exe with the new version in the plugins folder and have no problem encoding. I and have done the same with the original in_mpc.dll which is backward compatible with all mpc, mp|PLS| and mpp files. I decided to do this without waiting for updated plugins from the MJ plug-ins page because I will be without the internet for a while after Monday. I read the forums for the different codec developements and the 1.1 version on the MPC plug-ins are the recommended ones by the developer Frank Klemm. So if there are any out there interested you may want to do the same or wait until the plug-in page is updated which could be anytime. You can however, go to hydrogen audio and get the files yourself and plug away.

[Trelane]

MJ encoder plugin will be updated later today.

As for the decoder plugin, it is strongly recommended you stick with the version available on the plugins page. Using the Winamp plugin hinders all tagging and special features. There have been no significant decoder changes since mppdec 1.04. The current MJ plugin is based off mppdec 1.06, which seems to be identical to mppdec 1.1. You have nothing to worry about in the decoder department

[Trelane]

Encoder plugin updated.

[Xstatic]

you are the best Trelane - thanks!!

[sdcoochie]

Your the man. But I have to say that I have already run into some 1.1 encoded files that will not play with the old input plugin and the Hydrogen audio forum says you will need the new plugin. Perhaps I am doing something wrong. I do know you are right about the new winamp plugin it does seem to be causing MJ a little trouble. Thanks Again and perhaps you can get some more info on this because you are a lot more in the know on this than I.

[Trelane]

Can you be more specific about which MPC files won't play? What steps are you using to encode them, etc.? I quickly tested by encoding with the standard and xtreme profiles and everything seemed to be in order.

Thanks

[nivw]

Just a newbie question:
I am still trying to decide which format I should encode my cd collection. I understud that the tracks I like the most should go in to APE and all the others to OGG.
I like the "analyze replay gain" plugin a lot, as I like to leave my pc playing long PL all day.

1. Does MPC support the gain feature? Does OGG support it?
2. What other advantages does MPC have that I should consider?

Niv

[Trelane]

MPC supports a very advanced (probably one of the best) Replay Gain systems available. So MPC has this covered very well. The MPC encoder is very fast (7x on my machine). Faster than any other lossy encoder currently available. The decoder (and plugins) are also very fast. I normally achieve speeds of about 150x with the command-line decoder on my P3-900 MHz.

The most important reason to use MPC is its transparency. It is hands down the best sounding format currently available. Normal bitrates range from 160 kbps to 200 kbps (pure VBR engine). MPC's biggest (and probably only) drawback is its lack of portable hardware support. This may or may not be important to some people. If it is, MPC transcodes very well to MP3.

Pros:
- Fast
- Most transparent lossy encoder at bitrates above 160 kbps
- Great Replay Gain and clipping prevention modes
- Decoder is open source
- Transcodes extremely well

Cons:
- No native portable support (yet)
- Encoder is closed source

In short, if you want the highest quality you can get without going lossless, MPC is the format for you. If you want the most open format, use Vorbis (in my experience with it, it definately beats MP3 for quality). If you prefer tried and true formats, use MP3.

You can read more about MP3, Vorbis, and MPC at http://www.hydrogenaudio.org

Mike

[nivw]

Thank you very much Mike
:-)

[sdcoochie]

I have an album Auberge by Chris Rea that I downloaded and it will not play with the current input plug-in but when I use the new one it works fine. I don't know how it was encoded.I don't know how I can check this album when I import it and try and play them with the original plugin the time stamp is wrong there is no bit rate showing and it tries to play with no output. Also with the new encoder plug-in can it use the --quality settings ie --quality 5 (standard)? I have gaone back to your plug-in but this album will not play.

[Trelane]

Likely cause: ID3v2 tags. The Winamp plugin will skips these tags, but mine will not. I have taken a strong stance against the use of ID3v2 tags in MPC since they do not belong there. As such, there is absolutely no ID3v2 support whatsoever. You can use Case's Tag program to remove these tags.

See http://www.ca5e.tk for more information on the Tag program.

[Trelane]

About the encoder plugin (namely the quality switch): you can use the quality switch by entering it into the advanced encoder properties (Settings -> Options -> Encoding, click Advanced). Simply enter "--quality x" and click okay. The new quality entry should be listed as "Tweaked."

I chose to leave the profiles as the predominant way of selecting quality as they're more user friendly in my opinion, and the recommended method by most MPC users. Besides, the quality levels are directly related to the profiles (i.e., quality 5 is standard, quality 6 is xtreme, etc.).

Hope this helps.

[joe|PLS|mama]

Re: MPC & Replay Gain

I'm still having trouble getting MJ to analyze MPCs without crashing.  I have no problems running it on large lists of MP3, OGG, or APE (60 to 100 files), but it almost always crashes after about 8 or 10 MPCs.

Also, would there be any problems playing back files in MJ that had been Replay Gained in another program, such as MPC Batch Encoder, or does MJs Replay Gain feature only work with files that have been analyzed in MJ?

[Trelane]

I just analyzed a batch of 50 files with MJ's RG tool and everything went smoothly. This is the first time I've heard of this happening, so I'm not sure where the bug is.

Using the system you just mentioned (analyzing with an official MPC Replay Gain tool) is the recommended way of applying RG to MPC files. It can compensate for decoder clipping, which MJ's RG currently cannot do with MPC files. You can find a multitude of RG options in the plugin's configuration settings.

This might not be feasible for those with libraries made of multiple formats (my library is pure MPC).

[joe|PLS|mama]

There have been a couple of threads on the crashing problem over the last several weeks, but they haven't gotten much of a response.

"This might not be feasible for those with libraries made of multiple formats (my library is pure MPC)."

So, I guess that was the question I was trying to ask in my previous post.  If I have a playlist that consists of MPCs, OGGs & MP3s, will the MPCs that were Replay Gained with MPC Batch Encoder sound consistent with the OGGs and MP3s that were analyzed with MJ?

[Trelane]

Yes, they should sound about the same volume.

Could you please point me to some of these crashing threads? I've not read any over the past few weeks. If there's a problem on my end, I'd like to get it fixed.

[sdcoochie]

Thanks Trelane you made the call about the tagging I removed the id3v2 tag with Case's tag program and I'm good as gold. This is why this program is the best there is because of the great support on this forum. I just hope when I'm back on line in a year from now that everything will still be golden here. Thanks again.

[joe|PLS|mama]

other Replay Gain threads

http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/interact/NeoBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=inter&Post=12064&BoardIdle=7&SortingBy=0&BoardOrder=Descend&Page=0&UserSession=

http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/interact/NeoBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=inter&Post=11932&BoardIdle=7&SortingBy=0&BoardOrder=Descend&Page=0&UserSession=

[Trelane]

This problem seems to be out of my hands, as it doesn't seem to be limited to just MPC. But I'll look into it on my end of things.