LameXP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is LameXP ???
LameXP is a graphical user-interface for a number of audio encoders. It was developed to support a huge
number of input formats. File formats are detected reliably using MediaInfo. Compressed audio formats are
decoded to uncompressed Wave files using suitable CLI audio decoders. Furthermore LameXP allows batch
processing of multiple audio files. Multithreading is implemented by processing several audio files
concurrently. All the third-party tools incorporated in LameXP are listed in the "About" dialog. The Nero AAC
encoder cannot be redistribited due to licensing issues; it is availabel as a free download from the public
Nero web-site. Note: LameXP does NOT use/need any "external" audio decoders. It neither requires nor supports
any ACM Codecs or DirectShow/DMO filters! And it will NOT install anything of that kind on your system.
What platforms does LameXP run on?
LameXP is currently being develped and tested on the following platforms:
- Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 3
- Microsoft Windows 7, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
- Microsoft Windows 2000, Service Pack 4
The following platforms should work as well, but aren't tested extensively:
- Microsoft Windows Vista, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
- GNU/Linux using Wine (native Linux version planned)
The following platforms are NOT supported any longer:
- Microsoft Windows 95
- Microsoft Windows 98
- Micorosft Windows Millenium Edition
What output formats (encoders) does LameXP support?
Currently the follwing output formats are supported by LameXP:
- MPEG Audio-Layer III (MP3), using the LAME encoder [built-in]
- Ogg Vorbis, using the OggEnc2/libvorbis encoder [built-in]
- Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), using Nero AAC encoder [available as separate download]
- Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) [built-in]
- Uncompressed PCM / Waveform Audio File (WAV/RIFF)
What input formats (decoders) does LameXP support?
Currently the follwing input formats are supported by LameXP:
- AC-3 (ATSC A/52), using Valib decoder [built-in]
- Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), using FAAD decoder [built-in]
- Apple Lossless (ALAC)
- Apple/SGI AIFF
- Digital Theater System, using Valib decoder [built-in]
- Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
- Microsoft ADPCM
- Monkey's Audio (APE)
- MPEG Audio-Layer I (MP1), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
- MPEG Audio-Layer II (MP2), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
- MPEG Audio-Layer III (MP3), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
- Musepack
- Shorten
- Speex
- Sun/NeXT Au
- The True Audio (TTA)
- Uncompressed PCM / Waveform Audio File (WAV/RIFF)
- WavPack Hybrid Lossless Audio
- Windows Media Audio (WMA), using NCH Software decoder [available as separate download]
My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download/install/launch LameXP. Why is that?
Occasionally your anti-virus program may mistakenly detect "malware" (virus, trojan, worm, etc.) in some of
the files here. This is called a "false-positive" and the files are actually innocent/clean. It's an error in
your specific anti-virus software. In case you encounter such problems, goto http://www.virustotal.com/ and
check the file with multiple anti-virus engines! Moreover take care with results like "suspicious", "generic"
or "packed". Those are *not* real malware detections, they are just wild speculation.
Apparently anti-virus programs tend to suspect installers/uninstaller created with NSIS. Furthermore some
anti-virus programs blindly suspect all UPX'd (packed) executables of being malware. Obviously this is a
stupid generalization, so please ignore those warnings! Last but not least: Always keep in mind that this is
OpenSource software. If you don't trust the people providing the pre-compiled binaries, download the source
code, search the code for "malicious" functions (good luck ^^) and compile your own binary.
DON'T SUBMIT ANY VIRUS REPORTS, UNLESS YOU HAVE VERIFIED THE INFECTION WITH MULTIPLE ANTI-VIRUS ENGNINES!
Who created LameXP?
LameXP was written from the scratch by LoRd_MuldeR <MuldeR2@GMX.de>. However it has to be noted that LameXP
uses a number of thrird-party tools, which have been created by the individual authors. Moreover various
people have contributed LameXP translations. Please see the "About" dialog for details!
What license is LameXP released under?
LameXP is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
License (GPL) as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Please see the GNU General Public License for more details!
How can I use LameXP as a "portable" application?
LameXP always is "portable", in the sense that the application works out of the box: LameXP does NOT require
any additional software, such as codecs, encoders, decoders or runtime libraries, and it will NOT install
anything of that kind on your local computer! All the third-party tools used by LameXP are already built-in.
There currently are two notable exceptions: The Nero AAC encoder and the WMA decoder cannot be redistributed
along with LameXP for legal reasons. Therefore these tools have to be obtained as separate downloads.
Having said that, LameXP stores its configuration file in the %LOCALAPPDATA% folder on the local computer.
That's because on a modern multi-user operating this is the only "correct" folder to store user-specific
configuration files. Also it's one of the few folders where an application is guaranteed to get write-access,
even when the application was launched by a "normal" (non-admin) user and did not request elevated rights.
Storing the configuration file in the "install" folder is antiquated and highly error-prone.
Still some users may want to store the configuration file in the same folder as the LameXP execuatble file,
e.g. when launching LameXP directly from their USB stick on different computers. For this purpose LameXP now
offers a "true" portable mode. You can enable that mode simply by renaming the LameXP executable file to
"LameXP-Portable.exe". But be aware: When running LameXP in the "portable" mode, the user(!) must ensure that
write-access is granted to the directory where the LameXP exectable is located.
The LameXP startup (splash screen) takes very long on my system. What can I do?
Starting up LameXP shouldn't take longer than approximately 10 seconds. However it was brought to our
attention that badly optimized anti-virus software can slow down the startup procedure a lot! On our test
system (Windows 7 running on an Intel Core2 Q6600 with 4 GB of RAM) starting up LameXP takes about 3 seconds
without an anti-virus software and about 6 seconds with the "real-time protection" of Micorosft Security
Essentials enabled. With other anti-virus software the startup was delayed up to 20 seconds and more!
So if you think that LameXP is starting up too slow on your system, you should temporarily(!) disable or
uninstall your current anti-virus program and try again. Usually it should be sufficient to disable only the
"real-time protection", "file system protection" or "guard" feature of your anti-virus software. If it turns
out that the startup is signficanntly(!) faster WITHOUT the anti-virus software, please report the problem to
the developer of the anti-virus software. And, if they don't fix the problem, switch to a better product!
How can I translate LameXP to my language or improve an existing translation?
Please see the guide for translators at:
Where can I download the latest version of LameXP?
The latest "official" release of LameXP can be found on the following mirrors:
Where can I submit bug reports or feature requests?
The preferred place to report bugs or request new features is the LameXP thread at Doom9's Forum:
Where can I find the LameXP source code?
LameXP is developed using the Git revision control system. The LameXP Git repository is mirrored at:
What are the prerequisites to build LameXP from the sources?
LameXP is currently being developed using the following build environment:
- Visual Studio 2008, Service Pack 1
- Qt libraries v4.7.1 for Windows (VS 2008)
- Microsoft Windows SDK v7.1
Also note the following hints:
- You must launch Visual Studio using "qtvars.bat vsstart" in order to enable the Qt tools
- The Microsoft Windows SDK v6.0A should work as well, with a few limitations
- In order to make a fully "static" build of LameXP, you need to compile Qt as static libraries
- Support for the GNU Toolchain (GCC/MinGW + Make) is planned for a future version
eof