Program can also be used for preparing ABC/hr tests for the iPod.
WARNING: It is entirely command line driven and do no sport any form of graphical user interface.
CODE
Usage: ipod-abx <name> <reference> <sample> [sample]...
Make iTunes iPod playlist for listening test.
Randomly renames files, add files to iTunes, update their tags
and create ABC/HR playlist with A as reference. Rate B and C. One being
the reference and the other a sample.
Use -x <number> to make ABX playlist with <number> sets with A as
sample, B as reference, and X as unknown. Rate X 5 if
reference or 1-4 if sample.
Use -s <scale> set lowest rating of scale:
0 : 0-5 stars equals - , 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
1 : 0-5 stars equals 1.0, 1.8, 2.6, 3.4, 4.2, 5.0
2 : 0-5 stars equals 2.0, 2.6, 3.2, 3.8, 4.4, 5.0
3 : 0-5 stars equals 3.0, 3.4, 3.8, 4.2, 4.6, 5.0
4 : 0-5 stars equals 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, 4.6, 4.8, 5.0
5 : 0-5 stars equals 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 5.0
The scale can be altered on the iPod by changing the rating of the
reference.
ipod-abx -u <name>
Update song names in iPod with rating for making ranking between
samples easier.
ipod-abx <name>
Prepare result file of listening test based on ratings and comments
in iTunes of the tested songs.
Use -i to update playlist with rating and play info from iPod.
Use -v for verbose output.
ipod-abx -c <heading>
Compile result of all listening tests whose name start with heading.
Songs not played will be excluded from the results.
The folder name of each songs file name will be use to determine the
encoder. See the example below for a suggested folder structure for
test samples.
Hint: Commmands in comment tag are treated as follows:
finish( mm:ss) set finish time of song.
start( mm:ss) to set start time of song.
Hint: <reference>/<sample> can either be a file or a folder name. In case
file do not exist it is assumed to be a folder name. ipod-abx will look
for this folder in the current folder and in the previous folder used
by ipod-abx. When specifying a folder name only part of the folder name
needs to be given and "-" will match any part of the folder name. In
case several folder names match the alphabetically latest will be
choosen.
Examples:
Assuming test samples are organised in this folder structure:
Test Samples
FLAC
iTunes 4.2 aac 128
iTunes 4.2 mp3 112 vbr
iTunes 4.2 mp3 128 cbr
iTunes 4.6 aac 128
iTunes 4.6 mp3 112 vbr
iTunes 4.6 mp3 128 cbr
lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5
To generate the playlist "128kbps - Waiting" with reference from
"FLAC" and samples from "iTunes 4.6 mp3 112 vbr",
"iTunes 4.6 mp3 128 cbr" and "lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5" folders:
ipod-abx "128kbps - Waiting" flac itunes-mp3-112 itunes-mp3-128-cbr lame-v5
To create result file after completing iPod listening test:
ipod-abx -iv "128kbps - Waiting"
To compile results of a number of test all named "128kbps - <song>":
ipod-abx -c 128kbps
To generate the playlist "Waiting" with eight ABX tests between samples
from folders "iTunes 4.6 mp3 112 vbr" and "lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5":
ipod-abx -x8 Waiting itunes-mp3-112 lame-v5
Example of ABX report generated by iPod-ABX:
CODE
>ipod-abx Waiting
Sample/reference identified 7 out of 8 times. (p-value 0.063)
>type waiting.txt
playlist : Waiting [iPod-ABX]
prepared : 2005-12-18 10:26
updated : 2005-12-18 10:42
sample : A (sample)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 148 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
encoder : lame3.96 v5
sample * : B (reference)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\iTunes 4.6
mp3 112 vbr\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 119 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
sample : 1 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 148 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
encoder : lame3.96 v5
played : 1 (2005-12-18 10:34)
rating : 4.6
sample : 2 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 148 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
encoder : lame3.96 v5
played : 2 (2005-12-18 10:33)
rating : 4.6
sample * : 3 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\iTunes 4.6 mp3 112 vbr\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 119 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
rating : 5.0
sample * : 4 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\iTunes 4.6 mp3 112 vbr\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 119 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
played : 1 (2005-12-18 10:34)
rating : 5.0
sample : 5 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 148 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
encoder : lame3.96 v5
rating : 5.0
sample : 6 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 148 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
encoder : lame3.96 v5
rating : 4.6
sample : 7 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 148 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
encoder : lame3.96 v5
played : 1 (2005-12-18 10:35)
rating : 4.6
sample * : 8 - X (?)
filename : C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Dokumenter\Musik\SAMPLES\iTunes 4.6 mp3 112 vbr\Waiting.mp3
info : MP3, 119 kbps, 44.1 kHz, 0:20
played : 1 (2005-12-18 10:35)
rating : 5.0
Example of listening test report compiled by iPod-ABX:
CODE
"128" listening tests compiled results:
A=iTunes 4.2 m4p 128
B=iTunes 4.6 aac 128
C=iTunes 4.6 aac 160
D=iTunes 4.6 mp3 112 vbr
E=iTunes 4.6 mp3 128 vbr
lame 3.96 mp3 128 v5=F
A B C D E F
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BigYellow - 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Echo 3.4 5.0 4.2 3.0 4.6 4.6
Gone - 4.8 5.0 5.0 4.9 5.0
Hungarian - 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
ItCouldBeSweet - 5.0 5.0 4.8 4.8 4.8
Kraftwerk - 4.9 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.0
OrdinaryWorld - 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.5
RedHouse - 5.0 5.0 4.5 4.8 4.9
Rosemary - 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
School 5.0 4.5 4.7 4.8 4.8 4.8
Stairway - 4.6 5.0 5.0 3.8 5.0
Waiting - 5.0 5.0 4.5 4.8 5.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVERAGE 4.20 4.89 4.91 4.71 4.79 4.88
===============================================================================
Prepared 2004-08-15 21:31 with iPod-ABX v0.4
Performed 2004-07-27 on iPod with Sennheiser PXC-250 head phones
Program is written in Perl and converted to Windows executable by using perl2exe.
iPod-ABX.zip
Edit: Uploaded zip file
