fre:ac version 1.1

fre:ac is a free and open source audio converter. It supports audio CD
ripping and tag editing and converts the following audio formats:

	- MP3
		- using the LAME MP3 encoder		(http://lame.sourceforge.net/)
		- using the mpg123 decoder		(http://www.mpg123.de/)
		- using the MAD MP3 decoder		(http://www.underbit.com/)

	- MP4/M4A AAC
		- using the Core Audio AAC encoder	(http://www.apple.com/)
		- using the FAAC/FAAD2 codec		(http://www.audiocoding.com/)

	- Windows Media Audio				(http://www.microsoft.com/)

	- Xiph Foundation codecs
		- Opus					(http://www.opus-codec.org/)
		- Vorbis				(http://www.vorbis.com/)
		- Speex					(http://www.speex.org/)
		- FLAC					(http://flac.sourceforge.net/)

	- Apple Lossless (ALAC)
		- using the Core Audio ALAC encoder	(http://www.apple.com/)
		- using the libav ALAC encoder		(http://www.libav.org/)
		- using David Hammerton's ALAC decoder	(http://www.craz.net/)

	- Musepack					(http://www.musepack.net/)
	- WavPack					(http://www.wavpack.com/)
	- OptimFROG					(http://www.losslessaudio.org/)
	- Monkey's Audio				(http://www.monkeysaudio.com/)
	- TAK						(http://www.thbeck.de/)

	- various other formats
		- using the libsndfile library		(http://www.mega-nerd.com/)
		- using the libav codec library		(http://www.libav.org/)

Further codecs (e.g. Nero's HE-AAC encoder) can be used as external
plug-ins (see the manual for installation instructions).

fre:ac uses the CDRip library for audio ripping on Windows.
fre:ac uses the cdio library for audio ripping on macOS, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD and NetBSD.
fre:ac uses the cdparanoia library for audio ripping on Linux, FreeBSD and OpenBSD.

fre:ac uses sound files by Little Robot Sound Factory licensed under the CC BY 3.0 license.

Code from FAAD2 is Copyright (c) Nero AG, www.nero.com

Installation
------------

	Windows:

		fre:ac is distributed in two variants, an .exe file containing a setup wizard or alternatively
		a .zip archive that contains just the application without an installer.

		If you downloaded the .exe installer, simply run it and the setup wizard will guide you through
		the installation process creating start menu icons that will run fre:ac.

		If you downloaded the .zip package, please extract/move the contents to a location of your
		choice and run freac.exe to start fre:ac.

	macOS:

		fre:ac is distributed as an Apple Disk Image (.dmg) file.

		To install it, open the .dmg image and drag the fre:ac application to a location of your choice
		like the desktop or the Applications folder. Then double click the application to start fre:ac.

	Linux:

		fre:ac is available as a Snap, Flatpak or AppImage package.

		The Snap and Flatpak versions can be found and installed from the respective app stores. Please
		note that these versions run in restriced environments and might offer limited functionality.

		The AppImage package must be marked as executable after downloading using the following command:

			chmod a+x freac*.AppImage

		The AppImage can then be executed to start fre:ac.

	FreeBSD:

		fre:ac is distributed as a .tar.gz archive.

		Please extract the contents to a location of your choice and execute the freac binary to start
		fre:ac.

Requirements
------------

	Requirements for running fre:ac:

		Supported operating systems:
			- Windows XP/Vista/7/8.x/10
			- macOS 10.5 Leopard or later
			- Linux (most modern distributions are supported)
			- FreeBSD/PC-BSD (tested on FreeBSD 12.1)
			- NetBSD (tested on NetBSD 6.0, NetBSD 5.x and earlier releases are not supported)
			- OpenBSD (tested on OpenBSD 5.3)
			- Solaris (tested on Solaris 11)
			- GNU Hurd (tested on Debian Sid)
			- Haiku (tested on Haiku R1 beta 1)

		Minimum hardware requirements:
			- Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon 64, PowerPC G4 or ARMv7 CPU
			- 512 MB RAM
			- 100 MB free disk space

		Recommended hardware specs:
			- Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen 5 or ARMv8 CPU
			- 4 GB RAM
			- 4 GB free disk space

	Additional requirements for compiling the sources:

		All platforms:

			- smooth v0.9.4 (http://www.smooth-project.org/)

		Windows:

			- MinGW GCC v4.0+ (http://www.mingw.org/) or Visual Studio 2019

		All Linux and Unix platforms:

			- GCC v4.0+

			- libfaac, libfaad2, libjpeg, libmp3lame, libmp4v2, libmpg123,
			  libogg, libopus, libpng, libspeex, libvorbis

			Linux:

				- libcdio, libcdio-paranoia, libpulse, libudev

			Solaris:

				- audio headers

	Additional optional software:

		- The 32 bit version for Windows can use Winamp plug-ins if they are present in the 'plugins' folder.

		- Several external codecs can be used with fre:ac. Please see the manual for more details.

History
-------

	Version 1.1 (March 2020)

		- Bug fixes

			- Fixed parallel processing being active for CD track reference files on Windows
			- Fixed freaccmd ejecting the CD after ripping 1 track with eject option is enabled in fre:ac
			- Fixed crash of freaccmd when DISPLAY variable is not set on Linux/FreeBSD

	Version 1.1 RC 2 (March 2020)

		- Bug fixes

			- Fixed inability to read raw AAC files with the FAAD2 decoder
			- Fixed inability to create WMA files with long path names
			- Fixed cursor positioning and text selection in right-to-left mode
			- Fixed cursor position calculation not respecting kerning on Windows 10

		- Updated codecs

			- updated Monkey's Audio to version 5.24

		- Updated translations

			- updated Serbian translations

	Version 1.1 RC 1 (March 2020)

		- Improvements

			- now passing float samples to LAME encoder directly if sample format is float
			- made automatic ripping work when using the single output file option
			- added options to control chapter information and cover art to freaccmd
			- handle Ctrl+C in freaccmd to clean up temporary files when aborted
			- respect colorization tint color on Windows Vista, 7 and 8/8.1
			- improved HiDPI detection on Linux/FreeBSD systems
			- log CDDB information when ripping

		- Bug fixes

			- fixed drag & drop not accepting long file paths on Windows
			- fixed file modification time stamp getting lost when output verification is active
			- fixed file creation time stamp not being preserved despite option being enabled
			- fixed freaccmd not correctly handling relative output folders
			- fixed black title bar color on Windows Vista, 7 and 8/8.1
			- fixed online updater not working

	Version 1.1 Beta 3 (February 2020)

		- Improvements

			- added support for dark mode on Windows 10
			- prepared for freedb.org shutdown on 31st March 2020
			- the fre:ac installer is now digitally signed
			- added separate Windows Wave File Output entry to encoder list
			- display current signal processing settings in status area
			- added a toolbar button to configure signal processing
			- added new tips to Tip of the Day dialog

		- Bug fixes

			- fixed compatibility issue with Windows 10 UTF-8 codepage setting
			- fixed FLAC decoding on macOS
			- fixed issues opening Opus files with a .ogg extension
			- fixed Monkey's Audio encoder not showing up in 64 bit builds
			- fixed some issues with freaccmd command line interface

		- Updated codecs

			- updated Monkey's Audio to version 5.18

		- Updated translations

			- updated Chinese (simplified) translation

	Version 1.1 Beta 2 (January 2020)

		- Improvements

			- respect theme accent color on Windows 10
			- log names of active DSP components
			- log total duration and speed of conversions

		- Bug fixes

			- fixed an IO subsystem issue causing corrupted output files in some cases
			- fixed SuperFast LAME repacker causing glitches in output files in some cases
			- fixed gapless decoding of MP3 files created with FFmpeg
			- fixed inability to update ID3v2 and APEv2 tags in tag editor
			- fixed inability to exit application after ejecting a disc while ripping
			- fixed hangup when ejecting a disc while adding its tracks to joblist
			- fixed minimum and maximum bitrate values being mixed up in Vorbis configuration dialog

		- Updated codecs

			- updated Monkey's Audio to version 5.12
			- updated WavPack to version 5.2.0

		- Updated translations

			- updated Dutch translation

	Version 1.1 Beta 1 (December 2019)

		- implemented an extension component framework to modularize fre:ac

		- ported to macOS, Linux and BSD operating systems
		- added native 64 bit Windows platform support

		- Multi threading support

			- conversions are now done in parallel if possible
			- integrated SuperFast encoding technology for multi-threaded processing
			- adding files to the joblist can now use multiple threads

		- Major new features

			- added support for multi-channel audio
			- added support for verifying lossless input and output files
			- added support for processing input with DSP filters
			- added support for writing conversion log files
			- added support for managing multiple configurations
			- added a tag editor component
			- added multi encoder component for simultaneous output to multiple formats

		- User interface improvements

			- completely reworked configuration dialog
			- added support for editing configurations during conversions
			- added the ability to sort the joblist by clicking headers
			- allow format selection from the encode menu for encoders supporting multiple formats
			- new dialog to confirm overwriting of existing files before conversion
			- redesigned progress display area
			- added a button to open the output folder
			- the time left indicator now shows hours if necessary
			- the five last used output folders are now saved for later use
			- the five last used file name patterns are now saved for later use

		- File conversion improvements

			- added support for automatic sample format conversions to match encoder requirements
			- added support for joining tracks with different sample formats into a single output file
			- added options for playing notification sounds on finished conversions
			- added an option to append sequential numbers to otherwise identical filenames
			- added <composer>, <conductor> and <disc> filename patterns
			- added configuration option to keep converted tracks in joblist
			- added configuration option to add encoded files to joblist
			- added a warning when converting from lossy to lossless formats
			- skipping tracks is no longer possible when converting to a single file
			- conversion progress is now shown in the taskbar on Windows 7 and later
			- added support for setting process priority on Windows

		- CD ripping improvements

			- added support for ripping hidden tracks (HTOA)
			- added support for reading ISRC codes from CDs
			- added CD read offset configuration option
			- upgraded CDRip to version 2.3 (with cdparanoia III version 10.2)

		- CDDB support improvements

			- added preview to CDDB match selection dialog
			- added an option to automatically select the first CDDB match
			- added support for CDDB queries using HTTP GET
			- allow CDDB queries even when no CD drive is present
			- allow CDDB dialogs to be resized

		- Playback improvements

			- allow playback while a conversion is running
			- added a slider for seeking during playback
			- the button to open the CD tray now closes it if already open

		- New and updated codecs

			- added support for command line encoders/decoders
			- added Core Audio AAC/ALAC encoder
			- added Opus audio encoder/decoder
			- added Speex speech encoder/decoder
			- added Monkey's Audio encoder/decoder
			- added Musepack encoder/decoder
			- added WavPack encoder/decoder
			- added OptimFROG encoder/decoder
			- added TAK lossless encoder/decoder
			- added support for the Fraunhofer FDK AAC encoder/decoder
			- added support for the VisualOn AAC encoder
			- added support for the TwinVQ VQF decoder
			- added support for Ogg FLAC files
			- added support for RF64 and Wave64 files
			- added support for libsndfile for reading simple audio files
			- added support for reading and writing Vorbis files with .oga extension

		- New DSP components

			- added DSP components for resampling, channel up-/downmixing and sample format conversion
			- added RNNoise speech noise reduction DSP component
			- added Rubber Band time stretching DSP component

		- Tagging improvements

			- added support for chapters in ID3v2, MP4, WMA and Vorbis Comment tags
			- added support for handling gapless playback information
			- added support for changing album art
			- added support for MCDI frame in ID3v2 tags
			- added support for ID3v1 tags in AAC files
			- added RIFF tagging support (using LIST INFO and Cart chunks)
			- improved metadata extraction from path names
			- improved title info editing user friendliness
			- added context menu for text edit fields
			- greatly improved case conversion functions
			- the FLAC encoder now writes seektable metadata blocks

		- Playlist and cue sheet improvements

			- added support for XSPF, Windows Media and PLS playlists
			- added support for creating one playlist or cue sheet per album in a single conversion
			- fixed creation of cue sheets for multiple tracks in a single file
			- added support for loading cue sheets

		- freaccmd improvements

			- completely reworked arguments of freacmd
			- added support for selecting configuration in freaccmd
			- added support for encoding to a single file with freaccmd

Special thanks to
-----------------

	- Paul Francis Harrison for developing the Bonk format
	- Albert L. Faber for his excellent CDRip Ripping Library

	- the translators: Eric Le Carre and Philippe Grivel (French),
			   Marco D'Amato and Roberto Boriotti (Italian),
			   REIKA and BHCrusher1 (Japanese),
			   Federico Reddig and Will (Spanish),
			   Jose Maria Vera Somoza (Spanish, Latin American),
			   Nikolaos-Ioannis Galanis (Greek),
			   Evgeny Kozlov (Russian),
			   Henryk Ning and Meng Pang Wang (Chinese, traditional),
			   Joeyong Jen (Chinese, simplified),
			   Michal Trzebiatowski and Darek Rzeznicki (Polish),
			   Peter Toth (Hungarian),
			   Andrij Ilechko (Ukrainian),
			   Wim Garreyn and Thomas De Rocker (Dutch),
			   Nebojša Nikolic (Serbian),
			   Jan Parttimaa (Finnish),
			   Julius Faltus (Czech),
			   J. B. Escada Jr. and André C. Barros (Portuguese, Brazilian),
			   Odyssey (Korean),
			   Jan Arni Jacobsen (Danish),
			   Mikael Hiort af Ornäs and Anton Mjoernebrant (Swedish),
			   Peter Krajcar and Miro Babinsky (Slovak),
			   Andreas Normann Aanonsen (Norwegian),
			   Vincent Rateau (Esperanto),
			   Cako (Turkish),
			   Naglis Jonaitis (Lithuanian),
			   Borca Alin and Laurentiu Bubuianu (Romanian),
			   El libre (Catalan),
			   Agustín Bou (Valencian),
			   Jose Goncalves (Portuguese),
			   Meelis Pasieko (Estonian),
			   Goran Bekic (Croatian),
			   Eduardo Estévez (Galician),
			   Phan Anh (Vietnamese),
			   Ilan Tsmeret (Hebrew),
			   Eman Ali Fhoula (Arabic),
			   Martin Deyanov and KalinM (Bulgarian),
			   Cois Wiid (Afrikaans),
			   Xabier Aramendi (Basque),
			   Kin Kwok (Cantonese, Hong Kong),
			   Patriccollu di Santa Maria è Sichè (Corsican)

	- Hans-Jürgen Bardenhagen for his help and suggestions for the FAAC encoder
	- all the testers and everyone who submitted bug reports

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The official fre:ac homepage: https://www.freac.org/

robert.kausch@freac.org,
Robert Kausch
