CODECs list for Movies/Audio/Alternate players / Video help forums/ video-mp3 fixers

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A common question on the forum is about CODECs. So I've decided to leave a list of sites that offer codecs.
It is best to choose one CODEC package ONLY for your system (more than one codec pack installed can cause problems.) Also consider a Video player with in-built codecs as listed in 4th paragraph (we highly recommend VLC player); VLC & MPlayer seem to be best / most reliable ones & recommended to have both players just in case.)

A list of CODECs sources can be found here (choose one of these sources): 1. Free-Codecs.com, __ 2. DivX codec A / DivX Codec B, __
3. K-Litecode Codec Pack, __ 4. XP Codec Pack 1.3.0, __ 5. Vista Codec Package v4.4.7 Beta 4a (freeware) / More direct link to current version,
6. MS WMP codecs, __ 7. divx-digest tools & codecs, etc., __ 8. Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP) (Good H.264 support),
9. 3ivx codec to allow mpeg 4 audio & video playback, ____ 10. Codecs list,
11. TMPG encoder & burner (TMP is for burning dvd's, VCD's, etc. only!)
Mac OSX users see Problems watching videos in Mac OSX - Read this, ___ Converting Video to iPod & playing WMV, WMA, FLAC & Ogg Vorbis in iTunes


* Get Get GSpot (click on link) it's free and it will tell you what you need to play a certain file.. just open the file in GSpot and it will tell you. (GSpot has not been updated in a while!) An alternative to GSpot is MediaInfo (click on link). Another is SHERLOCK - The Codec Detective!. Another is afreeCodecVT. A list of various codec identifiers here.


* Consider getting a back-up player with in-built codecs such as (i) DivX player (DivX player cannot play all video formats), or
(ii) VLC : VLC media player - Overview (choose nearest mirror site.) See its VLC Features. FYI see wiki description here. And How Can I load A new Skin In VLC Player?
Similar to VLC is (iii) MPlayer (click link to find wiki details) which is another cross-platform video player for unix, mac, & windows systems. It has in-built codecs, you can also install some extras to give it a much broader support base. Main download site is here. There is also MPlayer - The Movie Player - Unofficial Packages which give some more up to date playback options. We recommend having "both" VLC & MPlayer on your system since there's the odd thing each other one can't do. MPlayer can play specific VOB files for example, & also better at playing .MOV files. MPlayer also has support for RealMedia & ASF files (see list here).
(iv) Media Player Classic (click link to find wiki details) is another open-source alternative player (for Windows OS only.) Media Player Classic download site. It has limited internal plug-ins & for other codec types relies on those installed on computer. You can even change picture size (strech or compress) while watching the movies. Very good for those Widescreen DVDs and Screeners. Options to stretch etc. are found using NumLock and then the numbers. 5 is normal, etc. Also with Numlock on you can put delay on audio for those out of sync videos using +/-.


AVI specific players: 1. Hyplay, 2. Karawin


A handy Video editing & Conversion tool for Windows & Mac OSX: MPEG Streamclip (free) __ Supported input formats: MPEG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD, VRO, DAT, MOV, DV, AVI, MP4, TS, M2T, MMV, REC, VID, AVR, M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3, ... MPEG Streamclip lets you play and edit QuickTime, DV, AVI, MPEG-4, MPEG-1; MPEG-2 or VOB files or transport streams with MPEG, PCM, or AC3 audio (MPEG-2 playback component required); DivX (with DivX 6). MPEG Streamclip can export all these formats to QuickTime, DV/DV50, AVI/DivX and MPEG-4 with high quality encoding and even uncompressed or HD video. Used with the QuickTime Pro format or even just QuickTime equivalent, and MPeg Streamclip's internal H.264 (x.264) codec & exported as AVI/mp4 format is ideal & makes for high quality videos. MPeg Streamclip video encoded as H.264 (X.264) is better quality than DivX encoder. MPeg Streamclip can convert videos for iPod & is free!!!


* How to set the Default video application on Windows (click on blue link)

* How to change default program in Mac OSX (click on blue link)


What you should know about downloading videos (click on blue link) - (which video formats to download, which sizes, etc.)


Other video questions:

A: Video Help Forum & B: DVD guides forum, C: Video Tools (see the list, but you can also search more specifically for what you're after), & D: From video card to TV, E: Mac video tools, F: Linux video tools

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mp3 & Video Fixer/Repair Tools

mp3:
1. MP3RepairTool link A, / MP3RepairTool link B (free)

mp3 & video:
2. Video Fixer link A, / Video Fixer link B (not free! But a trial version available.) Is supposed to be able to fix mp3's also.

video:
3. List of Video Repair Tool programs (some are FREE) See this list 1st!

4. DiVFix (free)

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Program Name __________ Free/Trial/Commercial ________ Audio Plug-ins for extra formats, etc. ______ Help Documents / Forums


1. dBpowerAMP _ (Free) ____ Plug-in Codecs _______ dBpowerAMP Support forums

2. WinAmp & Pro _ (Free./.Pro is commercial) ___ WinAmp Plug-ins

3. Foobar2000 _ (Free) _________ Additional components _____ Installation help __ Hydrogenaudio Forums > foobar2000

4. Quintessential (QCD) _ (Free) ____ QCD Plug-ins _______ QCD Forums

5. iTunes _ (barely Free) __ 3rd Party Plug-ins & support programs ___ iTunes ipodlounge Forums __ iTunes Tips __ Windows Tutorial ___ * iTunes program has been very buggy for past 2 years at least.

6. Nero Showtime _ (Shareware-30 day trial)

7. MediaMonkey & Gold _ (Free./.Gold is commercial) _ Various MediaMonkey Plug-ins ___ Support _ MediaMonkey Forums

8. aTunes - Open source app. Plays lots of audio formats including FLAC, WAV, MP3, OGG formats. Looks similar to iTunes. Requirements: Java 1.6, MPlayer. More information.


Mac OSX:

1. VOX _ (Free) __________________________________ VOX support forum

2. Audion & Pro _ (Free./.Pro was previously shareware, now free) ____ Audion Help pages

3. XLD Lossless Decoder: Lossless audio decoder for Mac OS X _ (Free) __ (arguably the best perfect rip program available for the mac. As good as the very best Windows rippers or converters recommended by audiophiles.)

4. Switch Audio Converter _ (Free / Pro) ___________ (see site for support options) ______ * (versions for Mac, Windows & Linux)

5. Max _ (Free) __________________________________ Max support forum

5. xAct _ (Free) _(Find download link top of that page.) _____ shntool documentation

6. aTunes - Open source app. Plays lots of audio formats including FLAC, WAV, MP3, OGG formats. Looks similar to iTunes. Requirements: Java 1.6, MPlayer. More information.


Linux:

1. aTunes - Open source app. Plays lots of audio formats including FLAC, WAV, MP3, OGG formats. Looks similar to iTunes. Requirements: Java 1.6, MPlayer. More information.






Audio Editing program: _ Audacity (click on link) _ (Free) __ for Windows, MacOSX & Linux. Can open & export to mp3, wav, aiff, etc. _____

Bit Rates? _ http://www.gnutellaforums.com/downlo...-bitrates.html __ 320 kbps is best for mp3 or m4a/mp4. Variable Bit Rate (VBR) is best because the sound frequencies are better balanced compared to information needed to compress them. And VBR has no need to use high bit rates to encode sound when silent or during a basic simple tone, but encodes at higher bit rates when needed. LAME MP3 is by far the best type of MP3 encoder.


Extra comments:
- WinAmp (has media library)
- Quintessential Player (uses playlist)
- Nero Showtime plays both audio and video (Uses playlist)
- iTunes (has iTunes Music folder) can view video also, but needs to be either mp4/H.264 format. How to transfer music to my iPod (& iTunes) {click on link}. iTunes does not support mp3Pro, Ogg Vorbis or Real.
- Foobar2000 can take a bit of time with settings. Best to seek help at hydrogen audio forum & not ask on these forums.

- VOX (previously called ToolPlayer) is a little and simple music player for OSX with support for many file types, including FLAC, MP3, AAC, Musepack, Monkey's Audio (APE), OGG Vorbis, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV, IT, MOD, XM, Games Music and many others. Includes numerous effects like Equalizer, Reverb, Time Stretch, Pitch Shift, Echo. Effects can be exported. VOX does not import to its own music library or use playlists. It plays the songs from wherever the files are opened directly from, so it's simple in function. Vox can export to AIFF & a few other formats.
- Audion is no longer developed, however Pro does give support for mp3Pro which iTunes does not. Also supports Ogg Vorbis, WMA, SID. Can export using various formats including Lame & mp3Pro. * Audion Pro is now supposedly free; a free serial number is provided at the top of the download page. It does work on the new mac intel machines. Still a great player/encoder even now!
- Switch is more of a converter but also a handy player. Versions for Windows, Linux & MacOSX. It can play & convert a wide range of audio formats. One version is free, the other pro is commercial with a few extras you would never use. Supported formats: wav, .mp3, au, aif, gsm, dct, vox, raw, ogg, flac, amr, wma, wmv, aac (not aacPlus), m4a, act/rcd (newer version of format not supported), rm/ra, mov
- Max is a CD audio extractor and audio converter. 20 compressed and uncompressed formats including MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC, Apple Lossless, Monkey's Audio, WavPack, Speex, AIFF, and WAVE. Full tag editing abilities. Works well with iTunes. It is not a player per se, rather an audio utility.
- xAct is a free audio ripper & converter for MacOSX, FLAC, MPEG-4 (AAC and Apple Lossless), MP3, APE, WavPack, Shorten, AIFF, WAV, etc. CD extraction via cd paranoia. Can author a DVD-Audio Disc image for playback in a DVD-Audio compatible player. Split or join APE or other format albums with cue.
- XLD uses CD extraction via cd paranoia. Multiple formats to convert to or from: FLAC, mp3 (LAME), MPEG-4 (AAC and Apple Lossless), AIFF, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, WavPack, Wave64, PCM, APE splitting via cue file. Disk reader profiling & testing, logging, etc. High quality encoding.

* VLC whilst primarily a video player, can also be used to play most audio types including audio streaming from sites. VLC should be able to play all kinds of audio files you find on Gnutella network. If VLC cannot play an audio file, chances are the audio file is fake or corrupted. VLC is supported on a very wide range of operating systems; Windows, MacOSX, Linux, etc.

QuickTime playback of Ogg and FLAC files - Xiph-QT Codec. There are also svn releases which are slightly newer. Read XiphQT FAQ about iTunes compatibility. I do not think the newer iTunes versions are compatible with the XiphQT codec, but at least QT 7 player still seems compatible.

Information on Uncompressed Lossless (WAV/AIFF), Compressed Lossless (FLAC, etc.), & Lossy Audio formats (mp3, m4a, etc.)

Audio formats you should not download or share: WMA (What you should know about WMA Files), RA, AU. MIDI is questionable also. Due to their design, these kinds of audio file formats on the Gnutella network are generally potentially carrying viruses or are fake.

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• For Mac OSX users, see _ iTunes 7.7 -> 8+ versions no longer compatible with LimeWire versions up to 4.17. How to downgrade to an older version of iTunes ! And iTunes 'Alternative' programs

• Windows users see _ How to downgrade to an older version of iTunes

• Windows and Linux and Mac alternative programs to use for iPod, etc.: _ http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/ITunes_Alternatives

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari..._iPod_Managers

Thanks to Birdy for the links