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The Best of Windows 95.com 1996 September
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WIN95_09964.iso
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sound
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mpw32-5s.zip
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MP2WIN32.TXT
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1996-07-31
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Maplay 1.2+ for Win32
Web Site
Last modified: August 1, 1996
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newest version released: 1.70
What is maplay 1.2?
Maplay 1.2 is a program written for UNIX systems by Tobias Bading. What it
does is decodes MPEG Audio Layer 1 and 2 files, which are factor of 6-12
times smaller than uncompressed audio (like Windows PCM WAVE, Sun AU, or
Mac AIFF files). Despite the huge compression, there is no audible signal
loss! You can retain CD-quality sound at compression ratios around 1:6 (128
kbit/s). Unfortunately, decoding MPEG audio streams is a very CPU intensive
process. And until now, there have been no fully-featured decoders
available for Windows.
What is maplay 1.2+ for Win32?
Thanks to Bading's hard work in maintaining portability in maplay, I was
able to retarget maplay to run on the Windows 95 and Windows NT operating
systems. I also added a few features such as WAV playing, pausing,
stopping, and repeating MPEG audio playback. It took about 4 weeks, since I
had no prior Windows programming experience.
What do I need to run maplay 1.2+ for Win32?
Maplay 1.2+ for Win32 is requires the following hardware and software to
run:
* 486 or higher CPU (Pentium required for stereo playback.)
* Either the Windows 95 or Windows NT operating system. It will not run
on Windows 3.1 or lower operating systems, even if you have Win32s.
* A 16-bit sound card, and the appropriate driver for Windows.
What about the competition?
Ever since maplay 1.2 for Win32 was released, many other MPEG audio
decoders for Windows have also been released. But I still think maplay 1.2
for Win32 is still the best! Compare the features in the following table:
Program Layer I Layer Layer WAV Bits/sample Sample Stereo
II III freq.
XingSound1 ? Yes No Yes 162 22.0 kHz No
AMAPLAY ? Yes No No 16 48.0 kHz Yes
Philips mpgplay ? Yes No No 16 48.0 kHz Yes
ActiveMovie ? Yes No Yes416 48.0 kHz Yes
WinPlay3 No No Yes No 16 48.0 kHz Yes
maplay for No5
Win32 Yes Yes Yes 16 48.0 kHz Yes
Program Seeks Playlists Interface Win3.1 Win95 WinNT Distributed
As:
XingSound Yes No OK Yes Yes3 Yes3 Freeware
AMAPLAY Yes No Ugly! No Yes Yes Shareware
Philips
mpgplay No No OK No Yes Yes Freeware
ActiveMovie Yes No Media No Yes Yes Freeware
Player
WinPlay3 No Yes Good Yes Yes Yes Shareware
maplay for
Win32 Yes Yes Good No Yes Yes Freeware
1Freeware version of XingSound. There is a full-featured version, but it is
not free.
2Low precision
3Not a native 32-bit program
4Through Media Player
5Coming soon!
I don't like the other full-quality players for other reasons. AMAPLAY
basically stole its name from Tobias Bading, the creator of maplay. And the
company that makes AMAPLAY has the gall to try to make money from a program
that does the same thing as free ones. Philips stole my MPEG audio links
for its own page. And the last company that I'd like the see prosper is
Microsoft, the company that puts out ActiveMovie as part of an effort to
kill Netscape with Internet Explorer.
The only Layer III real-time decoder out there seems to be Fraunhoffer's
WinPlay3. Although the program is nice, the shareware version is severely
crippled (limited to only 20 seconds of playback). I don't like Fraunhoffer
because they have a monopoly over Layer III products. Their encoder and
decoder programs are crippled and they refuse to release the source code to
even a reference Layer III encoder.
Should I even consider XingSound at all?
Yes. Maplay 1.2+ for Win32 is also pretty CPU intensive due to its high
precision and playing frequency. Also, it does not work on 8-bit sound
cards yet. (Actually, according to one source, it does indeed work -- at
least on the SB Pro!) Now, however, maplay for Win32 fast forwards,
rewinds, or searchs for tracks just like XingSound. The only other reason
left for downloading XingSound is the lack of a Pentium processor. If this
is the case, get XingSound (115k) instead. But if quality is a priority and
you have a 16-bit sound card and decent computer and multimedia equipment,
maplay is the way to go!
What kind of interface does the program have?
The interface keeps on improving, and you must love my hand-drawn buttons!
Here is a screenshot:
[Image]
If you are unimpressed, here is a suggested interface done by my pal, Bill
MacPhee:
[Image]
Let me know what you think! (Bill - people LOVE this!)
Cool. Where can I get maplay for Win32?
Maplay for Win32, version 1.70, is available here (on my shell account on
cory, a Berkeley EECS server) in following four flavors:
With Source Code (175 KB)Without Source Code (105 KB)
486 mpw32-4s.zip mpw32-4n.zip
Pentium mpw32-5s.zip mpw32-5n.zip
This is the NEWEST version 1.70, last modified on August 1, 1996. It has a
number of interface improvements over version 1.61, as well as a bug fix
for seeking MIDI files.
Many people have asked me what "source code" is. It is the program listing
for maplay 1.2 for Win32, which I am obligated to distribute and you are
free to modify. You don't need it to run the program, and if you are not
interested in modifying it or seeing how it works, you can save a few
seconds and just get the versions without source code.
How do I install maplay for Win32
Simply unzip the archive (using WinZip or pkunzip) into a fresh directory.
Then you are all set (assuming you know how to make your own shortcuts)!
How do I use maplay for Win32?
Maplay for Win32 supports command-line playback, so you can associate MP2
or MPG files with maplay in the File Manager of Windows Explorer. Here is
what to do to configure it in Explorer (which is pretty much standard):
1. If necessary, first delete the MP2 type.
1. Select the View ... Options ... File Types tab.
2. Go down to "MP2 File" (or whatever description you have
associated with MP2 files) Select Remove, and confirm if
necessary.
2. Now add it.
1. In Explorer: View ... Options ... File Types tab ... New Type
button ...
2. Fill in the following:
Description: MPEG audio
Associated extension: MP2
3. Then push the New Action button.
4. Fill in the following:
Action: Open
Application to perform action: (find the MP2WIN.EXE file with the
Browse button)
5. Push the OK button in the New Action and Add New File Type dialog
boxes.
You can also use it as a viewer in Netscape. The MIME type is "audio", and
the subtype is "x-mpeg". Finally, you can use as a stand-alone program, as
there is a menu item to open files. Feel free to E-mail me if you need
further instructions.
How much does maplay for Win32 cost?
Nothing. Well, almost nothing. Of course you still have to pay for the
access time and the long distance charges to download it! I do request that
you e-mail me and tell me if it worked on your system. Also, your generous
donations are welcomed but not required.
Are there any bugs in maplay for Win32?
Well, as I said before, I'm new at Windows programming, so I'm sure there
are. But the following are the only bugs I know about:
* Sometimes the shortcut keys don't work. You just have to use the
mouse.
* According to Karl Zaryski, these bugs have occured:
o "The program would sometimes appear to "hang," ie the controls
worked, but there was no sound output."
o "If the Open button is pressed while the Play button is
greyed-out, I get the following errors:
Window: 'Invalid Handle' Error message: 'Error opening file'
then
Window: 'File format error' Error message: 'No Header Found!'"
According to James Yang, the problem is due to adding an extra "%1" in
the shell open action. To fix it, change the action in File Types
under Options in Explorer.
* Ian Jordan pointed out that stereo playback was missing. Actually what
happens is that the first file is played in stereo, but the files
loaded after that are not. I have fixed this bug, so if you have
version 1.2 or earlier, it would be a good idea to download the new
version.
* You can't play a WAV file if it has a space in its name or path. This
is due to the way the files are sent to the multimedia system. If you
have problems, simply rename the WAV file or directory.
I'll work on getting rid of these bugs, and if you find any others, please
e-mail me.
Where can I get MPEG audio files?
Good news if you're into Japanese animation music because I've recorded a
number of MPEG audio files from my favorite anime. Also check out the
following:
* Karl's Sailor Moon Clips
* The Internet Underground Music Archive audio streams of unsigned
artists.
* The AIC CD Library has short clips from the soundtracks of several
anime.
* MAZ's Home will soon have tons of Japanese animation music!
* Playloud! Music in France has songs from various French music groups.
I hope you understand francois!
* Midi of the Week - The Music Shoppe has some classical music in MPEG
Layer II format, and also MIDI format.
I'll list some more sources shortly.
How do encode my own MPEG audio files?
You can use Cool Edit 95 (with the MPEG audio extensions) or AMPEG 4.3,
which is a DOS program, but considerably faster. (AMPEG now decodes Layer
III files) Remember, before WAV files are encoded, they must be saved in
16-bit format, with a 32 kHz or above sampling frequency.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Credits
Well, I hope I'm not being to presumptuous by listing credits, but here
goes:
Original Source Code by Tobias Bading.
Copyright (C) 1993, 1994 Berlin University of Technology.
Win32 port and interface by Jeff Tsay.
License rights granted by the Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Academic (reduced price for students) C++ compiler sold by Borland
International.
Thanks to the following testers: Gavin, Karl Zaryski, Steve Durston, Rob
Kwong, Kamara, Andrew Williams, Qilun (Charley) Chen, Martin H. Audet, Ian
Jordan, and some other people who I feel really bad about forgetting their
names. (Sorry, please tell me your names.)
The following people/companies gave me programming tips or provided source
code I could modify: Tobias Bading (of course), Mike Perham, Mark Gamber,
and Borland International.
Also thanks to my computer science teachers and professors at Eastern High
School and UC Berkeley!
The Future
Hopefully, this the last release that will not decode Layer III files. Also
a playlist creation interface and Netscape plug-in functionality are
planned.
The Beg!
I am a poor college student. If anyone at Borland can give me version 5.0
of Borland C++, I'd be very grateful!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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