Options - jfchapman/VUPlayer GitHub Wiki
Options
The Options dialog allows various aspects of the VUPlayer application to be customised.
General
Output
Allows the output mode and device to be changed. The available modes are:
Shared Mode
This is the standard output mode, and uses the selected device's default sample format. No advanced configuration is available.
Exclusive Mode
This output mode takes exclusive control of the selected device, and prevents all other application sounds from being heard. The following advanced options are supported:
The output device buffer length can be adjusted between 0 and 500 milliseconds. Using values that are too low or too high can lead to choppy audio playback. The default value is 100 milliseconds.
The lead-in length when starting playback can be used to generate a length of silence, before the actual audio data is pushed through. Some devices have a lag when starting playback or switching sample formats, so using a lead-in can avoid the start of the track being clipped off. Lead-in lengths between 0 and 2000 milliseconds can be used, with the default value being 0 milliseconds.
Tracks can either all be played using the output device's default sample rate, or using the original sample rate of each track. Note that if the resampling option is enabled, the original sample rate will instead be taken to be the chosen resampling format. When using the original sample rate, if the sample rate is not supported by the output device, the device's default sample rate will be used.
ASIO
This output mode is available if any ASIO drivers are detected on the system. The following advanced options are supported:
Tracks can either all be played using the specified default output sample rate, or using the original sample rate of each track. Note that if the resampling option is enabled, the original sample rate will instead be taken to be the chosen resampling format. When using the original sample rate, if the sample rate is not supported by the output device, the specified default output sample rate will be used.
The lead-in length when starting playback can be used to generate a length of silence, before the actual audio data is pushed through. Some devices have a lag when starting playback or switching sample formats, so using a lead-in can avoid the start of the track being clipped off. Lead-in lengths between 0 and 2000 milliseconds can be used, with the default value being 0 milliseconds.
Please consult your ASIO driver documentation for all other configuration options, such as buffer length. This application was tested using the ASIO4ALL driver.
Miscellaneous
On application startup, this option allows playback to be resumed (or paused) from the last saved position.
During playback, the format of the text displayed in the application title bar can be chosen from the available options.
When duplicate tracks are hidden for tag-based playlists (Artists, Albums, Publishers, Composers, Conductors, Genres & Years), only a single playlist entry will be shown if there are multiple identical copies of a file in different locations.
When the option to retain the 'Stop at Track End' setting is enabled, the setting will not be reset when playback stops, and the current setting will be retained when the application restarts.
When the option to retain pitch and balance levels is enabled, the current levels will be retained when the application restarts.
Online Services
When MusicBrainz support for CD audio discs & cue sheets is enabled, metadata (including artwork, when available) will be retrieved from the MusicBrainz service when a new CD audio disc is loaded, or when a (suitable) cue sheet is imported.
When Audioscrobbler support is enabled, information about the tracks that have been played ('scrobbles') will be sent to Last.fm. Note that this service requires a Last.fm account, and requires the VUPlayer application to be authorised to access the user's account (by clicking on the 'Authorise' link).
Tagging
When the option to update file tags is enabled, any changes to a file's metadata are written to file (if the file format supports it). If this option is enabled, there is also a secondary option to preserve the last modified file time when updating tags.
Taskbar
Notification Area
When enabled, the Windows notification area icon (aka system tray) supports basic control of the application via a context menu, and by single, double, triple, or quadruple-clicking on the icon.
When the minimise to notification area option is selected, the application will minimise to the notification area instead of the Windows taskbar.
Taskbar Button (requires Windows 10 or later)
Allows a progress bar to be displayed, and the toolbar button colour in the thumbnail preview window to be changed.
Hot Keys
Allows hot keys to be defined for various control functions. When enabled, these hot keys are system-wide, and do not require the VUPlayer application to have the current input focus. The function keys (F1 - F24, excluding F12) are available to be assigned without modifiers. All other keys require a modifier (any combination of Ctrl, Alt & Shift).
Mixing
Decoding
The sample rate to use for Direct Stream Digital (DSD) files can be selected from the available options. RAW output or DSD over PCM (DoP) is not supported.
MOD music files originate on the Amiga computer, and contain a mix of sequencer and sample data. These files (and their derivatives) contain multiple channels, and the sample rate and preferred decoder for these types of files can be selected from the available options. Clicking on the Decoder settings button can be used to further configure mixing options specific to each decoder.
MIDI SoundFont
MIDI files require sample data in the form of a SoundFont file, the location of which can be specified by clicking on the Browse button.
Loudness Normalisation
Loudness normalisation is essentially a method of achieving consistent volume levels across different tracks, i.e. the volume level of loud tracks is reduced whereas the volume level of quiet tracks is boosted. Due to the way audio files are usually mastered, enabling normalisation will tend to reduce overall volume levels. To counteract this, the pre-amp option can be used to provide an additional boost (or further reduction) in volume levels, although at high levels this can negatively affect sound quality by clipping out loud peaks in the music. When the option to use album gain is enabled, volume levels will be normalised per album, if appropriate metadata is available (if metadata is not available, the volume level will be normalised per track).
Loudness data is stored in the application database and can also be embedded in certain audio file formats (e.g. FLAC). If normalisation is enabled, and there is no loudness data available for a track, a rough estimate will be calculated when the track is played. Loudness data can be calculated for any selected tracks via the main application menu or the playlist context menu.
Please be aware that enabling normalisation only manipulates volume levels on playback, and does not permanently affect stored audio data in any way. Some example pre-amp values along with their loudness equivalents are as follows:
- +4 dB - target loudness used by some music streaming services (-14 LUFS)
- +0 dB - reference loudness (-18 LUFS)
- -5 dB - EBU R 128 (-23 LUFS)
Resampling
When enabled, all output will be resampled to the chosen sample format. This is primarily useful to allow crossfading between tracks with different sample formats. Note that this option only applies to playback, and does not affect converting or extracting tracks. Changing this option will stop any playback.
Artwork
Allows a custom placeholder image to be chosen, which will be displayed as the artwork visual (and in the Track Information dialog), for tracks which do not have any associated artwork. Clicking on the Browse button will launch a file browser, allowing an image file to be selected. If a custom image is not chosen, a default predefined image will be shown.