-SHN
There is no SHN TOOLS in the left hand menu, because .shn is now an aging format, which compresses much less than flac and ape, ape being the format which compresses the best. For that reason, it is not recommended to encode to shn anymore. However, shn files are still heavily circulated and you'll probably need to decode some .shn files sooner or later.
-Foobar
allows you to play shn files. You can also convert shn to wav or another
format straight from the Foobar playlist.
-dBPowerAmp
Audio Player also allows you to play shn files. dBPowerAmp
Music Converter is a separate tool that will also allow you to convert
shn to wav.
-Or you can use the ShnAmp
plug in for playing shn files in Winamp.
-mkwACT is an old tool for converting shn to wav, not recommended, and
the mkw format is even older than .shn.
-Use xACT
if you're a mac user for converting shn and other formats
-MD5
With
.md5 checksums, file integrity can be verified.
There are many md5 tools out there.
Some md5 tools can have incompatibilty issues: sometimes, an .md5 file
created with a particular md5 tool cannot be auto-checked with another
md5 tool. However both different tools will create the exact same checksums
for those very files you're trying to check. It's just a read-incompatibility.
If that ever happens to you, just create your own .md5 file with your
md5 tool and use notepad to read both the .md5 you just created and
the one you cannot auto-check. Compare the two, the checksums should
be the same.
A
very nice md5 tool is hkSFV,
it does .md5 and .sfv as well, very fast, and very easily.
To avoid any possible issue of hkSFV renaming the files being checked,
just set up the preferences like this:
No need to modify
any other option really.
-ANALFREQ
With analfreq you'll be able to visually determine whether a wav is mp3 sourced or not.
Just
convert a lossless file to wav. Open analfreq. Drag and Drop the wav
over the analfreq window.
Note:
check the Free Run box in analfreq, it'll help you see the frequency
analysis better.
You don't have to go through all the way until the end of the analysis,
just hit cancel before exiting.
With analfreq, you can also make a .bmp capture of a frequency analysis.
It will be a nice way to show others that a specific material is not
mp3 sourced.
The
above screenshot is an original wav, it goes all the way to 22kHz, the
curve for an mp3 sourced wav generally does not get past the 17-18k
mark, it depends on the bitrate used for mp3 encoding.
Check this webpage for more info on mp3 frequency analysis
-SECTOR BOUNDARY ERRORS
When
you've edited a set of wav in an audio editor, don't forget to fix those
wavs with shntool before burning to audio cdr or compressing. In case
you're planning on sharing that set of files in lossless format, please
provide a wavinfo.txt (also created with shntool) attesting that the
set of files is sector boundary free.
If you're planning on sharing them in flac format, you can even skip
the shntool fixing step and encode directly with the Flac
Frontend with the "align on sector boundaries"
option checked.
But still don't forget to provide a wavinfo.txt proving the set of files
is sector boundary error free.
(Shntool tutorial here)
-APE & FLAC
Please encode with either the Flac Frontend or the Monkey's Audio Frontend.
It is the safest way to encode, encoding with either foobar or dbpoweramp requires plug ins that may not be 100% reliable. (Same thing goes for burning ape,flac,shn with Nero and its plug ins: may not be 100% reliable)
-When encoding to ape, please just stick to "High". Encoding to "Extra High" gives almost identical results than "High", difference is about a couple megas for a 700 MB set. And most importantly, playback of "Extra High" encoded ape files is hard on the cpu.
-When encoding to flac, level 8 is the maximum compression available. Flac "level 8" compresses a bit less than ape "High" and takes a bit longer to encode but flac is still a more popular format than ape right now. Playback of Flac "8" files is as easy on the cpu as ape "High". Flac 8 is a better choice than Flac 5 for sharing purposes (better compression)
-FOOBAR
foobar is according to many the best player for pc.
more on foobar soon