[mad-announce] MAD 0.14.0b available

[Rob Leslie]

MAD version 0.14.0b is now available.

Highlights of this release include:

  - a new ID3 tag manipulation library implementation
  - a new dithering algorithm for (hopefully) even better sound quality
  - keyboard controls for `madplay' (see the man page for details)
  - a fix for `madplay' segfaults on files that are a multiple of 4K
  - improved code portability, and new MSVC++ project files
  - other various small code improvements

The new ID3 tag manipulation library is the most significant addition. The
library has full support for reading ID3v1, ID3v1.1, ID3v2.2, ID3v2.3, and
ID3v2.4 tags, as well as support for writing ID3v1, ID3v1.1, and ID3v2.4 tags.

Currently the only thing to make use of the new library is `madplay' for
displaying tag information, however I also intend to use this as the basis for
implementing ID3v2 support in the MAD plug-in for Winamp. Yes, it's coming
soon!

The new dithering algorithm is intended to address the slight audio
deficiencies of the old one. It should produce better sound in theory, but
your ears are the best judge. Please test it and share your feedback.

The source code is here:

  ftp://ftp.mars.org/pub/mpeg/

The plug-in for Winamp is here:

  http://www.mars.org/home/rob/proj/mpeg/mad-plugin/

Cheers,

-- 
Rob Leslie
rob@mars.org