XMPlay 3.4 - Copyright (c) 1998-2007 Ian Luck. All rights reserved.
Files that you should have found in the XMPlay "package"
========================================================
XMPLAY.TXT This file
XMPLAY.EXE The executable
XMP-CD.DLL CD Audio plugin
XMP-WMA.DLL WMA plugin
XMP-WADSP.DLL Winamp DSP plugin wrapper
FILE_ID.DIZ BBS description file
You can safely remove the XMP-CD.DLL, XMP-WMA.DLL and XMP-WADSP.DLL files
if you don't need CD/WMA playback or Winamp DSP plugin support.
What's the point?
=================
XMPlay is a Win32 (Windows 95/98/NT/2k/ME/XP/etc...) audio player, supporting
several formats. Initially, when XMPlay was first released in 1998, only the
XM format was supported, hence the name "XMPlay".
Stream formats
--------------
* OGG - Ogg Vorbis
* MP3 - MPEG1/2/2.5 layer 3
* MP2 - MPEG layer 2
* MP1 - MPEG layer 1
* WMA - Windows Media Audio
* WAV - any format that has a codec installed
* CDA - CD Audio
WMA playback requires the Windows Media Format modules to be installed. They
come installed with Windows Media player, so will already be on most users'
systems, but they can also be installed separately (WMFDIST.EXE is available
at the XMPlay website). If these modules are not installed, XMPlay will still
work fine, just without WMA support.
Module (MOD) formats
--------------------
* MO3 - Modules with MP3 or OGG encoded samples
* IT - Impulse Tracker modules
* XM - FastTracker 2 modules
* S3M - ScreamTracker 3 modules
* MTM - MultiTracker modules
* MOD - Generic module formats
* UMX - Unreal/Tournament music package
XMPlay's got the best (most accurate to FT2) XM reproduction to be heard
from any player. All features/effects (including several FT2 quirks) are
100% supported. The IT reproduction is also practically balls-on, with full
support for all effects/NNA/DCA/filters etc... additional features like
stereo samples and DMO effects are also fully supported.
XMPlay also supports the MO3 format (modules with MP3 or OGG compressed
samples). If you wish to create MO3s, then you should download the MO3
encoder from the XMPlay website (URL below).
Plugins
-------
As well as the listed formats with built-in support, a whole load more
formats can be played with XMPlay too, via plugins. XMPlay has its own
native "input" plugin system but can also use Winamp plugins.
The main window
===============
In the main display area, the title, playback time and other basic info
about the current track are shown. The time display can be switched (by
clicking on it) between the time passed, the time remaining, or the
order/frame/page position (depending on if it's a MOD/MPEG/OGG format
being played).
Below that is the position indicator, which can also be used to change
the playback position. When streaming from the 'net, it will light-up to
indicate how much of the file has been downloaded so far (if the file
length is known). Right-clicking gives the option of bookmarking the
current position, or resuming an already bookmarked position.
NOTE: The bookmark is not retained when closing XMPlay.
The next 2 sliders control the volume and balance.
TIP: The volume can be adjusted using the mouse-wheel, when the mouse is not
above anything else scrollable.
The row of buttons below the sliders are...
Track info & extended playlist:
Opens/closes a window to display information on the current track, also
a playlist and library. See "The info window" below.
NOTE: Some skins may also have separate buttons to access the playlist and
library.
Previous track:
Play the previous track in the playlist, skipping over any that are set
to "skip". Right-clicking jumps to the previous sub-song in a multi-song
track (or previous cue point when a CUE sheet is present).
Stop:
Stops playback, and sets the position to the start. Pressing again when
already stopped, unloads the track.
Play / Pause:
Toggles play/pause of the track. If no track is loaded, then the currently
selected track in the playlist is loaded (or the 1st track if none is
selected). Right-clicking plays a random track.
Next track:
Play the next track in the playlist, skipping over any that are set to
"skip". Right-clicking jumps to the next sub-song in a multi-song track
(or next cue point when a CUE sheet is present).
Open file(s):
Opens and plays file(s). If you open an FTP directory URL, XMPlay will
automatically scan the directory for playable files. Right-click to open
a directory.
Looping switch:
This can be set to never loop, always loop, or auto loop (only files
that are intended to be looped). When looping is enabled, you can also
choose (by right-clicking) to have the tracks looped only once.
When you drag'n'drop files into the main panel, they are opened as if the
"Open file(s)" button had been used - ie. playlist cleared and new tracks
added. As well as files, whole directory trees and shortcuts can also be
drag'n'dropped into XMPlay.
TIP: Double-click on any non-button area to toggle mini mode.
TIP: Right-click the minimize button to minimize to the tray.
TIP: Right-click the close button to have playback continue from the
current position the next time XMPlay is loaded.
TIP: When moving the window, right-clicking will make the info window move
too. The same is true when moving the info window.
The Output/DSP panel
====================
These options change the way things sound. The response speed to all these
options is dependant on the buffer size - the delay will be the length of
the buffer chosen in the "Output" options.
Equalizer switch & sliders:
Reverb switch & sliders:
Auto-amp reduction switch:
Amplification slider:
See the "DSP" section below for details on these.
TIP: Right-clicking the amplification slider will reset it to the default
level, and right-clicking the EQ bands will reset them to 0dB.
Some skins may also have MOD options present here. See the "MOD" section
below for details on these.
Disk switch
-----------
When switched on, this enables the automatic loading of settings that have
been saved for the track being loaded. Right-clicking brings up options to
load settings specific to the file, load settings for the file's path, and
load presets. See the "Saved settings" section below.
The playlist panel
==================
Double-clicking on a track will make XMPlay play the track. Right-clicking
brings up further options to play the track, to write a copy to disk while
playing the track (URLs only), queue the track, skip the track, add it to
the library, display track info, and remove the track.
TIP: A track can also be queued by clicking the middle mouse button on it.
If an internet stream is of a known length (a file on an FTP/HTTP server),
the "Write to disk" option can be selected while the track is already playing
(or has even finished playing), and XMPlay will write the portion that has
already been downloaded and continue to write the remainder that is being
downloaded. So you can preview the track before deciding if you want to keep
it, without having to start downloading it again.
Shoutcast/Icecast/Icecast2 streams that include the track titles, can be
automatically split into the separate files when writing them to disk.
Tracks that are set to be skipped are displayed in a small dimmed font. Dead
tracks are indicated by red lines through them - a single red line means
the track is unplayable, while a double line means it can't even be opened,
eg. doesn't exist. The currently opened track is signified with a light-blue
arrow. Tracks that are queued for playback have a smaller light-blue arrow,
and the queue position next to it.
Files can be added to the list by drag'n'dropping them there. Whole directory
trees and
