Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

Pages: (2) < [1] 2 > [ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Mar. 02 2005, 19:12 OGGs used to be a problem to me too. But now I've got an OGG plug-in for Windows Media Player and an OGG plug-in for Nero (to burn 'em). This basically means that I can play 'em wherever and whenever I want. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

MusicallyInspired Group: Musicians Posts: 1445 Joined: June 2001 Posted: Mar. 02 2005, 19:17 Quote I did try Winamp once - maybe a year ago. And it did all sorts of weird things that didn't seem right to me - so I uninstalled it. Winamp presumably took offence at this and fixed things so that long, long after it had gone, all kinds of files kept telling me that I couldn't open them because I didn't have Winamp. Took me weeks to sort out the mess. Then my friend, your problem is not with Winamp, but with Microsoft. Specifically Windows . Any program that would make itself the program to open certain files (such as picture files, lets say) and uninstalling it would do the same thing. Because Windows is dumb. Although lately it doesn't do that anymore because it safely reverts the file associations back to the default programs you had before you installed the said program that changed it in the first place. And besides, you can safely go into the preferences of these programs (without uninstalling them) and change the settings so that they don't associate those files with itself and thereby eliminating any "can't find whatever program to run whatever file" errors. I can certainly understand your hatred. I'm sure everybody hates something because of bad experience that most other people find useful. I know I hate some things..I can't recall any right now lol, but they are there. But Winamp has evolved much since earlier days as well. Maybe you should rethink giving it another chance. I know I hated Winamp 3 when it first came out. I just simply stayed with the old 2.5 or whatever version it was. But now with Winamp 5 it is much better, IMHO. And works like a charm and doesn't do anything to my computer that I don't want it to. Of course, I've become the master of my computer and know it inside and out and have a lot of experience with computers/programs/etc and if you (I'm speaking generally) aren't then I suppose some things could happen. It's up to you either way. But OGG is the best thing that happened in my musical/recording and computer handeling life. But if you still decide not to use Winamp, then I will continue encoding MP3s as well as OGGs. -------------- BrandonBlume.com "The beauty in life is in the embracing of the variety of things. If all the world was blue there would be no colour blue." Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Mar. 02 2005, 20:17 Quote (MusicallyInspired @ Mar.03 2005, 00:17) And besides, you can safely go into the preferences of these programs (without uninstalling them) and change the settings so that they don't associate those files with itself and thereby eliminating any "can't find whatever program to run whatever file" errors. I'm sure YOU can safely go into the preferences of these programs, Brandon, but sadly it's unrealistic to suppose that I could do any such thing without mangling everything up. Quote (Ugo @ Mar. 03 2005, 00:12) .... and an OGG plug-in for Nero (to burn 'em). So even if I reinstall Winamp, I can't burn anything because Nero can't handle oggs either without a special add-on? Aaarrhhh, there's no end to it - it's like a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger .... [Headlines: Oldfield Enthusiast's Computer Buried in Avalanche!] Back to top

c_haese Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 00:13 Quote (Alan D @ Mar. 02 2005, 12:42) ...I read the alarming number of 'known issues'... So thanks, but... no thanks. It's pretty safe to say that none of the known issues of the DirectShow filters would apply to you. For plain vanilla playback of Ogg Vorbis files, illiminable's filters are widely used and well tested. But if you still don't trust the DirectShow filters and hate WinAmp, there's also Foobar2000: http://www.foobar2000.org/ -Carsten Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 04:27 Alan, I just recently installed Winamp purely for the purpose of playing .ogg files, and I can say that it did not take over my computer. During installation, all you need to do is watch out for any tick boxes that say "do you want to make winamp the default player for .mp3 files" or whatever, or "do you want Winamp to connect automatically to the internet" or whatever it says, and make sure you don't select them (you may have to uncheck them yourself). If you do all that, everything else on your computer will still be the way you left it. This version asks before taking over your computer.   -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 06:23 Quote (Alan D @ Mar. 02 2005, 18:27) But Sir M (puzzlement spreading across my face), I explained both the why, and the when, in my post..... Okay, you did explain the when, but the "why" is most probably Windows' fault, not Winamp's. If you only knew how inadequate Windows is, you'd hardly hate any non-Microsoft software. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 07:38 Quote (raven4x4x @ Mar. 03 2005, 09:27) This version asks before taking over your computer.   Thank Alex. That makes a difference!!! (Except that the REAL problems began after I'd UNinstalled Winamp. What had happened up to that point was merely irritating...) But still - if you can't burn these ogg files with Nero - that's a big snag, isn't it? Also, I'm running Windows 98, which I presume is less tolerant of these things than XP? I just want to make sure I don't mess up my computer. Precisely who is to blame for doing it doesn't really concern me. I think I've just talked myself into staying with what I have. Back to top

c_haese Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 08:24 Quote (Alan D @ Mar. 03 2005, 07:38) if you can't burn these ogg files with Nero - that's a big snag, isn't it? For Nero, there is http://neroplugins.cd-rw.org/. There are lots of burning applications out there, and it's possible that those, too, have plugins for Ogg Vorbis or even support it out of the box, like Ashampoo Burning Studio for example. Even if the burning software does not support Ogg Vorbis, there's always the option of decoding the Ogg Vorbis files into WAV (for which there are a number of tools) and burning that. Quote Also, I'm running Windows 98, which I presume is less tolerant of these things than XP? I just want to make sure I don't mess up my computer. Don't worry about messing up your computer. It has Windows 98 on it. It's already messed up.   Quote I think I've just talked myself into staying with what I have. That is your right, but staying with what you have (MP3) and trying something new (Ogg Vorbis) are not mutually exclusive. The tools you install to get Ogg Vorbis to work won't suddenly make MP3 cease to function, and downloading an Ogg Vorbis file to your computer won't suddenly erase all your MP3 files. -Carsten Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 10:08 Quote (c_haese @ Mar. 03 2005, 13:24) For Nero, there is http://neroplugins.cd-rw.org/. But... you overestimate both my knowledge and my courage. Just one look at that web page is enough to give me the willies. Quote Don't worry about messing up your computer. It has Windows 98 on it. It's already messed up.   But it isn't. It does everything I want it to except play ogg files. Quote The tools you install to get Ogg Vorbis to work won't suddenly make MP3 cease to function But you see it's exactly here where I lack the necessary faith, either in Windows, or the tools, or both - and in my ability to sort out the mess I may get landed with. Quote there's always the option of decoding the Ogg Vorbis files into WAV (for which there are a number of tools) Now this is far more promising! I already have a freeware program that converts wav to mp3 and vice versa. Maybe this is the way for me to go.... And then the doubts return - would the new-fangled ogg converting program (whatever it might be) replace, or otherwise mess up, the easy and smooth operation of the nice mp3-conversion program I have already? Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 13:27 Winamp actually has a feature that outputs WAV files for virtually anything it's asked to play - including MP3 and OGG files. What I see is that you're afraid of not liking Winamp and trying to erase it. I still think you should go for Winamp. It may look a little too big at first sight, but it really isn't. I don't know what program you're using for playing MP3 right now, but I suppose it's Media Player? Winamp is Media Player, but better. The installation of the program is actually very simple. You just need to deactivate any option of connecting you to the Internet, registering, and anything like that. If you run the set-up and read all the options, you'll know what it's trying to do. At best, it will open a weird "browser" thing that you can close immediately. If you switch Winamp to the "Classic" mode, forget the fancy EQ tables, Browsers and that hogwash, you'll simply have a player and a playlist that will stay in its corner, peaceful and quiet, not doing anything until you ask it to - and that includes playing OGG files. Part of giving up the fear of computers is messing with them. It sounds silly, but it's true. And Winamp is a VERY friendly and innofensive program, perfect for "messing" around with. When you install it, you can ask it not to set it up as your defauly player, so you can make it quite optional. I believe that, once you get used to Winamp, you'll want to stick with it. It's so small and insignificant, but suddenly, it unfolds into an immense Media Library, cool EQ functions, and not to mention the gorgeous visual plug-ins. Try visiting winamp.com and reading the text around the show-off pictures for a start. Take this solely as a suggestion, mind you. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 13:55 "Winamp actually has a feature that outputs WAV files for virtually anything it's asked to play - including MP3 and OGG files." It used to do this for WMA files too. However, this feature was removed just a week or so ago.... about 4 days after I started to use AOL Winamp ! I'm going to stop using it again, the "WMA2WAV" feature was useful and will be missed. There are a couple of thinsgs very offensive about: by default it takes over your audio settings so all files play through it (and the default installation sets it up as spyware). In the words of Gollum, it is "tricksy": the current Winamp is "hijackware" if you install it just clicking next, next next etc. A better program would do such bad things unless you went out of your way to tell it to. "Alan D" is right: what happened to him a year ago was Winamp's fault. The "hijackware" problem was written into Winamp's install by AOL (not Microsoft), and it is still there in current versions. The current Winamp guys wrote the install program with the tricky questions. Microsoft did not write it. I saw it when I installed the version that ends in "d" a week or so ago. I actually like and prefer Winamp 2.09 from 1999 (same name, but something very different now). This is before AOL bought "Nullsoft" and began to make Winamp big and messy and added spyware to it. You don't even have to install it: it is one .EXE file that is easily moved around. It has little in common with the current bloated slow AOL spyware version other than the name and that it plays MP3 and WAV files. Spyware beware. -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

c_haese Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 14:00 Quote (Alan D @ Mar. 03 2005, 10:08) would the new-fangled ogg converting program (whatever it might be) replace, or otherwise mess up, the easy and smooth operation of the nice mp3-conversion program I have already? You should give OggDropXPd a try. It's a simple stand-alone exe file. No installation, no filetype associations, no nonsense. It's pretty easy to use, too: just drag and drop a file onto its window. If the file is an Ogg Vorbis file, it'll be played or converted to WAV, depending on the current decoder settings. If it's a WAV file, it'll be encoded into Ogg Vorbis. Best of all, since there is no installation, it's guaranteed not to interfere with your precious MP3 tools, and if you don't like it you can simply delete it. Hope this helps, Carsten. P.S. By the way, the "XP" in "OggDropXPd" does not stand for "Needs Windows XP." It should run just fine on Windows 98. Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 14:12 Can you recommend a similarly non-obnoxious utility that will play OGG files? -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

c_haese Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 15:07 Quote (hiawatha @ Mar. 03 2005, 14:12) Can you recommend a similarly non-obnoxious utility that will play OGG files? I'll assume from context that this question is directed at me. I'll also assume that you're not trying to be funny. If either assumption is incorrect, feel free to disregard my reply and have yourself a chuckle at my expense. OGG and Ogg Vorbis are, in this context anyway, the same thing. Hence, the answer to your question is: See Above. Stop reading here if you're not interested in technical hairsplitting. "Ogg" is a generic multimedia file format that can contain lossy audio, lossless audio, speech, video, subtitles, and anything else you might classify as multimedia. "Vorbis" is the name for the lossy audio codec inside the Ogg framework, and it's also the first codec inside the Ogg framework that people actually noticed. As a consequence, people got lazy in their terminology and begun to blur the distinction between Ogg and Vorbis. So, when someone gives you an Ogg (or OGG) file, chances are that it's actually an Ogg Vorbis audio file. -Carsten Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 15:18 It was for you. Actually, I was not asking what it was. I was just asking if you know of a simple utility, similar to the one you described, that PLAYED the files instead of doing the OGG ... WAV translation back and forth. By "non-obnoxious", I was referring to how you described  OggDropXPd which didn't have a complicated installtion or other splatterware characteristics. As for the hairsplitting, I think a lot of it is that ".OGG" turns out to be the nice three-letter abbreviation for a file extension, regardless of Vorbis. -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

c_haese Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 15:29 Quote (hiawatha @ Mar. 03 2005, 15:18) I was just asking if you know of a simple utility, similar to the one you described, that PLAYED the files instead of doing the OGG ... WAV translation back and forth. And suddenly everything becomes clear. The answer still is See Above. As I said earlier, OggDropXPd will play or convert an Ogg Vorbis file that's dropped into it. Which one it does depends on the "Mode" setting in the Decoding Options that you reach via the popup menu you get by right-clicking inside the OggDropXPd window. -Carsten Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 16:40 Quote (c_haese @ Mar. 03 2005, 19:00) You should give OggDropXPd a try. It's a simple stand-alone exe file. No installation, no filetype associations, no nonsense. It's pretty easy to use, too: just drag and drop a file onto its window. If the file is an Ogg Vorbis file, it'll be played or converted to WAV, depending on the current decoder settings. If it's a WAV file, it'll be encoded into Ogg Vorbis. Best of all, since there is no installation, it's guaranteed not to interfere with your precious MP3 tools, and if you don't like it you can simply delete it. I feel as if you've just given me the last of the cream buns when I thought they'd all been eaten. As you expected, this is exactly the kind of solution I was hoping might exist. Thank you. Merci. Gracias. In fact consider yourself thanked in all possible languages. I'll report back in due course..... Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 17:00 Quote I'll report back in due course Oh wow! It's so tiny! And it's so little fuss! Ok I've got it, and when I click on it a little window opens... but.... I don't (of course) have an ogg file to test it with. What I need is someone who is both a fine musician and an extremely kind human being to help me out with a short ogg file of one of his older masterpieces..... But Brandon's done me so many favours already that I daren't ask again..... Back to top

MusicallyInspired Group: Musicians Posts: 1445 Joined: June 2001 Posted: Mar. 03 2005, 20:38 Let's take a trip down memory lane! http://smc.sq7.org/miscfile/brandon/platinum2.ogg -------------- BrandonBlume.com "The beauty in life is in the embracing of the variety of things. If all the world was blue there would be no colour blue." Back to top

TubularBelle Group: Members Posts: 1487 Joined: April 2004 Posted: Mar. 04 2005, 03:58 WOW, Brandon, that's beautiful but could have been a little longer I thought. Couldn't play the first file but the second one played fine. Couldn't play the platinum file either. -------------- I hate getting up early. I didn't even realise there were two 6 o'clocks in one day! Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ] Pages: (2) < [1] 2 >

Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net