Foobar2000:Title Formatting Introduction

2008-08-08T23:45:43Z

MuncherOfSpleens: Fixed a minor spelling error

foobar2000 uses title formatting scripts in several places. This article will give you a basic introduction to title formatting patterns.

== Just text ==

For example, you can customize the format of the playlist or the statusbar. The simplest thing you can do, is display some static text:

This text will be displayed as-is.

Admittedly, this is pretty boring and you probably will not want to use this on its own. There is one more thing worth noting before we move on to more interesting things. Title formatting code uses some special characters which cannot be used in plain text, but you can use them inside single quotes:

'These characters normally have special meaning: ( ) , [ ] $ %'

Single quotes, percent signs and ampersand can be included in the output, by doubling them outside single quotes.

Note that linebreaks will not appear in the output, unless they occur within single quotes:

This is the
first line.
'This will stretch
to the second line.'

Note that multiline scripts cannot be used everywhere; in the default components, they can be used for the text on the icon in the system notification area ("systray") and in the copy command script. The playlist and other singleline displays will truncate strings with line breaks, and would display the above example like this:

This is the first line. This will stretch (...)

Comments are achieved by placing '//' at the start of a new line of code. That entire line will be commented out, eg.
//This is commented and will not appear// this is also commented due to the '//' at the start of the line
This is not commented and will appear// this and the '//' preceding it will also appear, because there is no '//' at the start of the line

== Song information ==

Title formatting scripts would be quite useless, if you could not display information about songs. To access the value of the "title" tag, you would write "title" in percent signs:

%title%

Actually, the above is a little smarter than just using looking at the "title" tag. If the title tag is missing, it will use the filename instead. There are several of this field remappings that are intended to make your life a little easier; among them are <code>%artist%</code>, <code>%tracknumber%</code>, <code>%list_index%</code> and of course <code>%title%</code>.

A name written inside percent signs will generally try to look up the tag of the same name, unless it is one of the aforementioned remapped fields. Even in this case you can use the unaltered value of the tag:

$meta(title)

== Technical information ==

Technical information can be accessed in similar way as tags, either using <code>%__name%</code> or <code>$info(name)</code> where the name is one of those that can be seen in the "Other info" part of the properties window in foobar2000. There are some field remappings for technical information as well, for example <code>%bitrate%</code> gives you the average bitrate of a song or the current dynamic bitrate, if the song is playing, provided that the format supports reporting the dynamic bitrate.

==Additional Reading==

* [[foobar2000:Titleformat Reference|Title Formatting Reference page]]

[[Category:foobar2000 Guides|Titleformat Introduction]]

Foobar2000:Components/Dockable Panels (foo dockable panels)

2008-04-27T20:24:11Z

MuncherOfSpleens: Fixed the link

{{stub}}

=Description=

It allows you to create windows that host columns ui panels as floating windows that can be attached to the side of the main foobar2000 window or each other.

=Link=
* [http://www.bazquux.com/wiki/Foobar2000:Dock Official Website]

Lossless comparison

2006-06-02T16:45:20Z

MuncherOfSpleens: Changed the table to indicate that Shorten does have hardware support (Rockbox)

Given the enormous amount of [[lossless]] audio compressor choices available, it is a very difficult task to choose the one most suited for each person's needs.

Several people only take into consideration compression performance when choosing a codec. But as the following table and article shows, there are several other features worth taking into consideration when making that choice.

For example, users wanting good multiplatform compatibility and robustness (E.G, people sharing live recordings) would favour [[WavPack]] or [[FLAC]]. Another user, looking for the very highest compression available, would go with [[OptimFROG]]. Someone wanting portable support would use [[FLAC]] or [[ALAC]], and so on.

En fin, this is not a matter worth getting too worked up about. If you later find out the codec you chose isn't the best for your needs, you can just transcompress to another format, without risk of losing quality.

'''Note:''' for latest comparison of lossless compression, scroll down to the [[Lossless comparison#Links|Links section of this page]].

==Comparison Table==



{| border="0" cellspacing="0"
| '''Features''' || {{Turquoise}} WavPack || {{Turquoise}} ALAC || {{Turquoise}} FLAC || {{Turquoise}} Monkey's || {{Turquoise}} OptimFROG || {{Turquoise}} Shorten
|-
| {{yellow}} Encoding speed || {{green}} very fast || {{white}} average || {{light-green}} fast || {{light-green}} fast || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast
|-|
| {{yellow}} Decoding speed || {{green}} very fast || {{green}} very fast || {{green}} very fast || {{light-green}} fast || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast
|-|
| {{yellow}} Compression* || {{light-green}} 58% || {{light-green}} 58,50% || {{light-green}} 58,70% || {{green}} 55,50% || {{green}} 54,70% || {{orange}} 63,50%
|-|
| {{yellow}} Flexibility** || {{green}} very good || {{orange}} bad || {{green}} very good || {{green}} very good || {{green}} very good || {{orange}} bad
|-
| {{white}}  
|-
| {{yellow}} Error handling || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Seeking || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Tagging || {{green}} ID3/APE || {{green}} QT tags || {{green}} FLAC tags || {{green}} ID3/APE || {{green}} ID3/APE || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hardware support || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Software support || {{light-green}} good || {{orange}} bad || {{green}} very good || {{light-green}} good || {{white}} average || {{green}} very good
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hybrid/lossy || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} ReplayGain || {{green}} yes || {{white}} sort of || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} RIFF chunks || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Streaming || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Pipe support || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Open source || {{green}} yes || {{light-green}} Yes (decoding) || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Multichannel || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} High resolution || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} OS support || {{green}} All || {{light-green}} Win/Mac || {{green}} All || {{green}} All || {{green}} Win/Mac/Linux || {{green}} All
|-|
| {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}   || {{gray}}  
|-|
| '''Features''' || {{Turquoise}} WMA || {{Turquoise}} LA || {{Turquoise}} TTA || {{Turquoise}} LPAC || {{Turquoise}} MPEG4 ALS || {{Turquoise}} Real Lossless
|-|
| {{yellow}} Encoding speed || {{white}} average || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast || {{white}} average || {{orange}} slow || {{white}} average
|-|
| {{yellow}} Decoding speed || {{white}} average || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} very fast || {{green}} very fast || {{orange}} slow || {{light-green}} fast
|-|
| {{yellow}} Compression* || {{green}} 56,30% || {{green}} 53,50% || {{light-green}} 57,10% || {{light-green}} 57,20% || {{white}}   || {{white}}  
|-|
| {{yellow}} Flexibility** || {{orange}} bad || {{white}} average || {{orange}} bad || {{orange}} bad || {{green}} very good || {{orange}} bad
|-
| {{white}}  
|-
| {{yellow}} Error handling || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{white}}  
|-|
| {{yellow}} Seeking || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} slow || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Tagging || {{light-green}} Proprietary || {{light-green}} ID3v1 || {{light-green}} ID3 || {{orange}} no || {{green}} MP4 tags || {{light-green}} Proprietary
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hardware support || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Software support || {{light-green}} good || {{orange}} bad || {{white}} average || {{white}} average || {{orange}} none yet || {{orange}} bad
|-|
| {{yellow}} Hybrid/lossy || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} ReplayGain || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} RIFF chunks || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{white}}  
|-|
| {{yellow}} Streaming || {{green}} yes || {{white}}   || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes
|-|
| {{yellow}} Pipe support || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{white}}   || {{white}}   || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Open source || {{orange}} no || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} Multichannel || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} High resolution || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{green}} yes || {{orange}} no
|-|
| {{yellow}} OS support || {{light-green}} Win/Mac || {{light-green}} Win/Linux || {{green}} All || {{light-green}} Win/Linux/Sol || {{green}} All || {{green}} Win/Mac/Linux
|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki> The Compression ratio is calculated with the division of compressed size by uncompressed size * 100. So, lower is better.

Encoding speed, Decoding speed and Compression ratio are based on each encoder's default settings.

<nowiki>**</nowiki> Flexibility refers to the amount of encoding choices offered to the users (Fast/low compression, Slow/high compression and everything inbetween)

These are the most popular lossless codecs, in alphabetical order:

==ALAC - Apple Lossless Audio Codec== http://www.apple.com/itunes/import.html

[[ALAC]] is a codec developed by Apple for usage in [[Apple iPod|iPod]] and AirPort Express.

===ALAC PROS===
* Very fast decoding
* [[Open source]] ([http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html decoding only])
* Hardware support ([[Apple iPod|iPod]], AirPort Express)
* Streaming support
* Tagging support (QT tags)
* Excellent hardware-software-lossy format integration with [[iTunes]]/iPod.
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s

===ALAC CONS===
* Closed source (encoding)
* Limited software support
* Compression efficiency not on par with other lossless codecs
* No hybrid/lossy mode

===ALAC Other features===
* Fits in the [[MP4]] container
* Can be used with the AirPort Express gadget

==FLAC - Free Lossless Audio Codec== http://flac.sourceforge.net/

[[FLAC]] is a lossless codec developed by Josh Coalson. It's part of the Xiph multimedia portfolio, along with [[Ogg]], [[Vorbis]], [[Speex]] and [[Theora]].

===FLAC PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Very fast decoding
* Fast encoding
* Hardware support ([[Rio Karma|Karma]], Phatbox, etc.)
* Very good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Tagging support (FLAC tags)
* Pipe support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

===FLAC CONS===
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks

===FLAC Other features===
* Supports embedded CUE sheets (with [http://flac.sourceforge.net/faq.html#general__no_cuesheet_tags limitations])
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Fits the [[Ogg]] and [[Matroska]] containers

==LA - LosslessAudio== http://www.lossless-audio.com/

[[LA]] is a lossless codec developed by Michael Bevin.

===LA PROS===
* Very high compression
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support

===LA CONS===
* Closed source
* Very slow encoding and decoding
* Doesn't support [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* No hardware support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Bad software support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

'''''It's important to mention that the LA foobar plugin is buggy and doesn't produce lossless streams!'''''

==LPAC== http://www.nue.tu-berlin.de/wer/liebchen/lpac.html

Lossless Predictive Audio Coder ([[LPAC]]) is a lossless codec developed by Tilman Liebchen. Development of it has been halted in favour of development of [[MPEG-4]] ALS.

===LPAC PROS===
* Reasonable compression ratios
* [[High resolution]] audio support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks

===LPAC CONS===
* Closed source
* No error robustness
* Slow seeking
* No tagging
* No [[multichannel]] support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

==Monkey's Audio== http://www.monkeysaudio.com/

[[Monkey's Audio]] is a very efficient lossless compressor developed by Matt Ashland.

===APE PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* High efficiency
* Good software support
* Simple and user friendly. Official GUI provided.
* Java version (multiplatform)
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* [[High resolution]] audio support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks (only in the GUI encoder)
* Pipe support (only in a [http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shntool/ special] version)

===APE CONS===
* No [[multichannel]] support
* No error robustness
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

===APE Other features===
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Supports APL image link files (similar to CUE sheets)

==OptimFROG== http://losslessaudiocompression.com/

[[OptimFROG]] is a lossless format developed by Florin Ghido to become the champion in audio compression.

===OFR PROS===
* Very high compression
* Good software support
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Supports [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

===OFR CONS===
* Closed source
* No [[multichannel]] audio support
* No hardware support
* Quite slow decoding

===OFR Other features===
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking

==RealAudio Lossless== http://www.realnetworks.com/products/codecs/realaudio.html

RealAudio lossless is the lossless codec developed by Real Networks for their multimedia portfolio

===RAL PROS===
* Very fast decoding
* Streaming support
* Tagging support (proprietary)

===RAL CONS===
* Closed source
* No [[multichannel]] and [[high resolution]] audio support
* Little software support (Real Player)
* No hardware support
* Compression efficiency not on par with other lossless codecs
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No pipe support
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

==Shorten== http://www.etree.org/shnutils/shorten/

[[Shorten]] is a very old and featureless lossless codec developed by Tony Robinson at SoftSound.

===SHN PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Fast decoding
* Very good software support
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Pipe support

===SHN CONS===
* Quite inefficient
* No [[multichannel]] or [[high resolution]] audio support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No error robustness
* Not streamable
* No hardware support
* No native tagging
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

==True Audio (TTA)== http://www.true-audio.com/

[[TTA]] is a new lossless codec developed by a team of russian programmers.

===TTA PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Good efficiency
* Hardware support (obscure DVD player)
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Tagging support ([[ID3]])
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible
* Error robustness

===TTA CONS===
* No streaming support
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks
* No pipe support

===TTA Other features===
* Fits the [[Matroska]] container

==WavPack== http://www.wavpack.com/

[[WavPack]] is a fast and featureful lossless codec developed by David Bryant.

===WV PROS===
* [[Open source]]
* Very fast decoding
* Very fast encoding
* Good efficiency
* Error robustness
* Streaming support
* Hardware support ([http://www.rockbox.org/ RockBox])
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s
* Hybrid/lossy mode
* Tagging support ([[ID3v1]], [[APE tags]])
* Supports [[RIFF]] chunks
* Ability to create self extracting files for Win32 platform
* Pipe support
* Good software support
* [[ReplayGain]] compatible

===WV CONS===
* Limited player support

===WV Other features===
* Supports 32bit float streams
* Supports embedded CUE sheets
* Includes MD5 hashes for quick integrity checking
* Can encode in both symmetrical and assymmetrical modes.
* Fits the [[Matroska]] container

==Windows Media Audio Lossless== http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/codecs/audio.aspx

WMA Lossless is the lossless codec developed by Microsoft to be featured in their Windows Media codec portfolio.

===WMAL PROS===
* Streaming support
* Very good software support
* Supports [[multichannel]] audio and [[high resolution]]s.
* Tagging support (proprietary)
* Pipe support

===WMAL CONS===
* Closed source
* No hybrid/lossy mode
* No hardware support (but it's likely to appear sooner or later)
* Doesn't support [[RIFF]] chunks
* Doesn't support [[ReplayGain]]

===WMAL Other features===
* Fits the [[ASF]] container

==Oddball Formats==

There are several old lossless formats that aren't being featured in the article above. Reasons are: lack of widespread support, lack of features, bad efficiency and, most importantly, it seems noone is really interested in them.

Most of those would have disappeared by now, but they are being preserved for posterity at [[User:Rjamorim|rjamorim]]'s [http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/ ReallyRareWares]

===Advanced Digital Audio (ADA)===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/ada.html

===Bonk===

* http://www.logarithmic.net/pfh/bonk

===Marian's a-Pac===

* http://www.marian.de/en/downloads#APAC
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/apac.html

===AudioZip===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/audiozip.html

===Dakx WAV===

* http://www.dakx.com/
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/daxwav.html

===Entis Lab MIO===

* http://www.entis.gr.jp/eri/frame.html
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/mio.html

===LiteWave===

* http://www.clearjump.com/products/LiteWave.html
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/litewave.html

===Pegasus SPS===

* http://www.krishnasoft.com/sps.htm
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/pegasussps.html

===RKaudio===

* http://www.msoftware.co.nz/downloads_page.php
* http://rksoft.virtualave.net/rkau.html

===Split2000===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/split2000.html

===Sonarc===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/sonarc.html

===VocPack===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/vocpack.html

===WavArc===

* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/wavarc.html

===WaveZip/MUSICompress===

* http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/sndspace/
* http://www.rjamorim.com/rrw/wavezip.html

==Links==

===Other lossless compressions comparisons===

* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/josef/ Josef Pohm's comparison, hosted by Synthetic Soul] (last update 2006-05-29)
* [http://synthetic-soul.co.uk/comparison/lossless/ Synthetic Soul's comparison] (last update 2006-05-27)
* [http://members.home.nl/w.speek/comparison.htm Speek's] (last updated 2005-02-07)
* [http://guruboolez.free.fr/lossless/ Guruboolez'] -- comparing only classical music (last updated 2005-02-27)
* [http://web.inter.nl.net/users/hvdh/lossless/lossless.htm Hans Heijden's] -- used as reference to build the table (last updated 2003-06-04)
* [http://uclc.info/lossless_audio_compression_test.htm Johan de Bock's] - aimed only at the maximum compression setting for each codec (based on a somewhat limited set of samples, however) (last updated ????-??-??)

===More on lossless compressions===
* [http://losslessaudio.blogspot.com/ Lossless Audio Blog] - by windmiller, is a reliable and complete source of news about lossless compression.
* Go to the [http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=33226 Hydrogenaudio thread] to discuss this article.

Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase - User contributions [en]

Foobar2000:Title Formatting Introduction

Foobar2000:Components/Dockable Panels (foo dockable panels)

Lossless comparison