Matt's dashboard

Seems like the best, simplest way to show "type" is just to display the file extension, yes?
So there should be a column for file extension: .mp3, .m4a, .m4p, wav, flac, .ogg, etc...

OK I have it working! :)
- Installed the Quicktime Add-On, & QT-Lite (I'm not clear weather QT-Lite is Quicktime or Quicktime Alternative?) - but it's smaller..

- Anyway this made Songbird play the files, & didn't break iTunes.

Some people have just been needing to re-install Quicktime after installing Songbird, unknown why..?
It seems that a few people have had problems, so anything that could be done to make it "just work" would be great.

Thanks for your help Andrew! :)

Ghislain 'Aus' Lacroix, (Official Rep) :
"There are known issues with the current Equalizer that cause distortion, these will be fixed before it's released.

The first iteration of the Equalizer will not have any presets, there was simply not enough time to put those in there."
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THX! - Yeah, I figured the pre-sets were still planned for later.. I'm looking forward to that. I was just saying it's useful to have pre-amp adjustments that can be assigned to certain tracks, & once the EQ has pre-sets, that might be a good way to implement that. (I'm sure just saving pre-sets comes first, but I really hope that later certain tracks can be assigned to use certain EQ pre-sets, this is just very handy for reasons I've outlined in previous posts.. track with super heavy bass, etc..)

- I think the official release w/o EQ was having distortion on some tracks too..
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Ghislain 'Aus' Lacroix: "On Windows, Songbird uses the ACM MP3 Decoder and DirectSound to output audio. If you compare the sound quality of WMP and Songbird they should be basically the same."
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THX, that's good info.
- Of course I've always felt that iTunes, Winamp, & foobar, etc. sound much better than WMP. In fact older versions of WMP had the exact same problem I'm describing; hotter tracks caused gross distortion & you couldn't make any adjustment to fix it. I've heard newer versions of WMP are better, but I haven't tried WMP for a long time..

So, does Songbird come with the necessary files, or get them from a WMP or Windows folder? Could I need to install a newer version of WMP? Or can I install a different codec in Songbird or update, or fix it? Do you think something related to this could be causing my problem?

Anyway, it seems like you guys are definitely on the right track, both with the EQ, & Songbird as a whole. - Thank You! :)

P.S.: I think 10 fixed bands will be perfectly adequate. Might be fun to play with parametric or 15 bands, but hardly seems necessary just for music playback..

Hey thanks for the links.
If I had seen those in my initial search, I probably wouldn't have started this thread..
I should've thought to search for "file type" not just extension. Oh well, now if somebody searches using the same terms as me, they will see your links, & can go support them.

Hey, that's pretty smart. That would be an excellent way for cringthis & others in a similar predicament to fill their mp3 players, select songs from such a Smart Playlist. Still would be nice to see the column with this info someday soon :) – Matt, on May 26, 2009 05:23

THX for your reply..

Songbird 1.1.2, Build 1042
WinXP
I don't currently have the add-on installed, but I did, & they didn't work then either..

- If I understand correctly, the add-on is used to play rights-managed m4p files, & should not be needed to play m4a files, Right?

I think that's the point of using Quicktime; so people can play their iTunes purchased music. For unprotected AAC files a non-apple codec could be used. It may already be supposed to work that way?

Sorry, but I've recently tried the both the Official Release, (no EQ)
& the Nightly with the first EQ, & the SOUND IS STILL NOT RIGHT on EITHER VERSION. - Others are still complaining of poor sound quality in this thread, & here: http://getsatisfaction.com/songbird/t...

It seems like Songbird is not managing the sound cards correctly. - I'm getting gross distortion on some tracks, regardless of volume settings.
- This calls for a re-working of GAIN STRUCTURE, especially a reduction of "input gain" or early gain stages.

- Users should be given additional control via a "PRE-AMP" control on the EQ.

As I mentioned in a previous post; it's super handy to have the setting of the "PRE-AMP" control saved with the EQ PRE-SETS:

- Users should be able to create a "Default" EQ & PRE-AMP setting that works on their system with most music, but can be overridden if the currently playing track has been assigned an EQ/PRE-AMP PRE-SET of its' own; useful for "padding down" a super-hot, bass-heavy track & preventing distortion, or "gaining-up" a very quiet track, while preserving SIGNAL-TO-NOISE-RATIO.

P.S.: This can't & SHOULD NOT be fixed via NORMALIZATION using REPLAY-GAIN.. The basic gain structure needs to be set-up correctly first..

Sorry, but I've recently tried the both the Official Release, (no EQ)
& the Nightly with the first EQ, & the SOUND IS STILL NOT RIGHT on EITHER VERSION. - Others are still complaining of poor sound quality in this thread, & here: http://getsatisfaction.com/songbird/t...

It seems like Songbird is not managing the sound cards correctly. - I'm getting gross distortion on some tracks, regardless of volume settings.
- This calls for a re-working of GAIN STRUCTURE, especially a reduction of "input gain" or early gain stages.

- Users should be given additional control via a "PRE-AMP" control on the EQ.

As I mentioned in a previous post; it's super handy to have the setting of the "PRE-AMP" control saved with the EQ PRE-SETS:

- Users should be able to create a "Default" EQ & PRE-AMP setting that works on their system with most music, but can be overridden if the currently playing track has been assigned an EQ/PRE-AMP PRE-SET of its' own; useful for "padding down" a super-hot, bass-heavy track & preventing distortion, or "gaining-up" a very quiet track, while preserving SIGNAL-TO-NOISE-RATIO.

P.S.: This can't & SHOULD NOT be fixed via NORMALIZATION using REPLAY-GAIN.. The basic gain structure needs to be set-up correctly first..