Hello,

as I've never tried the MPC codec, and only heard or read good things about it I've decided to give it a shot...

As I'm building an HTPC, I will sooner or later stop using my MP3's so I'm searching for an good replacement.

So much for the intro .

I've made a few test encodings with the 1.7.9c encoder and with the latest one 90l or so...

I've always got the "Superframe..." error with the 1.9.0 Winamp plugin until I've found out that this was (probably) cause by the enabled ID3V2 setting in EAC... Doh!

So to make an end to this long and boring story, I think there is really a need for long MPC encoding, decoding etc. FAQ...

How about to making one here? There are enough experienced posters here...

Cheers,

Mijo.

I've been planning on eventually trying to put up some basic as well as technical FAQs for the different formats represented here on the site, MPC included. However, due to a lack of time and some recent events I'm not sure this is going to be happening real soon.. who knows though. I do agree that this is something that would be nice though.

And btw, the superframe error was indeed because of id3v2 tags which the mpc decoders currently don't support.

AQuA has a ripping guide that will instruct on how to rip and encode files with eac...

im not sure if thats quite what you are looking for, but it can be found here: http://aqua.outerspase.net/ripping/

oh yea i forgot that tutorial is a little off base...

burst mode isnt the best... more of a last resort... also you shouldnt scale files now that we have replay gain... altho it doesnt work on my system....

Nope, I was looking for an good MPC FAQ. I've been using EAC for about 2 years now, so I hope I understand most of the settings .

BTW, in my experience is Feurio the best program for DAE (at least on my system)... It can handle scratched CD's where all other programs fail, but the usability is horrible (not to mention that I just love EAC)...

My drives: Plextor CDRW 8220 and Hitachi GD 7500 (defect )... Oh, I use the ASPI installed by Force ASPI.

Cheers,

Ookami.

So what do you want to know? Gimme some good questions in order to get this FAQ started.

'I think I heard a problem in an MPC clip! What do I do now?'

'MPC sounds flat/dull/too much bass/not enough bass/loses high frequencies/exaggerates high frequencies!!!?!?!?!?!!? Why doesn't anybody else report this?'

--
GCP

LOL Garf.
I said good questions...
And you could have answered those yourself, and those aren't MPC specific anyway..

LOL!

Good questions? Heh, I think someone else should ask them. Hehehe...

First try:

1.) What are the pro's and con's of MPC (if you compare it to the other formats like MP3, OGG etc.)?
2.) I think I heard a problem in an MPC clip! What do I do now?
3.) Where are some good guides (links) to MPC encoding?
4.) Are there any "standard" settings for MPC (something similar to the LAME MP3 of R3MIX and DIBROM)?
5.) What is about the future of the MPC codec? Will it be Shareware or not?
6.) Are there any infos about the future development or changes of MPC?
7.) On what platforms (OS) can be MPC played?
8.) What are the differences (limitation) between the 1.7.9c encoder and the 0.90l encoder?
9.) How and why should the MPC gain program be used?
10.) When will the name be changed (again) ?

I've tried to make at least some few good questions.

Cheers,

Mijo.

Ok, few brief answers, somebody else may write additions... I will also later.


1.) What are the pro's and con's of MPC (if you compare it to the other formats like MP3, OGG etc.)?
Answer:
Pro's: Hihger quality at mid and high bitrates, faster, well tweaked official presets (unlike in Lame)
con's: encoder not open source

2.) I think I heard a problem in an MPC clip! What do I do now?
Answer:
First make sure that if you are using Winamp for playback, that MP+/MPC plugin settings "EQ controlled by WinAmp" and "(Experimental) clipping prevention" are disabled.
Then you should check that the difference is not imaginery by doing blind listening tests. Best program for this is PCABX
http://www.pcabx.com/program/index.htm
You can do blind tests also with Winamp using shuffle mode or randomize list option, but make sure you do enough repetitions.
After that you should contact the community (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/) or developers, and make the clip available for download.

3.) Where are some good guides (links) to MPC encoding?
Answer:
At the moment there aren't many, but those are really not needed so much, because the preset profiles (standard,xtreme and insane) are already highly tweaked.

4.) Are there any "standard" settings for MPC (something similar to the LAME MP3 of R3MIX and DIBROM)?
Answer:
The standard setting for MPC is the standard profile used by default: mppenc file.wav file.mpc


5.) What is about the future of the MPC codec? Will it be Shareware or not?
Answer:
Maybe, maybe not..

6.) Are there any infos about the future development or changes of MPC?
Answer:
Yes, at the moment the page to check out is Frank Klemm's mpegplus page: http://www.uni-jena.de/~pfk/mpp/

7.) On what platforms (OS) can be MPC played?
Answer:
MPC decoder is open source, so in principle on any platform which is technically capable of.

8.) What are the differences (limitation) between the 1.7.9c encoder and the 0.90l encoder?
Answer:
Check Frank's page, but at the moment the main differences are speed and functionality issues:

0.90l:
ca. 35% faster
support of 8 . . . 32 bit linear PCM
can encode also encode 1 channel files and multi channel files (only first two channels are encoded)
support of directly reading LPAC lossless compressed PCM files
support of directly reading FLAC lossless compressed PCM files
Can directly read from a pipe (max. 27 hours of audio possible)
Support of WAVE files with 2...4 GByte (if file system supports this)
some minor bug fixes (which do NOT affect audio quality)
smoother fade in and out
support of very verbose -v -v

Disadvantages of this Encoder:

no clipping protection support (will be added later in a more sophisticated way)
no "No Digital Silence" support (will be added later in a more sophisticated way)

9.) How and why should the MPC gain program be used?
Answer:
Replaygain.exe determines the EXACT peak levels of the MP+/MPC files and estimates the perceptional loudness and stores this values inside the MP+/MPC file. This can be used to secure avoid clipping and to equalize the loudness of music.

I believe someone will make better guide, but check these out:
http://www.uni-jena.de/~pfk/mpp/#replaygain
http://www.uni-jena.de/~pfk/mpp/faq.txt
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/showth...s=&threadid=386

10.) When will the name be changed (again) ?
Answer:
Probably never. MusePack is the official name and .mpc is the official extension.

Thanks a bunch, JohnV ! BTW, the question 2 and 10 should not be taken seriously .

Thank you...

Cheers,

Mijo.

Question 2 is perfectly fine for FAQ.
It's just that Garf above made a small "inside" joke...