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<li><a href="#be0a8459">What platforms does LameXP run on?</a>
<li><a href="#29065b86">What output formats (encoders) does LameXP support?</a>
<li><a href="#4e398a46">What input formats (decoders) does LameXP support?</a>
-<li><a href="#96205e91">My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download/install/launch LameXP. Why is that?</a>
+<li><a href="#96205e91">My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download, install or launch LameXP. Why is that?</a>
<li><a href="#fd53d98a">Who created LameXP?</a>
<li><a href="#de1c5e44">What license is LameXP released under?</a>
<li><a href="#303e5fa7">Do I have to pay for LameXP? / How can I donate to the authors of LameXP?</a>
-<li><a href="#054010d9">MP3, AAC or Vorbis - What is the best compressed audio format?</a>
+<li><a href="#e75ad4ac">Why is the thing called "LameXP" although it does so much more?</a>
+<li><a href="#f8161df3">Why are the LameXP binaries not digitally signed (seemingly)?</a>
+<li><a href="#054010d9">MP3, AAC/MP4, Vorbis, FLAC or Opus - What is the best audio format?</a>
<li><a href="#411d1257">What is the difference between the CBR, VBR and ABR rate control modes?</a>
<li><a href="#71a113b0">How do I enable AAC/MP4/M4A output (encoding) in LameXP?</a>
<li><a href="#126abc5a">Is there a way to output ".m4a" or ".aac" files with LameXP?</a>
<li><a href="#df406578">The LameXP startup (splash screen) takes very long on my system. What can I do?</a>
<li><a href="#a923d407">Why is there a time limit (expiration) in my version of LameXP?</a>
<li><a href="#900a2a6c">Is there a way to hide/show the LameXP console ("DOS Box") window?</a>
+<li><a href="#c8870a0a">How can I change the font size in the LameXP window?</a>
<li><a href="#9b0a5c32">Why does application 'xyz' not open the Wave files created by LameXP?</a>
<li><a href="#89cbd3d0">Why does LameXP run (only) N instances/threads in parallel on my computer?</a>
<li><a href="#454e51dd">Why does LameXP try to connect to the web-server at 'xyz.com' secretly?</a>
<li><a href="#12d077d5">How can I force LameXP to create ID3 version 2 (ID3v2) tags?</a>
-<li><a href="#d83ab3c6">Why does LameXP use LAME v3.99 rather than v3.98?</a><br>
+<li><a href="#f6ca0225">What does the LAME algorithm quality option do exactly?</a>
<li><a href="#4213adbc">Can LameXP be used to convert/extract tracks from an Audio CD?</a>
<li><a href="#434f2578">Why is the maximum normalization level limited to -0.5 dB?</a>
<li><a href="#9f8ff13a">What do the different 'Equalization' modes do?</a>
<li><a href="#9c2e273d">Where can I submit bug reports or feature requests?</a>
<li><a href="#e5694e3e">What programming language is LameXP written in?</a><br>
<li><a href="#982cf1c0">Where can I find the LameXP source code?</a>
-<li><a href="#a0c1e92b">What are the prerequisites to build LameXP from the sources?</a></ul>
+<li><a href="#a0c1e92b">What are the prerequisites to build LameXP from the sources?</a>
+<li><a href="#87f001c0">How do I compile latest Qt as 'static' libraries?</a></ul>
<br><br>
<a name="be0a8459"></a><b>What platforms does LameXP run on?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP is currently being developed on the following platforms:<br><ul>
-<li>Microsoft Windows 7 (32-Bit and 64-Bit editions) with <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/gg635126" target="_blank">Service Pack 1</a>
-<li>Microsoft Windows XP with <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb794714" target="_blank">Service Pack 3</a></ul>
+<li>Microsoft Windows 8.1, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
+<li>Microsoft Windows 7 with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5842" target="_blank">Service Pack 1</a>, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions</ul>
<br>
-The following platforms should work, but aren't tested extensively:<br><ul>
-<li>Microsoft Windows Vista (32-Bit and 64-Bit editions) with <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd262148" target="_blank">Service Pack 2</a>
-<li>Microsoft Windows XP x64 Edition with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17791" target="_blank">Service Pack 2</a>
-<li>Microsoft Windows 2000 with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=4127" target="_blank">Service Pack 4</a>
+The following platforms should work too, but aren't tested extensively:<br><ul>
+<li>Microsoft Windows XP<a href="#0f5e473a"><b>*</b></a> with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24" target="_blank">Service Pack 3</a>
+<li>Microsoft Windows Vista with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15278" target="_blank">Service Pack 2</a>, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
+<li>Microsoft Windows XP<a href="#0f5e473a"><b>*</b></a> x64 Edition with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17791" target="_blank">Service Pack 2</a>
<li>Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd262148" target="_blank">Service Pack 2</a>
<li>Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 with <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/gg635126" target="_blank">Service Pack 1</a>
-<li>GNU/Linux using <a href="http://www.winehq.org/" target="_blank">Wine</a> v1.2.2+ (native Linux version planned)</ul>
+<li>GNU/Linux (e.g. Ubuntu 12.04) using <a href="http://www.winehq.org/" target="_blank">Wine</a> v1.4+, native Linux version planned</ul>
<br>
The following "legacy" platforms are NOT supported any longer:<br><ul>
+<li>Microsoft Windows 2000
<li>Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
-<li>Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (*)
-<li>Microsoft Windows 98 (*)
+<li>Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
+<li>Microsoft Windows 98
<li>Microsoft Windows 95</ul>
<br>
-(*) Some people claim that LameXP can run on Windows 98 SE or Millennium Edition with the help of <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/kernelex/" target="_blank">KernelEx</a>.<br><br>
+<a name="0f5e473a"></a><b>[*] Note:</b> Windows XP has reached "end of life" on April 8th, 2014. This means that *no* updates or bugfixes<br>
+for Windows XP will be available beyond that date. Thus, any security vulnerabilities discovered *after* this<br>
+deadline will remain open, forever! Consequently, using Windows XP has become a security nightmare. And the<br>
+situation is only going to get worse! While LameXP will continue to support Windows XP (needs Service Pack 3)<br>
+for the foreseeable future, we *highly* recommend everybody to update to a less antiquated system now.<br>
+Windows XP support will be discontinued in a future version, when most users have migrated to a newer system.<br><br>
<br><br>
<li>Ogg Vorbis, using the <a href="http://www.xiph.org/vorbis/" target="_blank">OggEnc2/libvorbis</a> encoder with <a href="http://www.geocities.jp/aoyoume/aotuv/" target="_blank">aoTuV</a> [built-in]
<li>Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), using <a href="http://www.audiocoding.com/nero_aacenc.html" target="_blank">Nero AAC</a> encoder [separate download!]
<li>ATSC A/52 (aka "AC-3"), using the <a href="http://aften.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">Aften</a> encoder [built-in]
+<li>DCA, using the <a href="https://gitorious.org/dtsenc" target="_blank">DCA Enc</a> encoder (still experimental) [built-in]
<li>Free Lossless Audio Codec (<a href="http://flac.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">FLAC</a>) [built-in]
+<li>Opus Audio Codec, using the <a href="http://www.opus-codec.org/" target="_blank">Opus-Tools</a> by Xiph.org/Mozilla [built-in]
<li>Uncompressed PCM / Waveform Audio File (WAV/RIFF)</ul>
<br><br>
<li>MPEG Audio-Layer II (MP2), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
<li>MPEG Audio-Layer III (MP3), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
<li>Musepack
+<li>Opus Audio Codec
<li>Shorten
<li>Speex
<li>Sun/NeXT Au
<br><br>
-<a name="96205e91"></a><b>My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download/install/launch LameXP. Why is that?</b><br>
+<a name="96205e91"></a><b>My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download, install or launch LameXP. Why is that?</b><br>
<br>
-Occasionally your anti-virus program may mistakenly(!) detect "malware" (e.g. virus, trojan horse or worm) in<br>
-LameXP. This is called a "false positive" and the file is actually innocent/clean. It's an error in your<br>
+Occasionally your anti-virus program may mistakenly(!) detect malware ("virus", "trojan horse", "worm", etc.)<br>
+in LameXP. This is called a "false positive" and the file is actually innocent/clean. It's an error in your<br>
specific anti-virus software. So in case you encounter such problems, please use <a href="http://www.virustotal.com/" target="_blank">http://www.virustotal.com/</a>,<br>
<a href="http://www.virscan.org/" target="_blank">http://www.virscan.org/</a> or a similar online-service to check the file in question with multiple(!) anti-virus<br>
-engines. Especially take care with scan results like "suspicious", "generic" or "packed", as such results are<br>
-NOT confirmed malware detections and in almost any case they can be ignored/discarded safely!<br>
+engines. Especially take care with heuristic scan results like "suspicious", "generic" or "packed". Such<br>
+results are NOT confirmed malware detections - they are speculative and almost always can be ignored safely!<br>
<br>
Apparently anti-virus programs tend to suspect installers or uninstallers created with <a href="http://nsis.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">NSIS</a>. Furthermore some<br>
-anti-virus programs blindly suspect all "packed" executables of being malware. Obviously that is a stupid<br>
-generalization, so please ignore these nasty warnings! Last but not least: Always keep in mind that LameXP is<br>
-OpenSource software. If you don't trust the provided pre-compiled binaries, simply download the <a href="#982cf1c0">source codes</a>,<br>
-search the code for "malicious" functions (you won't find any!) and then <a href="#a0c1e92b">compile</a> your own binary.<br>
+anti-virus programs blindly suspect ALL "packed" executables of being malware. Obviously that is a stupid<br>
+generalization, because "EXE packers" are commonly used by legitimate software (inlcuding a large number of<br>
+OpenSource tools), so please ignore these nasty warnings! Last but not least: Always keep in mind that LameXP<br>
+is free software. If you don't trust the pre-compiled LameXP binaries that we provide, simply download the<br>
+<a href="#982cf1c0">source codes</a>, search the code for "malicious" functions (you won't find any ^^) and <a href="#a0c1e92b">compile</a> LameXP yourself!<br>
+<br>
+Another important fact to consider is that for the creator of LameXP, it is impossible to know WHY a specific<br>
+anti-virus program is failing on our software. That's because anti-virus programs usually are proprietary<br>
+ClosedSource applications, so we cannot know what's going on "behind the scenes". Consequently any attempt to<br>
+guess what "aspect" of LameXP the anti-virus software is misinterpreting as malware would be pure speculation<br>
+and might even change with the next anti-virus update. Only the developer of the anti-virus program can fix<br>
+bugs inside the anti-virus program. So please report these bugs to the developer of your anti-virus program!<br>
+<br>
+Finally, be aware that we are NOT liable for any files (downloads), except for those that are directly linked<br>
+on the official LameXP web-site or on one of the <a href="#8dba381f">official mirros</a>. Other web-sites may be redistributing our<br>
+software, but we are NOT affiliated with or funded by any of these web-sites. So while the license of LameXP<br>
+allows redistribution, there is absolutely NO guarantee that binaries offered by third parties are genuine!<br>
<br>
Conclusion:<ul>
<li>IN CASE YOU HAVE A CONFIRMED INFECTION, RE-DOWNLOAD THE FILE FROM ONE OF THE *OFFICIAL* MIRRORS!
<li>DO NOT SEND US VIRUS REPORTS, UNLESS YOU HAVE VERIFIED THE INFECTION WITH MULTIPLE ANTI-VIRUS ENGINES!
-<li>PLEASE REPORT "FALSE POSITIVES" TO THE DEVELOPER OF YOUR ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE. WE CANNOT FIX THEM!</ul>
+<li>PLEASE REPORT "FALSE POSITIVES" TO THE DEVELOPER OF YOUR ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE. WE CANNOT FIX THEM!
+<li>THERE ARE PLENTY OF ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAMS TO CHOOSE FROM. YOU DON'T NEED TO STICK WITH A NEUROTIC ONE!</ul>
<br><br>
people have contributed LameXP translations. Please see the "About" dialog for details! Also please do NOT<br>
send e-mail to LoRd_MuldeR directly, if the problem or suggestion can be discussed in the <a href="#9c2e273d">support</a> forums!<br>
<br>
-More OpenSource projects by LoRd_MuldeR available at <a href="http://mulder.at.gg/" target="_blank">http://mulder.at.gg/</a> or <a href="http://mulder.googlecode.com/" target="_blank">http://mulder.googlecode.com/</a>.<br><br>
+More OpenSource projects by LoRd_MuldeR at <a href="http://muldersoft.com/" target="_blank">http://muldersoft.com/</a> and <a href="http://mulder.googlecode.com/" target="_blank">http://mulder.googlecode.com/</a>.<br><br>
<br><br>
<a name="de1c5e44"></a><b>What license is LameXP released under?</b><br>
<br>
-LameXP is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public<br>
-License (GPL) as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your<br>
-option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY<br>
-WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.<br>
+LameXP is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of an extended variant of<br>
+the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License,<br>
+or (at your option) any later version, but always including the *additional* restrictions defined in the<br>
+"License.txt" file. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;<br>
+without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.<br>
<br>
The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take away your freedom to share and<br>
change the works. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share<br>
-and change all versions of a program - to make sure it remains free software for all its users.<br>
+and change all versions of a program - to make sure it remains free software for all its users. LameXP<br>
+adds some additional restrictions to the license in order to keep your computer safe from unwanted software.<br>
<br>
Please see the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html" target="_blank">GNU General Public License</a> for more details!<br><br>
<br><br>
-<a name="054010d9"></a><b>MP3, AAC or Vorbis - What is the best compressed audio format?</b><br>
+<a name="e75ad4ac"></a><b>Why is the thing called "LameXP" although it does so much more?</b><br>
+<br>
+LameXP was created as a (very simple!) GUI front-end to the LAME MP3 encoder, back in 2004. That version did<br>
+NOT support any encoders except for LAME, it did NOT support any input formats other than Wave Audio files,<br>
+it did NOT support any audio filters, it did NOT support multi-threading, it did NOT support Unicode file<br>
+names and it did NOT handle meta data at all. Because the program really was nothing but (yet another) LAME<br>
+front-end for Windows and because at that time Windows XP was the operating system of choice - for many<br>
+people it still is nowadays - I decided to call the program "LameXP" (aka "LAME for Windows XP"). Since then<br>
+more and more features have been added to LameXP. The program even went through two complete re-writes. Thus<br>
+the name "LameXP" may not be the most meaningful one, especially because the program supports a huge number<br>
+of encoders and decoders now, but I'm obviosuly lacking the creativity to come up with a better name. Also I<br>
+think we already have enough doubious "super-duper everything to everything converter" programs out there...<br>
+<br>
+So to make a long story short: The name has historical reasons and probably isn't going to change ;-)<br><br>
+
+<br><br>
+
+<a name="f8161df3"></a><b>Why are the LameXP binaries not digitally signed (seemingly)?</b><br>
+<br>
+The official LameXP binaries *are* signed digitally, using GPG/GnuPG. They just are NOT signed in a way that<br>
+Microsoft Windows recognizes. For this reason, Microsoft Windows may show a fat warning that the program is<br>
+from an "unknown publisher", when trying to install or update LameXP. But you can ignore this warning safely!<br>
+<br>
+So why LameXP binaries are not digitally signed in the way Microsoft Windows recognizes? This is because<br>
+Microsoft Windows uses a *hierarchical* trust model: Windows trusts into a number of Certificate Authorities<br>
+(CA's). These CA's issue certificates to, e.g., software developers. Finally, the software developer can use<br>
+his certificate to create digital signatures. Windows will then verify the software signatures by using the<br>
+corresponding certificate. The certificate, in turn, will be verified by checking the CA's digital signature.<br>
+<br>
+Unfortunately, this process is fundamentally flawed, because it totally depends on the CA's trustworthiness!<br>
+But, as everybody should know by now, CA's can *not* be trusted at all! That is because intelligence services<br>
+and other governmental organisations can force CA's to issue "bogus" certificates! Windows would then accept<br>
+these "bogus" certificates and all software signed by it. In other words: The software will appear to have a<br>
+valid signature create by the legitimate owner of the certificate - despite it was signed by sombody else!<br>
+<br>
+So what can we do? We can use GPG/GnuPG, which is *not* flawed in this way! GPG/GnuPG uses a so-called "web<br>
+of trust". This means that you *only* trust into keys that you have either verified yourself or that someone,<br>
+whom you trust already, has verified. Most important, in GPG/GnuPG it's always YOU who decides whom you want<br>
+to trust or not. There is *no* centralized "authority" required or used. Consequently, intelligence services<br>
+and other governmental organisations will *not* be able to create "bogus" GPG/GnuPG keys, unless they can<br>
+break the cryptographic algorithms (DSA, RSA, etc. pp). But in the latter case, we would be doomed anyway ;-)<br>
+<br>
+LameXP only trusts into a signle public key, which is the public key of the LameXP developers. This key is<br>
+built into any LameXP binary. LameXP will use that key to verify the signatures of any updates (downloads)<br>
+prior to installing them on the computer. Thus, once you have a genuine copy of LameXP installed, you can be<br>
+sure that only genuine updates of LameXP will be downloaded/installed by the LameXP auto-update utility.<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+Addendum #1:<br>
+<br>
+Another important fact to understand is that digital signatures do *not* provide any information about the<br>
+security or dependability of a software. If a program contains a valid digital signature, it can be verified<br>
+that this program really originates from the person/organization who has signed the binary. But that's it!<br>
+There can be bugs and security vulnerabilities in a signed piece of software, just like in any unsigned piece<br>
+of software. There even is nothing that would prevent an attacker from digitally signing malware programs!<br>
+Though, the certificate (public key) of a malware author would hopefully(!) be revoked sooner or later.<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+Addendum #2:<br>
+<br>
+In theory it would be possibe to add a digital signature that Windows recognizes to LameXP, just to get rid<br>
+of the warning message. However, this would require a code signing certificate from one of the CA's that<br>
+Windows accepts. But CA's don't issue certificates for free! They sell at approx. 150€ per year. But, because<br>
+LameXP is a non-profit OpenSource project, the developers can NOT afford buying a code signing certificate.<br>
+<br>
+If anybody is willing to contribute a code signing certificate to the LameXP project, please contact us! ;-)<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+The finperprint of the LameXP GPG/GnuPG signing key:<br>
+<font class="code"><b>3265784425BF2B394F67CE07106A413D6CF3FA22</b></font><br>
+<br>
+The complete LameXP GPG/GnuPG public signing key:<br>
+<table class="code"><tr><td>-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----<br>
+Version: GnuPG v2.0.21 (MingW32)<br>
+<br>
+mQGiBEp0LDgRBACbZhtVHbb4tWlJCCxQ3eH9TQ3zUYrI2UHN94Yk8MJGEO1Fxigg<br>
+smUAeGRmHKpH24VCB/MaHef83fd3bu2yHSf8xgWe90hZR1pLLfmtxqN1SZu/YlJx<br>
+y4LOcxEwSc3P09cDL112fEFKs36d7OPYR6DXk75hWRwsnd0snJEnDHMVKwCgqCsn<br>
+9y5rxTeH32sNytkdMMijkD0D/RrNZiCr/uQcT695oLsYkemNQzbN+hd5bmkkXnRi<br>
+H27kHeeY1G1zLLFfTk7yKm7UZrTpMYxCXS80ORs9RF9rL8bnzzSiBAIHEz4uc5SD<br>
+oH7K3Y526SZ4m4GOLnlVTisd9FXpm0YHB/MXMRrNLZbSzveS3pOEmRny0yeI13cU<br>
+y8tqA/4xjW2DPlwB7lIUOcPyXa9pmAkLApCYF4CwUwKw4df6s+4txWkvuD0cJlli<br>
+nPK7B7SrMv5c2Eg2UQWpF0WN+s8IqX3eoJ1CI+oBVZVWZMhC+Vojz8K0tIkHWZh7<br>
+sy/gUk6XApTN8Ce/xbuMgDhfqxUXzkGzpvR9FJ0Y0R7kNgReUbQzTG9SZF9NdWxk<br>
+ZVIgKGh0dHA6Ly9tdWxkZXIuYXQuZ2cvKSA8bXVsZGVyMkBnbXguZGU+iGAEExEC<br>
+ACAFAkp0LDgCGwMGCwkIBwMCBBUCCAMEFgIDAQIeAQIXgAAKCRAQakE9bPP6IqKr<br>
+AJ4541p84C0jD/MdL1akNsUtAQOBrwCcDAumPHDCj7wfmmeY/KN+jOmrp8G5BA0E<br>
+SnQsOBAQAIy8TJYBYPxVtq8ENPs5qpLv+g3RRc/0TLaimaZGGdbsvANCswgNlxrK<br>
+spAb2IFC8Y85jl7PusdXhC89q1gP5cfb6WLzFggRZt6UEE3dJ+aBuKSu+k+y1n/v<br>
+R8oHpptIq3leonG5dXte5ZAYg+ID7DZz2QWgu4oWeDnUl945DLSCGj4vuT5sY/wi<br>
+zNv6PV2E0Bl+HIwkzlwHa9vYRPx84FL9eFM7llJdH5TYQZ+VkdqKIfAUWwXsDeqD<br>
+7YviIWLBbDxCtgfVB7sGYRZltMO9Nir7igO8SxOawkuBtLzU2ZbevBOSZmxami33<br>
+E2oAGWtcXGhKHMy7vPOQKfShcf2N0QMhNDSR54nxuu3/BW9diwYubJCkbkP/gv7g<br>
+GU/0eVWp19LeQN92zcmRN0JcJtu71T6Pcel9ZttEy/xyNyOrqhMP7vDd2sExwsYZ<br>
+VUqlOg7hA++TMCmNcxLQgWlb7tJxhNr4pBkJiX6Guu8/3fhQ0If99ZlpeCpmMJFN<br>
+kvhgFMWtCVPk5u1i/lwXsSoRcRXIfbRAcBqVEe5mgcyBBQZCoK2kQ8qt7Zol6/Lu<br>
+9GsY/ag4elArck1EtlK0fxpVUsEskTR2Yw7hY/upPGfI22Wzzfg6WlwaYysyONfF<br>
+ecoKS+ZaXVQ9BDAtRDKSD2yXkYDngJLDcbOTOPLxfDP/dKthqzkXAAMFD/0W/s64<br>
+tsIju1IGE8uQt1fIZECV8M8HJeVatNEVJyPDrS/WIO0vqedxhod6qpF1UwPBG1gw<br>
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+-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----</td></tr></table><br>
+
+<br><br>
+
+<a name="054010d9"></a><b>MP3, AAC/MP4, Vorbis, FLAC or Opus - What is the best audio format?</b><br>
<br>
This question can NOT be answered in general. The best audio format is the format that works best for you!<br>
<br>
-Having said that, there are a few things to consider. First of all: All output formats supported by LameXP,<br>
+Having said that, let's have a look at the output formats supported by LameXP: MPEG-1 Audio Layer III, better<br>
+known as "MP3", was released in 1993 and probably still is the most widely used and most widely supported<br>
+compressed audio format. So if compatibility is your concern, MP3 is a good choice. Also MP3 can retain very<br>
+good quality - at higher bitrates. However MP3 does not support multi-channel audio and it does not perform<br>
+well at lower bitrates. MP3 also is pretty restrictive with the sampling rates and bitrates that it supports.<br>
+<br>
+Advanced Audio Coding, often abbreviated as "AAC", was introduced as part of the MPEG-2 standard (1997) and<br>
+has been adopted by the MPEG-4 standard later (1999). AAC is often considered to be the "successor" of MP3.<br>
+Compared to MP3, AAC adds support for multi-channel audio, it support more sampling rates as well as more<br>
+flexible bitrates. Two variants of AAC are commonly used: Low-Complexity (LC) and High-Efficiency (HE). While<br>
+LC-AAC is intended for medium to high bitrates, LC-AAC works best at low bitrates. At low bitrates, HE-AAC<br>
+clearly outperforms MP3 - at higher bitrates the differences aren't that clear. AAC streams are usually, but<br>
+not necessarily, encapsulated in an MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) container. That's why AAC audio files almost always<br>
+have an ".mp4" file extension. Still the audio format is AAC - MP4 is only the container! Be aware that some<br>
+applications create audio-only MP4 files with a non-standard (wrong) ".m4a" file extension. AAC is widely<br>
+supported too nowadays (especially in "mobile" devices), though not all players fully support the HE variant.<br>
+<br>
+Vorbis, often called "Ogg Vorbis", is a free audio format, developed by the Xiph foundation and released in<br>
+2000. In contrast to MP3/AAC, Vorbis is 100% patent-free. Vorbis streams are usually, but not necessarily,<br>
+encapsulated in an Ogg container (developed by Xiph too) and thus Vorbis files almost always have an ".ogg"<br>
+file extension. Vorbis is known to outperform MP3 at the same bitrate, although the differences are less<br>
+apparent at high bitrates. Furthermore HE-AAC has been known to outperform Vorbis at lower bitrates, though<br>
+there now is a tuned Vorbis encoder ("aoTuV") which further improves the quality of Vorbis - especially at<br>
+the lower bitrates. Hardware support for Ogg Vorbis is worse than for MP3/AAC, but it's constantly improving.<br>
+<br>
+Free Lossless Audio Codec, better known as "FLAC", is a lossless audio format. This means that in contrast to<br>
+MP3, AAC and Vorbis, with the FLAC compression there is absolutely no loss in quality. This made FLAC famous<br>
+among "audiophile" people. However the lossless nature of FLAC comes at a big disadvantage: The compression<br>
+ratio of FLAC files isn't anywhere near the "lossy" audio formats. Or in other words: FLAC files are huge!<br>
+They are not as big as uncompressed Wave files, but usually the size cannot be reduced to less than 75%. Just<br>
+like Ogg Vorbis, hardware support for FLAC files is worse than for MP3/AAC, but it's constantly improving.<br>
+<br>
+Opus is a new audio format which, at this time (Aug 2012), is still under active development. It is being<br>
+developed by engineers from Xiph, Mozilla and Skype/Microsoft. Opus has been accepted as an upcoming Internet<br>
+standard by the IETF recently. The Opus format is designed to work for low-latency speech encoding (VoIP) as<br>
+well as for high-quality music encoding. Opus is sometimes referred to as the "successor" of both, Vorbis and<br>
+Speex (the latter is Xiph's current speech codec). Currently, Opus reaches the quality of 128 kbps MP3 at an<br>
+bitrate of 80 kbps. As the development is still in progress, significant improvements are to be expected.<br>
+<!--
+there are a few things to consider. First of all: All output formats supported by LameXP,<br>
except for FLAC and PCM/Wave, use a lossy(!) kind of compression. That applies to MP3 and AAC as well as<br>
Vorbis. Consequently with these formats a certain quality loss is unavoidable when re-encoding/converting, no<br>
matter what. This is called "generation loss". Nonetheless all three formats (MP3, AAC and Vorbis) are able<br>
is a priority, then MP3 is a good choice. However the MP3 format does NOT support multi-channel audio, which<br>
means that you will have to use AAC or Vorbis for multi-channel files. Last but not least, if you prefer a<br>
truly "open" and patent-free audio format, then Vorbis will be the format of your choice!<br>
+-->
+<br>
<br>
Another resource you might find interesting are Sebastian's Public Listening Tests:<br><ul>
<li><a href="http://listening-tests.hydrogenaudio.org/sebastian/mp3-128-1/results.htm" target="_blank">MP3 listening test @ 128 kbps, includes MP3 encoders (like LAME) only</a>
<br>
CBR means "constant bitrate" and, as the name implies, CBR mode allocates the bits at a constant rate. This<br>
means that each part of the audio will get the same amount of bits, regardless of its content. Obviously this<br>
-will waste bits in parts of the audio that are easy to compress. At the same time the quality of parts of the<br>
-audio that are hard to compress will be degraded. Consequently using CBR mode is NOT a very good idea, unless<br>
-you really have to for some reason. However CBR mode has the advantage that the final size of the compressed<br>
-file is perfectly predictable. The resulting file size is defined simply as "duration × fixed bitrate".<br>
+will waste bits in parts of the audio that are "easy" to compress. At the same time the quality of parts of<br>
+the audio that are "hard" to compress will be degraded. Consequently using CBR mode is NOT a very good idea,<br>
+unless you really have to enforce a 100% constant bitrate (this is almost NEVER the case). However CBR mode<br>
+has the advantage that the final size of the compressed file is perfectly predictable. The resulting file<br>
+size is defined simply as "duration × fixed_bitrate". Note: The file size *is* predictable with ABR mode too!<br>
<br>
VBR means "variable bitrate" and, in contrast to CBR mode, VBR mode allows the bitrate to vary/fluctuate.<br>
Thus the VBR mode enables the encoder to adapt the bitrate with respect to the content of the audio. Parts of<br>
-the audio that are easy to compress will get a lower bitrate in order to safe bits. Parts of the audio that<br>
-are hard to compress will get a higher bitrate in order to avoid quality degradation. Or in other words: VBR<br>
-mode "moves" the bits to the locations where they are actually needed. Therefore the VBR mode achieves a much<br>
-better compression efficiency than the CBR mode, i.e. with VBR mode you can get a better quality at the same<br>
-file size, or the same quality at a smaller file size (compared to CBR mode). One disadvantage of the VBR<br>
-mode is, however, that the final size of the compressed file can NOT be predicted. The resulting file size is<br>
-defined as "duration × average bitrate", but the average bitrate can NOT be known beforehand. That's<br>
-because the average bitrate for a specific VBR quality level can vary greatly, depending solely on the<br>
-complexity of the individual audio. Nonetheless VBR mode generally should be the preferred encoding mode.<br>
+the audio that are "easy" to compress will get a lower bitrate in order to avoid wasting bits there. At the<br>
+same time, parts of the audio that are "hard" to compress will get a higher bitrate in order to avoid quality<br>
+degradation. Or in other words: VBR mode "moves" the bits to the locations where they are actually needed!<br>
+Therefore the VBR mode achieves a much better compression efficiency than the CBR mode. This means with VBR<br>
+mode you can get a better quality at the same file size - or the same quality at a smaller file size. One<br>
+disadvantage of the VBR mode, however, is that the final size of the compressed file can NOT be predicted.<br>
+The resulting file size now is defined as "duration × average_bitrate", but the average bitrate is NOT<br>
+known beforehand. That's because the average bitrate for a specific VBR quality level can vary greatly,<br>
+depending solely on the complexity of the individual audio. With VBR mode the encoder uses as many bits as<br>
+required to achieve the desired level of quality. That clearly makes VBR the preferred encoding mode.<br>
<br>
ABR means "average bitrate". You can think of ABR mode as a compromise between the CBR and VBR mode. With ABR<br>
mode the bitrate is allowed to vary/fluctuate, similar to VBR mode. However the ABR mode doesn't work with a<br>
predefined/fixed quality level, as VBR mode does. Instead in ABR mode the encoder will continuously re-adjust<br>
the quality level in order to hit the target average(!) bitrate. You can also think of ABR mode as a mode<br>
that pre-allocates the bits in a CBR-like fashion and then redistributes the bits within a local neighborhood<br>
-as needed. Thus the ABR mode combines advantages of CBR mode (predictability) and VBR mode (good quality).<br>
-The final size of the encoded file is still defined as "duration × average bitrate", but with ABR mode the<br>
+as needed. Thus the ABR mode combines advantages of CBR mode (predictability) and VBR mode (higher quality).<br>
+The final size of the encoded file is still defined as "duration × average_bitrate", but with ABR mode the<br>
average bitrate *is* known beforehand. So if you need to hit a specific file size, ABR mode is the solution.<br>
+Using ABR mode is to be preferred over CBR mode. Nonetheless VBR mode usually provides the best experience.<br>
+<br>
<br>
Hint: The Nero AAC encoder supports a variant of the ABR mode, the so-called "2-Pass" mode. That mode scans<br>
through the entire file once (first pass) before the actual encoding is performed (second pass). This way the<br>
VBR/ABR modes would be very wrong! The differences will become significant when using a reasonable bitrate.<br>
Another mistake is starting with a low-quality source file and concluding that all modes perform equally bad.<br>
<br>
-Summary of rate control modes:<br><ul>
-<li>Need to hit a specific fixed file size and still want to retain decent quality? ⇒ ABR mode
-<li>Want to retain a certain level of quality and the file size doesn't matter that much? ⇒ VBR mode
-<li>Avoid CBR mode by all means, unless there are crude restrictions that force you to use it!</ul>
+<br>
+SUMMARY ON RATE CONTROL MODES:<br><ul>
+<li>Need to hit a specific fixed file size and still want to retain a decent quality? ⇒ ABR mode
+<li>Want to retain a certain level of quality and hitting an exact file size is not needed? ⇒ VBR mode
+<li>Avoid CBR mode by all means, unless there are "external" restrictions that force you to use it!</ul>
<br><br>
download. However the license doesn't allow redistribution! Therefore we can NOT ship the Nero encoder along<br>
with LameXP. Instead you will have to obtain the Nero encoder as a separate download from the official "Nero<br>
Digital" web-site. Currently you'll find the latest Nero AAC Encoder version at this location:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="http://www.nero.com/deu/downloads-nerodigital-nero-aac-codec.php" target="_blank">http://www.nero.com/deu/downloads-nerodigital-nero-aac-codec.php</a>
-<li><a href="http://ftp6.nero.com/tools/" target="_blank">http://ftp6.nero.com/tools/</a></ul>
+<li><a href="http://www.nero.com/eng/company/about-nero/nero-aac-codec.php" target="_blank">http://www.nero.com/eng/company/about-nero/nero-aac-codec.php</a>
+<li><a href="http://ftp6.nero.com/tools/NeroAACCodec-1.5.1.zip" target="_blank">http://ftp6.nero.com/tools/NeroAACCodec-1.5.1.zip</a></ul>
<br>
After you have downloaded the Nero AAC Encoder as a ZIP file, you must "install" the encoder binaries, so<br>
LameXP can use them. Simply unzip the files 'neroAacEnc.exe', 'neroAacDec.exe' as well as 'neroAacTag.exe' to<br>
be installed. Both, QuickTime and iTunes, can be <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" target="_blank">downloaded for free</a> from the official Apple web-site.<br>
<br>
In order to enable the QAAC Encoder support you will also need the 'QAAC Encoder Add-in' for LameXP:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/uayr4fbbohx9544/LameXP.qaac-addin.2012-03-06.zip" target="_blank">http://www.mediafire.com/file/uayr4fbbohx9544/LameXP.qaac-addin.2012-03-06.zip</a>
-<li><a href="http://mulder.brhack.net/public/add-in/LameXP.qaac-addin.2012-03-06.zip" target="_blank">http://mulder.brhack.net/public/add-in/LameXP.qaac-addin.2012-03-06.zip</a></ul>
+<li><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/38nv297501obvwv/LameXP.qaac-addin.2014-01-19.zip" target="_blank">http://www.mediafire.com/download/38nv297501obvwv/LameXP.qaac-addin.2014-01-19.zip</a>
+<li><a href="http://sf.net/projects/lamexp/files/Miscellaneous/Add-ins/qaac/LameXP.qaac-addin.2014-01-19.zip/download" target="_blank">http://sf.net/projects/lamexp/files/Miscellaneous/Add-ins/qaac/LameXP.qaac-addin.2014-01-19.zip</a>
+<li><a href="http://muldersoft.com/misc/lamexp/add-ins/LameXP.qaac-addin.2014-01-19.zip" target="_blank">http://muldersoft.com/misc/lamexp/add-ins/LameXP.qaac-addin.2014-01-19.zip</a></ul>
<br>
Please follow the install instructions that are included with the 'QAAC Encoder Add-in' download package!<br>
Note that you do NOT need to install this Add-in, if you only want to use the Nero AAC Encoder.<br>
FHG AAC Encoder<br>
<br>
Optionally LameXP also supports the FHG AAC Encoder now. Just like the Nero encoder, the FHG encoder can NOT<br>
-be redistributed along with LameXP. However the FHG AAC Encoder is included with Winamp v5.62, which is<br>
+be redistributed along with LameXP. However the FHG AAC Encoder is included with Winamp (v5.62+), which is<br>
available as a free download (you don't need to buy the "Pro" version!) from the official Winamp web-site at:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="http://www.winamp.com/media-player/" target="_blank">http://www.winamp.com/media-player/</a>
-<li><a href="http://download.nullsoft.com/winamp/client/winamp5623_full_emusic-7plus_all.exe" target="_blank">http://download.nullsoft.com/winamp/client/winamp5623_full_emusic-7plus_all.exe</a></ul>
+<li><a href="http://www.winamp.com/media-player/en" target="_blank">http://www.winamp.com/media-player/en</a>
+<li><a href="http://download.nullsoft.com/winamp/client/winamp5666_full_en-us.exe" target="_blank">http://download.nullsoft.com/winamp/client/winamp5666_full_en-us.exe</a>
+<li><a href="http://www.free-codecs.com/winamp_download.htm" target="_blank">http://www.free-codecs.com/winamp_download.htm</a></ul>
<br>
In order to enable the FHG AAC Encoder support you will also need the 'FHG AAC Encoder Add-in' for LameXP:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/on0m45l7z26fmch/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2011-08-22.zip" target="_blank">http://www.mediafire.com/file/on0m45l7z26fmch/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2011-08-22.zip</a>
-<li><a href="http://mulder.brhack.net/public/add-in/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2011-08-22.zip" target="_blank">http://mulder.brhack.net/public/add-in/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2011-08-22.zip</a></ul>
+<li><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ni7w4323pqub9x3/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2012-08-06.zip" target="_blank">http://www.mediafire.com/file/ni7w4323pqub9x3/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2012-08-06.zip</a>
+<li><a href="http://sf.net/projects/lamexp/files/Miscellaneous/Add-ins/fhgaac/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2012-08-06.zip/download" target="_blank">http://sf.net/projects/lamexp/files/Miscellaneous/Add-ins/fhgaac/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2012-08-06.zip</a>
+<li><a href="http://muldersoft.com/misc/lamexp/add-ins/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2012-08-06.zip" target="_blank">http://muldersoft.com/misc/lamexp/add-ins/LameXP.fhgaacenc-addin.2012-08-06.zip</a></ul>
<br>
Please follow the install instructions that are included with the 'FHG AAC Encoder Add-in' download package!<br>
Note that you do NOT need to install this Add-in, if you only want to use the Nero AAC Encoder.<br><br>
<a name="df406578"></a><b>The LameXP startup (splash screen) takes very long on my system. What can I do?</b><br>
<br>
-Starting up LameXP shouldn't take longer than approximately 10 seconds. However it was brought to our<br>
-attention that badly optimized anti-virus software can slow down the startup procedure a lot! On our test<br>
-system (Windows 7 running on an Intel Core2 Q6600 with 4 GB of RAM) starting up LameXP takes about 3 seconds<br>
-without an anti-virus software and about 6 seconds with the "real-time protection" of Microsoft Security<br>
-Essentials enabled. With other anti-virus software the startup was delayed up to 20 seconds and more!<br>
+During the startup procedure, LameXP has to extract some "helper" files to the TEMP directory. This can take<br>
+a few moments. However, this extraction process shouldn't take longer than approximately 10 seconds. On our<br>
+test system (Windows 7 running on an old Core2 Q6600 with 4 GB of RAM) starting up LameXP takes ~1.7 seconds.<br>
+<br>
+Unfortunately, it was brought to our attention that poorly optimized anti-virus software might slow down the<br>
+startup procedure a lot! As mentioned above, on our test system, the startup procedure takes 1.7 seconds. And<br>
+that is with the "real-time protection" of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) enabled! Without the real-time<br>
+scanner, the startup time reduces even further, to less than 0.2 seconds. At the same time, as users have<br>
+reported to us, some other anti-virus software can increase the startup delay by as much as 20.0 seconds !!!<br>
<br>
So if you think that LameXP is starting up too slow on your system, you should temporarily(!) disable or<br>
-uninstall your current anti-virus program and try again. Usually it should be sufficient to disable only the<br>
-"real-time protection", "file system protection" or "guard" feature of your anti-virus software. If it turns<br>
-out that the startup is significantly(!) faster WITHOUT the anti-virus software, please report the problem to<br>
-the developer of the anti-virus software. And, if they don't fix the problem, switch to a better product!<br><br>
+uninstall the "real-time scanner" or "guard" (or whatever it is called) of your current "anti-virus" software<br>
+and then try again. If it turns out that the startup of LameXP becomes significantly(!) faster as soon as the<br>
+anti-virus software does *not* interfere with the extraction process, then please report the problem to the<br>
+developer of the anti-virus software. And, if they don't fix the problem, switch to a better product ;-)<br>
+<br>
+In short: If LameXP takes very long for starting up, then most likely poor "anti-virus" software is to balme.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
+<a name="c8870a0a"></a><b>How can I change the font size in the LameXP window?</b><br>
+<br>
+Sometimes it may be required to adjust the font size, e.g. when working on a "high DPI" screen. The best way<br>
+to adjust the font size is tweaking the DPI settings of your system. On modern Windows operating systems,<br>
+this option can be found at the "Display" options at the Control Panel. Simply select, e.g., "Medium" (125%)<br>
+or "Larger" (150%) to increase the size of all GUI widgets, including larger fonts. LameXP is based on Qt and<br>
+therefore is fully "DPI aware". This means it will respect the system's DPI settings - without(!) blurring.<br>
+<br>
+In rare cases you may which to adjust the font-size only inside the LameXP window, but *not* effect any other<br>
+applications. For this particular purpose, LameXP offers the following command-line options:<br>
+<blockquote><table>
+<tr><td><font class="code">--tiny-font </font></td><td> </td><td>Enforces very small font size (75%)</td></tr>
+<tr><td><font class="code">--small-font</font></td><td> </td><td>Enforces smaller font size (87.5%)</td></tr>
+<tr><td><font class="code">--big-font </font></td><td> </td><td>Enforces larger font size (125%)</td></tr>
+<tr><td><font class="code">--huge-font </font></td><td> </td><td>Enforces very large font size (150%)</td></tr>
+</table></blockquote>
+
+<br><br>
+
<a name="9b0a5c32"></a><b>Why does application 'xyz' not open the Wave files created by LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
Some of the decoders used in LameXP will insert an additional 'JUNK' chunk into the Wave/RIFF file, right<br>
your Wave file with SoX does NOT change the actual content at all, as long as no additional filters are used.<br>
<br>
You can use a command-line like this:<br>
-<blockquote>sox.exe "c:\some path\input.wav" "c:\some path\output.wav"</blockquote>
+<blockquote><font class="code">sox.exe "c:\some path\input.wav" "c:\some path\output.wav"</font></blockquote>
<br><br>
parallel instances is eight. On systems with 32 cores, the maximum number of parallel instances is eleven.<br>
And on systems with 64 cores, the maximum number of parallel instances is 16. 16 is the upper limit.<br>
<br>
-<a href="http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/1428/corestoinstancesbig.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/1428/corestoinstancesbig.th.png" border="0" alt="thumb"></a><br>
+<a href="http://i.imgur.com/QbS47Wi.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/QbS47Wis.png" border="1px" alt="thumb"></a><br>
<br>
You may wonder why LameXP doesn't always create one instance for each CPU core. In theory, the more instances<br>
we run in parallel, the more CPU cores can be utilized - until all CPU cores are busy and the overall CPU<br>
<br><br>
-<a name="d83ab3c6"></a><b>Why does LameXP use LAME v3.99 rather than v3.98?</b><br>
+<a name="f6ca0225"></a><b>What does the LAME algorithm quality option do exactly?</b><br>
+<br>
+The sound quality of MP3 files is influenced primarily by the chosen bitrate (ABR/CBR mode) or by the chosen<br>
+VBR quality level. These options control the "file size -vs- quality" trade-off. That means, you can get a<br>
+better quality at the cost of a bigger file (increased bitrate); or you can get a smaller file at the cost of<br>
+reduced sound quality (decreased bitrate). The "algorithm quality" is yet another way to control the quality.<br>
<br>
-LAME v3.99 contains the latest improvements and bugfixes of the LAME mp3 encoder, but it's less tested than<br>
-the older 3.98 release series. The most important reason why LAME v3.99 is used in LameXP v4.xx is because<br>
-LameXP v4.xx focuses on proper Unicode support, but LAME v3.98 did NOT support Unicode filenames or Unicode<br>
-meta tags (through the CLI front-end, on the Windows platform). However LAME v3.99 finally does!<br>
+While the chosen bitrate (or VBR level) influences the resulting file size, the algorithm quality does not!<br>
+Instead, the algorithm quality controls the "encoding speed -vs- quality" trade-off. That means, you can get<br>
+a better sound quality at the cost of increased encoding time (higher algorithm quality); or you can get a<br>
+faster encoding speed at the cost of reduced sound quality (lower algorithm quality). Note that while the<br>
+algorithm quality does influence the encoding speed, it does NOT influence the decoding speed at all. Also<br>
+note, again, that the chosen algorithm quality does NOT influence the resulting file's bitrate at all.<br>
<br>
-So far we have not encountered any noteworthy problems with LAME v3.99. If, however, you encounter a problem<br>
-with LAME v3.99, please report your finding to the <a href="http://lame.sourceforge.net/contact.php" target="_blank">LAME development team</a>. Do NOT submit any LAME-specific bug<br>
-reports to the LameXP developers, as we generally cannot analyze/fix problems specific to the LAME encoder.<br>
+The LAME algorithm quality is an integral value between "0" (best/slowest) and "9" (worst/fastest), but NOT<br>
+all of the possible values currently have a distinct effect! More specifically, the following table applies:<br>
<br>
-[UPDATE] LAME v3.99 Final was release on 2011-10-15, so that is the official "stable" version now! [/UPDATE]<br><br>
+For CBR and ARB modes:<ul>
+<li>0: Use slowest & best possible version of all algorithms
+<li>3: Default value, good speed, good quality
+<li>7: Very fast, ok quality (psycho acoustics are used for pre-echo & M/S, but NO noise shaping)
+<li>9: Disables almost all algorithms including psy-model, poor quality</ul>
+For (new) VBR mode only:<ul>
+<li>0 to 4: Use the best algorithm (slower)
+<li>5 to 9: Use the not so good algorithm (faster)</ul>
+<br>
+The "algorithm quality" options available in LameXP will be mapped to "0", "3", "7" and "9", respecitly. Note<br>
+that option "0" (best quality) is only very slightly better than "3" (high quality), but significant slower!<br><br>
<br><br>
reconstructed analogue signal it is possible to have voltages that are higher than the highest digital sample<br>
in the audio track! This is illustrated in the following image (samples are represented as tiny squares):<br>
<br>
-<a target="_blank" href="http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9153/sine0dbfs.png"><img src="http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9153/sine0dbfs.th.png" border="0" alt="thumb"></a><br>
+<a target="_blank" href="http://i.imgur.com/5dmIUOZ.png"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/5dmIUOZs.png" border="1px" alt="thumb"></a><br>
<br>
Consequently normalizing the sample values to 0dBFS is NOT a very good idea, as this may very well result in<br>
a reconstructed analogue signal which exceeds(!) 0dBFS. And, as the analogue parts of the playback equipment<br>
<br><br>
-<a name="328b0a18"></a><b>Why do I get the error 'Executable requires Windows 2000 or later' on startup?</b><br>
+<a name="328b0a18"></a><b>Why do I get the error 'Executable requires Windows XP or later' on startup?</b><br>
<a name="3ffe490e"></a><b>Why do I get the error 'The procedure entry point <Something> could not be located' on startup?</b><br>
<a name="01922741"></a><b>Why do I get the error 'LameXP.exe is not a valid Win32 application' on startup?</b><br>
<br>
You are trying to run LameXP on a platform that is NOT supported, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows<br>
-Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0. There is nothing you can do about that, except for updating to a less<br>
-antiquated OS. Running an outdated and unsupported OS is a severe security risk anyway!<br>
+Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000. There is nothing you can do about that, except for<br>
+updating to a less antiquated OS. Running an outdated and unsupported OS is a severe security risk anyway!<br>
<br>
Note: This error can also occur, if your system has been configured to run LameXP in <a href="#e7c9ae2b">compatibility mode</a>.<br><br>
possible. Or, if they don't fix the bug (in due time), switch to a better anti-virus product!<br>
<br>
See also:<br>
-<a href="#96205e91">My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download/install/launch LameXP. Why is that?</a><br><br>
+<a href="#96205e91">My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download, install or launch LameXP. Why is that?</a><br><br>
<br><br>
<a name="f35cfa24"></a><b>How can I translate LameXP to my language or improve an existing translation?</b><br>
<br>
Please see the guide for translators at:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="http://mulder.brhack.net/public/doc/lamexp_translate.html" target="_blank">http://mulder.brhack.net/public/doc/lamexp_translate.html</a></ul>
+<li><a href="http://lamexp.sourceforge.net/doc/Translate.html" target="_blank">http://lamexp.sourceforge.net/doc/Translate.html</a></ul>
<br><br>
<a name="8dba381f"></a><b>Where can I download the latest version of LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
The latest "official" release of LameXP can be found on the following mirrors:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/downloads" target="_blank">https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/downloads</a>
+<li><a href="https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/releases/latest" target="_blank">https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/releases/latest</a>
<li><a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/lamexp/files/" target="_blank">http://sourceforge.net/projects/lamexp/files/</a>
-<li><a href="http://code.google.com/p/mulder/downloads/list" target="_blank">http://code.google.com/p/mulder/downloads/list</a></ul>
-
+<li><a href="http://developer.berlios.de/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13288" target="_blank">http://developer.berlios.de/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13288</a>
+<li><a href="https://lamexp.codeplex.com/releases/" target="_blank">https://lamexp.codeplex.com/releases/</a>
+<li><a href="https://bitbucket.org/lord_mulder/lamexp/downloads" target="_blank">https://bitbucket.org/lord_mulder/lamexp/downloads</a>
+<li><a href="https://www.assembla.com/spaces/lamexp/documents" target="_blank">https://www.assembla.com/spaces/lamexp/documents</a>
+<li><a href="http://www.free-codecs.com/lamexp_download.htm" target="_blank">http://www.free-codecs.com/lamexp_download.htm</a>
+<li><a href="http://www.videohelp.com/tools/LameXP" target="_blank">http://www.videohelp.com/tools/LameXP</a></ul>
<br><br>
<a name="9c2e273d"></a><b>Where can I submit bug reports or feature requests?</b><br>
<a name="982cf1c0"></a><b>Where can I find the LameXP source code?</b><br>
<br>
-LameXP is developed using the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)" target="_blank">Git</a> revision control system. The LameXP Git repository is mirrored at:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="git://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP.git" target="_blank">git://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP.git</a> (<a href="https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/commits/master" target="_blank">Log</a>)
-<li><a href="git://lamexp.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/lamexp/lamexp" target="_blank">git://lamexp.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/lamexp/lamexp</a> (<a href="http://lamexp.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=lamexp/lamexp;a=shortlog;h=HEAD" target="_blank">Log</a>)
-<li><a href="git://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp.git" target="_blank">git://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp.git</a> (<a href="http://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp/commits/master" target="_blank">Log</a>)</ul>
+LameXP is developed using the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)" target="_blank">Git</a> revision control system. You can access one of the public mirrors:<br><ul>
+<li><font class="code">git clone git://git.code.sf.net/p/lamexp/code lamexp-src</font> (<a href="http://sourceforge.net/p/lamexp/code/" target="_blank">Browse</a>)
+<li><font class="code">git clone git://git.berlios.de/lamexp lamexp-src</font> (<a href="http://git.berlios.de/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=lamexp" target="_blank">Browse</a>)
+<li><font class="code">git clone https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP.git lamexp-src</font> (<a href="https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP" target="_blank">Browse</a>)
+<li><font class="code">git clone https://git01.codeplex.com/lamexp lamexp-src</font> (<a href="https://lamexp.codeplex.com/SourceControl/latest" target="_blank">Browse</a>)
+<li><font class="code">git clone https://bitbucket.org/lord_mulder/lamexp.git lamexp-src</font> (<a href="https://bitbucket.org/lord_mulder/lamexp/src" target="_blank">Browse</a>)
+<li><font class="code">git clone git://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp.git lamexp-src</font> (<a href="http://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp/trees/master" target="_blank">Browse</a>)
+<li><font class="code">git clone git://git.assembla.com/lamexp.git lamexp-src</font> (<a href="https://www.assembla.com/code/lamexp/git/nodes" target="_blank">Browse</a>)</ul>
+<br>
+In case you are new to Git or want to extend your knowledge, have a look at the <a href="http://git-scm.com/book/en" target="_blank">Pro Git</a> book by Scott Chacon!<br>
+For Windows users, we highly recommend using <a href="http://msysgit.github.com/" target="_blank">MSYS Git</a> in conjunction with the superb <a href="http://tortoisegit.googlecode.com/" target="_blank">Tortoise Git</a> front-end.<br><br>
<br><br>
<a name="a0c1e92b"></a><b>What are the prerequisites to build LameXP from the sources?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP is currently being developed using the following build environment:<br><ul>
-<li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us" target="_blank">Visual Studio 2010</a> with Service Pack 1, running on Windows 7 with Service Pack 1
-<li>Desktop Qt v4.8.0 (MSVC 2010), included in <a href="http://qt.nokia.com/products/qt-sdk" target="_blank">Qt SDK v1.2</a>
-<li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=35AEDA01-421D-4BA5-B44B-543DC8C33A20" target="_blank">Windows Platform SDK v7.1</a> (Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4)
-<li>The minimum supported build platform is Windows XP with Service Pack 2</ul>
+<li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-2013-express" target="_blank">Visual Studio 2013</a>, running on Windows 7 with Service Pack 1
+<li><a href="http://qt-project.org/downloads#qt-lib" target="_blank">Qt libraries 4.8.5</a> for Windows
+<li>Windows Platform SDK v7.1A, included with Visual Studio 2013 or Visual Studio 2012 (Update-3)
+<li>The minimum supported *build* platform is Windows 7 (x86 and x64)</ul>
<br>
Also note the following hints:<br><ul>
-<li>Run "qtenv2.bat" before launching Visual Studio in order to set up the Qt environment
-<li>Visual Studio 2008 solution/project files are still provided for people targeting Windows 2000
-<li>In order to make a "fully static" build of LameXP, you need to compile Qt as 'static' libraries
+<li>Run <font class="code">qtvars.bat</font> (or <font class="code">qtenv2.bat</font>) before launching Visual Studio in order to set up the Qt environment
+<li>In order to make "fully static" builds of LameXP, you'll need <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/lamexp/files/Miscellaneous/Qt%20Libraries/" target="_blank">Qt as 'static' libraries</a> (see below!)
<li>The Windows Platform SDK v6.0A should work as well, but there may be a few limitations
-<li>Only the "fully static" builds may still run on Windows 2000, due to workarounds we implemented
-<li>Support for the GNU Toolchain (GCC/MinGW + Make) is planned for a future version</ul>
+<li>Support for the GNU Toolchain (GCC/MinGW + MSYS/Make) is planned for a future version of LameXP</ul>
<br>
In order to use the LameXP deployment scripts you need the following tools:<br><ul>
-<li>Visual Studio 2010 with Service Pack 1 with Desktop Qt v4.8.0
+<li>Visual Studio (Express) 2013 for Windows Desktop <b>+</b> Desktop Qt v4.8.x (VS 2010)
<li><a href="http://www.7-zip.org/" target="_blank">7-Zip</a> - file archiver with a high compression ratio
-<li><a href="http://www.scratchpaper.com/" target="_blank">NSIS</a> - Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (Unicode Version)<ul>
+<li><a href="http://nsis.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">NSIS</a> - Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (<a href="http://www.scratchpaper.com/" target="_blank">Unicode version</a> recommended!)<ul>
<li><a href="http://nsis.sourceforge.net/StdUtils_plug-in" target="_blank">StdUtils plug-in</a>
<li><a href="http://nsis.sourceforge.net/LockedList_plug-in" target="_blank">LockedList plug-in</a>
<li><a href="http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Inetc_plug-in" target="_blank">Inetc plug-in</a>
<li><a href="http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=329990" target="_blank">Aero plug-in</a></ul>
<li><a href="http://upx.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">UPX</a> - the Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
-<li><a href="http://www.matcode.com/mpress.htm" target="_blank">MPRESS</a> - high-performance executable packer for PE32/PE32+
-<li><a href="ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/binary/" target="_blank">GnuPG</a> - the GNU Privacy Guard v1.4.x<div style="height:7px"></div>
-<li>NOTE: Copy 'buildenv.template.txt' to 'buildenv.txt' and edit the paths as needed!</ul>
-<br>
-Instructions to build Qt as 'static' libraries:<br><ul>
-<li>Make sure Visual Studio 2010 and Strawberry Perl for Windows are installed
-<li>Install the Qt SDK v1.1 and choose to install the Qt 4.7.3 Sources
-<li>Open a new command window (cmd.exe)
-<li>Add Strawberry Perl to your PATH (e.g. 'set PATH=C:\strawberry\perl\bin;%PATH%')
-<li>Now run 'vcvarsall.bat' form your Visual C++ install directory - within the same console!
-<li>Change the current directory to the Qt Sources path (e.g. 'C:\QtSDK\QtSources\4.7.3')
-<li>Finally run 'configure.exe -release -static -ltcg <more options>' and wait for completion
-<li>You can now open and build the solution files (e.g. 'src\corelib\QtCore.sln' in Visual Studio
-<li>Make sure you select the "Release" configuration for your builds!
-<li>It is also required to change "Code Generation ⇒ Runtime Library" to "/MT" for all projects!
-<li>Libraries you need to build for LameXP include the following:<ul>
+<li style="margin-bottom:0.48em"><a href="ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/binary/" target="_blank">GnuPG</a> - the GNU Privacy Guard v1.4.x
+<li>NOTE: Copy <font class="code">buildenv.template.txt</font> to <font class="code">buildenv.txt</font> and edit the paths as needed!</ul>
+
+<br><br>
+
+<a name="87f001c0"></a><b>How do I compile latest Qt as 'static' libraries?</b><br>
+<br>
+In order to make "fully static" builds of LameXP, i.e. builds that don't depend pn any DLL's except for the<br>
+obligatory operating system DLL's, you'll need to compile Qt as 'static' libraries. The following simple<br>
+instructions should make it easy to build Qt from the sources and as "static" libraries:<br><ul>
+<li>Make sure Visual Studio 2013 or Visual Studio 2012 with Update-3 (or later) is installed
+<li>Make sure <a href="http://strawberryperl.com/" target="_blank">Strawberry</a> Perl for Windows and <a href="http://www.activestate.com/activepython/downloads" target="_blank">Python</a> 2.7 are installed
+<li><a href="http://qt-project.org/downloads" target="_blank">Download</a> and <a href="http://www.rarlabs.com/" target="_blank">extract</a> the Qt 4.8.x source code package (e.g. to <font class="code">C:\QtSources\4.8.x</font>)
+<li>Edit the file <font class="code">mkspecs\win32-msvc2010\qmake.conf</font> from your Qt Sources directory as follows:<ul>
+<li style="margin-bottom:0.33em">Old: <font class="diff_del">QMAKE_CFLAGS_RELEASE = -O2 -MD</font><br>New: <font class="diff_add">QMAKE_CFLAGS_RELEASE = -O2 -MT <more optimization flags here></font>
+<li>Old: <font class="diff_del">QMAKE_CFLAGS_RELEASE_WITH_DEBUGINFO += -O2 -MD -Zi</font><br>New: <font class="diff_add">QMAKE_CFLAGS_RELEASE_WITH_DEBUGINFO += -O2 -MT -Zi <more optimization flags here></font></ul>
+<li>Open a new command window (cmd.exe) - use this very same console for all upcoming steps!
+<li>Add Strawberry Perl to your PATH (e.g. <font class="code">set PATH=C:\strawberry\perl\bin;%PATH%</font>)
+<li>Add Python 2.7 to your PATH (e.g. <font class="code">set PATH=C:\python27;%PATH%</font>)
+<li>Run <font class="code">vcvarsall.bat x86</font> form your Visual C++ install directory - within the same console!
+<li>Change the current directory to the Qt Sources path (e.g. <font class="code">C:\QtSources\4.8.x</font>)
+<li>Run <font class="code">configure.exe -release -static -ltcg -qt-zlib -qt-libpng -qt-libjpeg -qt-libtiff -qt-libmng</font><ul>
+<li>Hint: For Visual Studio 2013 you currently need to add <font class="code">-platform win32-msvc2012</font> too</ul>
+<li>Now the makefiles should have been generated, so simply enter <font class="code">nmake /B</font> and be patient - voilà!
+<li>The build process is going to take good amount of time. Once done, make sure you got all needed libs
+<li>Libraries you'll need to build LameXP as a "static" binary include the following:<ul>
<li>lib\qtmain.lib
<li>lib\QtCore.lib
<li>lib\QtGui.lib
<li>lib\QtSvg.lib
<li>lib\QtXml.lib
-<li>plugins\imageformats\qgif.lib
<li>plugins\imageformats\qico.lib
-<li>plugins\imageformats\qsvg.lib</ul>
-<li>Put the static *.lib files into the 'LameXP\etc\Prerequisites\qt4_static\lib' directory
-<li>ImageFormat plugins go to 'LameXP\etc\Prerequisites\qt4_static\plugins\imageformats'</ul>
+<li>plugins\imageformats\qsvg.lib
+<li>plugins\imageformats\qtga.lib</ul>
+<li>Put all the static <font class="code">*.lib</font> files into the 'LameXP\etc\Prerequisites\qt4_static\lib' directory
+<li>ImageFormat plugins go to 'LameXP\etc\Prerequisites\qt4_static\plugins\imageformats'
+<li style="margin-bottom:0.48em">Congratulations, you should now be prepared to build the <font class="code">Release_Static</font> configuration of LameXP :-)
+<li>NOTE: Static libraries only work with the same compiler (version) they were built with!</ul>
<br><br>
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