DBpoweramp

Infobox Software
name = dBpoweramp



caption =
developer = Illustrate
released = ?
programming language = C++ (MS)
operating system = Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Linux (with WINE)
language = English
genre = Audio player/converter
license =
website = [http://www.dbpoweramp.com www.dbpoweramp.com]

dBpoweramp is a collection of fully-integrated audio software from Illustrate, written by Spoon.

The main dBpoweramp product developed by illustrate is dMC (or dBpoweramp Music Converter), with many additional add-ons available for download as well as a couple of other related pieces of software.

dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) focuses on:

*CD Ripping
**PerfectMeta: uses 4 providers: AMG, GD3, MusicBrainz and freedb simultaneously, has high resolution Album Art and extended fields such as Composer.
**AccurateRip: compares the results of CD rips with a database of CD rips by other users to see if the rip is accurate.
**Secure Ripping: utilizes AccurateRip and CD ripping algorithms to accurately and securely rip audio CDs.

*dMC features:
**Convert audio files: mp3, mp4, m4a (iTunes / iPod), Windows Media Audio (WMA), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC), Wave and WavPack, and many others.
**Multi CPU Encoding Support.
**Rip digitally record audio CDs (with CD Ripper).
**Batch Convert large numbers of files with 1 click.
**Windows Integration popup info tips, audio properties, columns, edit ID-Tags.
**DSP Effects such as Volume Normalize, or Graphic EQ.

The software is fully compatible with Windows 98/ME NT4/2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Linux (using WINE).

Licensing

dMC has seen some controversy regarding its licensing. Many users were upset when illustrate began charging for MP3 encoding. However, this was in response to demands that Illustrate pay licensing fees for the MP3 codec, which is required by law, even when using an opensource encoder, such as LAME.

Other users have been disgruntled with the release of the Reference edition. Previous versions of dMC offered upgrades for life for PowerPack users. New PowerPack purchases no longer offer free upgrades for life, however illustrate is still honoring the upgrade policy for users who previously purchased PowerPack under the old licensing terms.

dMC is now offered as:
*Reference
**UltraSecure ripping with C2 support
**Power Pack & mp3 License
**Free minor version upgrades
**CD Writer burn Audio CDs
**Batch Ripper rip 100's of CDs with ease
*PowerPack
**mp3 License
**Free minor version upgrades

Codecs

All codecs are written for the program so there are no reliability issues that can happen when importing codecs from other programs. dBpowerAMP products come equipped with some of the more popular codecs, such as mp3 and wav. Additional file formats can be automatically recognized, played and manipulated with the installation of codecs from the official web page.

Some of the officially supported extensions are: aa, aac, aiff, aifc, ape, asf, au, bwf, cda, fla, flac, m4a, m4b, mdz, mid, mod, mp+, mp2, mp3, mp4, mpa, mpc, mpg, mpga, mpp, mpx, nvf, ofr, ogg, ra, ram, rm, s3m, s3z, sap, shn, snd, tta, spx, voc, vqf, vtm, vtx, wav, wave, wma, wmv, wv, wvc, w64, xm, and xmz.

Note: With the release of dMC r12, the codecs format have changed, and many have not been converted yet. The most popular codecs are being released first, with all former codecs being supported by r12 eventually.

In addition any command line external codec can be configured for use with dMC. Also, many Winamp codecs can be used to allow dMC to decode other, non-supported files when used with the dMC Winamp Input Decoder codec.

This is not a definitive list; you can check [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm Codec Central] for official updates.

Development

Current betas:
* dMC r13
**PerfectMeta - uses 4 providers: AMG, GD3, MusicBrainz and freedb simultaneously, has high resolution Album Art and extended fields such as Composer
**AccurateRip - compares the results of CD rips with a database of CD rips by other users to see if the rip is accurate
**UltraSecure Ripping with C2 support in Reference edition
* Batch Ripper
**Auto & manual loading (open design, most robots supported),
* dAP release 3 beta 6
* Beta Codecs for r12
** DirectShow Decoder
** Updated m4a and ALAC encoders that support album art
** Shorten
** OptimFROG
** Speex
** TTA
** FLAC and Ogg Vorbis
** Updated CLI Encoder
** Length Split utility codec
** Channel Split utility codec
** ID Tag Update utility codec

Illustrate's products are always in development in one form or another. dAP has many bugfixes in its release 3 beta 6 and is regarded as stable. It is still beta due to the developer (Spoon) still wanting work done on it before making it a final release.

Codecs are typically updated when new versions come out, but typically a final non-beta version of the codec must be released before an update for dMC is released. Also, new codecs for dBpowerAMP are beta tested before being fully released.

For all beta versions, the dBpoweramp forums have a beta section, where anyone is allowed to beta test all Illustrate products.

ee also

*List of audio conversion software

External links

* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com dBpoweramp Official Site]
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/spoons-audio-guide.htm Spoons Audio Guide]
* [http://www.dbpoweramp.com/db-versions.htm Comparison of the versions of dMC]