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Features

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maculateConception edited this page Jun 15, 2021 · 53 revisions

Features

Supported file types

Audio formats

  • Supported natively - MP3, AAC, ALAC, AIFF/AIFC, AC3, WAV, and other Core Audio formats. See entire list.
  • Supported via ffmpeg1 - FLAC, Vorbis, Opus, Monkey's Audio (APE), True Audio (TTA), Direct Stream Digital (DSD), Tom's lossless Audio Kompressor (TAK)2, Real Audio, Windows Media Audio (WMA), WavPack (WV), Musepack (MPC), and Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR).

1 Aural Player uses ffmpeg to decode audio and read metadata from tracks of non-native formats. The user experience in terms of playback and metadata is identical to that for natively supported tracks.

2 Not all codec variants of TAK are supported (limited by FFmpeg's TAK support).

Container formats

M4A, OGG, Matroska Audio (MKA), Apple Core Audio Format (CAF)

NOTE (File extensions)

Your audio files must have one of the following file extensions (case does not matter). Otherwise, they will be rejected by the app.

aac, adts, aif, aiff, aifc, amr, caf, mp1, mp2, mp3, m4a, m4b, m4r, snd, au, sd2, wav, ac3, flac, ogg, oga, opus, wma, dsf, dsd, dff, mpc, ape, wv, mka, tta, tak, ra

Playlist files

M3U / M3U8

NOTE - Only references to the local filesystem will be read. References to online streams will be ignored.

Playback

  • Sequencing - repeat track, repeat all (playlist / group), shuffle
  • Track segment looping - define two loop points and loop between them indefinitely
  • Bookmarking - mark a single position or a segment loop
  • Specify 2 different custom seek lengths (fine-grained and coarse-grained seeking)
  • Option to remember last playback position ... either per track or for all tracks
  • "Jump to time" function - quickly skip to a specific track position
  • Configurable autoplay (on app startup and/or when tracks are added)

Effects

  • Graphic equalizer - 10-band and 15-band
  • Pitch shift - Range: -2 octaves to +2 octaves
  • Time stretch (playback rate) - Range: 0.25x to 4x
  • Reverb - space preset and amount
  • Delay - time, amount, feedback, and low pass cutoff
  • Filter (up to 31 bands: Band stop / Band pass / Low pass / High pass)
  • Hosts Audio Units (AU) plug-ins, providing unlimited possibilities for advanced sound tweaking and monitoring / analysis
  • Dynamic control coloring to indicate unit state
  • Option to remember sound settings ... either per track or for all tracks
  • Save effects settings as presets ... per effects unit or all effects as a whole
  • Recording of clips in AAC/ALAC/AIFF formats - captures applied effects

1 The AU plug-in must be an effect / analysis unit that processes audio in real-time, and must provide a custom user interface. Generators (such as synthesizers and instruments) and mixers are not supported.

Track information

  • ID3, iTunes, Vorbis Comment, ApeV2, WMA, and other metadata (when available). Option to export textual metadata as HTML/JSON.
  • Cover art (when available). When the file does not contain cover art, the MusicBrainz online database will be queried for cover art (if artist and album/title metadata are available). Option to export cover art as JPEG/PNG.
  • Lyrics (when available)
  • File system information and technical audio data

Playlist

  • Save to / load from standard M3U playlist files
  • Grouping of tracks by artist/album/genre for convenient browsing
  • Searching and sorting by multiple criteria (e.g. artist/title/album/disc#/track#)
  • Type selection: Type the name of a track to try to find it
  • Functions to conveniently crop/invert track selection, reorder tracks, and scroll through the playlist

Chapters support

  • Playback - play, replay, previous, next, loop
  • Chapters list window for convenient access to all chapter-related functions
  • Metadata - title, start time, and duration displayed.
  • Current chapter marker in chapters list, player displays current chapter title
  • Type selection and search for chapters by title

Track lists

  • Favorites list
  • Chronologically ordered recently added and recently played lists for added convenience.

Visualizer

3 different visualizations that dance to the music, and whose colors can be customized.

  • Spectrogram (2D, responds to the entire audible spectrum)
  • Supernova (2D, responds to the beat)
  • Disco ball (3D, responds to the beat)

UI

  • Winamp-like modular interface. Re-arrange app windows (or modules) per your needs or preference.
  • Fully customizable font scheme (font face and size) for text and headings. Use built-in schemes or create and save your own.
  • Fully customizable color scheme. Use built-in schemes or create and save your own.
  • Menu Bar mode to run the app in the macOS menu bar. Less resource-intensive (uses less CPU / memory) than the regular Windowed mode.
  • Several built-in window layouts. Save your customized layouts for reuse.
  • Window snapping with configurable spacing.
  • Hide individual UI components, such as album art or toolbars, per your preference, to get the UI looking more like you want it.

Usability

  • Media keys support with configurable key behavior

  • Gesture recognition for essential player/playlist controls (trackpad/MagicMouse). Examples:

    • Two finger vertical scroll for volume control
    • Two finger horizontal scroll for seeking
    • Three finger horizontal swipe to change tracks
    • Three finger vertical swipe to scroll to top/bottom of playlist

  • Keyboard shortcuts and menu items for quick and convenient access to functionality. Examples:

    • < / > keys to quickly adjust playback rate (i.e. Time stretch effects unit)
    • + / - keys to quickly adjust pitch (i.e. Pitch shift effects unit)
    • Shift/Alt+1 to increase/decrease Equalizer bass

Customization

  • Configure two independent seek lengths to your liking, used by two independent sets of seek controls … either as a constant value or a percentage of track duration. For instance, set one to a short interval and set the other to a longer interval to quickly skip through large audiobooks while also being able to perform more fine-grained seeking to get to exactly where you want within the track.
  • Click on the track time labels around the seek bar to change the display format to either hh:mm:ss or number of seconds or percentage of track duration
  • Configure how you want the app to look/behave on startup: Autoplay, volume and effects settings on startup, window layout on startup, remembered or default playlist on startup, etc.
  • Configure the increment/decrement for volume/pan and effects unit adjustments
  • Configure window snapping behavior, mouse sensitivity for gestures, and more …
  • Editors to manage all your saved custom app state, such as effects presets, bookmarks, favorites, window layouts, etc, so you can edit your saved data and delete unwanted or old data to prevent clutter.

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