Hi David. No, I don't have any knowledge of comprehensive guides for all 3 players. I've basically installed all 3 and set winamp to play the majority of formats that I'm interested in. The other two just kick in when needed.
I do have some notes on winamp that I will paste below; otherwise, it's a case of coming to the list with any specific questions you may have about either player and hoping someone can help. I would suggest though installing the latest versions of all programs for best results. When installing the latter versions of winamp, make sure you uncheck modern skins, virtualisations and winamp agent when you go through the install. All of these options are checked by default and none are of any use. Introduction On the face of it, Winamp from Nullsoft may not seem like a terribly accessible programme. Although the interface from the keyboard is somewhat unorthodox, you'll find that Winamp is in fact one of the most accessible of the fully featured MP3 players. This section seeks to help you understand what Winamp can do, how to configure it, and all the keyboard secrets will be revealed. You can get a brief keyboard summary of all of the keyboard commands mentioned in this document by pressing F1 from the Winamp main window. From there, you can press control+tab through the multipage dialogue box until you get to the tips and tricks section. If you left click your mouse on any of the text of the edit box, this will give that read-only edit box focus, which means that you can then read the summary with your screen reader's continuous reading feature. You can also go to the top of this edit box with the control+home combination, press control+shift+end to select the entire edit box (control+A doesn't seem to work) and then press control+C to copy it to the clipboard. You may then want to paste this into a word processor or text editor and save it for future reference. Full help, much of it describing visual techniques but some of it helpful, is now available on the Winamp site. A screen reader friendly version of this help is available here_. Winamp is a fully featured audio player, supporting most common file formats. If a file format isn't supported out of the box, chances are you can get a plug-in that will do the job. It has a playlist editor allowing you to import individual files, entire directories and locations from the Internet. Files can then be randomised, or sorted by a number of criteria including song name and file name. A graphical equaliser allows you to make major adjustments to the sound of the player. You can choose from presets, save your own settings, and even specify your own settings on a song by song basis. The ID3 editor allows you to edit MP3 tag information, which is a handy way of recording information such as the album, the artist, the year the song was released and more. The plug-in architecture of Winamp means that fantastic add-ins are being released regularly, ranging from the support of many file formats through to pitch changers and audio compressors. Basic Winamp Operation When you install Winamp, you are asked if you want it to be your default audio player. If you answer yes to this question, Winamp will be launched from Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer when a file that Winamp supports is encountered. The file will start playing automatically. You can also launch Winamp by going to the Start menu, choosing programmes, then Winamp. When in Winamp, the following commands can be used for playback. Note that some of the keypad commands listed here may conflict with your screen reader. You will need to change your screen reader's key settings or use its bypass key if you wish to use the keypad in Winamp. X or Keypad 5 will play the current file. If Winamp is paused, this command will resume playing from where you paused. If no file is loaded into Winamp, you'll be prompted for a file name. The V key stops playing. If you hold down the shift key, Winamp fades out the currently playing song and then stops. If you hold down the control key while pressing the stop key, Winamp will stop at the end of the currently playing file. B or keypad 6 skips to the next track. You can do this either when Winamp is playing or when it is stopped. If you are playing a file when you press this key, the next song in the queue will start playing immediately. If you press the key when Winamp is stopped, the song you have now selected will show in the window title with the word "stopped" beside it. Z or Keypad 4 skips back to the previous track. The same rules apply as for next track discussed above. Keypad 1 will jump ten songs back in the playlist. Keypad 3 jumps ten songs forward. Left-arrow or keypad 7 rewinds by 5 seconds. Right-arrow or keypad 9 fastforwards by 5 seconds. L or keypad 0 brings up the open file dialogue. Here, you can specify the name of a file provided Winamp supports the file format. You can also specify a playlist with a .m3u or .pls extension. Control+L or control+keypad 0 lets you specify a file on the Internet. You will need the full URL of the file or playlist. Shift+L or the insert key lets you specify a directory to play. All files in that directory with file formats that Winamp supports will be played. Keypad 8 or up-arrow increases the volume. Keypad 2 or down-arrow turns the volume down. \ Configuring Winamp Winamp is highly configurable. This section seeks to help you understand how to navigate Winamp's Preferences. To enter the preferences, press control+P. Winamp will present you with a treeview. As in any treeview, you use the right-arrow key to expand a branch of the tree, the left-arrow to close a branch, and the down-arrow to navigate through items in the tree. Once you've selected a section, you can use the tab and shift+tab keys to navigate through the various elements. When you get to the section for selecting and configuring plug-ins, it is important to understand that after you have selected the plug-in with the arrow keys, there is often a configure button which allows you to fine-tune the settings for that particular plug-in. Normally, you need to press the tab key to find the configure button. Pressing the space bar will bring up the configuration dialogue box for that plug-in. The Playlist Editor The Playlist Editor is one of Winamp's less accessible features, but there is more that you can do with the keyboard than many people think. The major difficulty is that with most screen readers, using the arrow keys in Winamp 2.x will not give you reliable information about the song that you've selected. This problem has been overcome for users of Windoweyes and JFW, thanks to some clever set and script file writing. These sets and scripts are available in ACB Radio's download section. If you're going to work with the Playlist Editor, these sets and scripts are a must! Anyway, let's take a look at what you can do with the keyboard. Firstly, you will want to get into the Playlist Editor. If the Playlist Editor window isn't open yet, you will need to open it by pressing alt+E. Incidentally, once windows such as the Playlist Editor are open, you can cycle through all open windows with the control+tab combination. The Winamp menu, which you can access with the alt key and choosing Winamp, will also show a checkmark beside those windows that are open. The R key toggles the repeat function. I have always had difficulty determining the status of the repeat function from the Playlist Editor window itself, but you can also toggle the repeat function from the main Winamp Menu, which can be accessed from the main Winamp window with the ALT key, and then choosing playback options. Here, your screen reader should have no trouble telling you whether repeat is checked or not. The S key toggles whether shuffle is on or off. The same applies here as for the repeat function. L or keypad 0 adds a file to the playlist. Control+L or control+keypad 0 adds an Internet location to the playlist. Shift+L or the insert key adds a directory to the playlist. Control+N clears the playlist and lets you start from scratch. Control+O lets you open a playlist you might previously have saved to disk. Control+S saves the playlist you've been working on. You have a number of formats from which you can choose once you open the save dialogue. Alt+3 views the track information for the selected track or tracks. Control+E lets you edit the names of the selected track or tracks. Control+A selects the entire playlist. Control+I inverts the selection, in other words what was selected becomes unselected and vice versa. The delete key removes selected files from the playlist. Control+delete crops the playlist. Control+shift+delete clears the playlist. Alt+down-arrow moves selected files down. Alt+up-arrow moves selected files up. The down and up-arrow keys move the cursor down and up respectively. The ENTER key plays the selected file. The home and end keys jump to the start and end of the playlist respectively. Page up and page down move up and down by a fifth of a page. Alt+delete removes all non-existent files from a playlist. Control+shift+1 sorts the playlist by title. Control+shift+2 sorts the playlist by file name. Control+shift+3 sorts the playlist by file path and name. Control+R reverses the order of the playlist. Control+shift+R randomises the playlist. Also, all playback controls are available as they are in the main window. Graphical Equaliser Although I have not heard of anyone being able to set up their screen reader to tell them the percentage of each band of the equaliser in Winamp 2.x, you can make changes via the keyboard and listen to the results to see how you like it. Also, control+s brings up a list of over 20 presets that you can choose from. First though, you'll need to open the graphical equaliser if it isn't open already. You can do this with the alt+G combination. The 1 and 0 keys increase their respective band of the ten band equaliser. 1 is the lowest band IE base, 0 is the highest band, IE treble. The row underneath decreases each band, from the q to the P keys. So 1 and Q turns the lowest band up and down respectively, 0 and P turns the highest band up and down respectively. Similarly, the tilde and tab keys turn the pre-amp up and down respectively. The N key toggles the equaliser on and off, so if it doesn't sound like what you are doing with the number and qwerty rows is having any effect, try pressing the N key to turn the equaliser on. S opens the presets menu. The A key toggles auto-loading of the equaliser. Home | Download a Player | Mainstream | Cafe | Treasure-trove | Interactive | Tuner | Shows on Demand | Search | Support Pages | mailing lists | Sign Guestbook_ | View Guestbook | E-mail us | ACB Kevin E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Hardingham" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 2:03 AM Subject: Re: Playing Real Audio content > hi Kevin, do you or any one else know of a comprehensive tutorial on using > all this stuff.I get so confused, not unusual I am afraid.David > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kevin Lloyd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 4:30 PM > Subject: Re: Playing Real Audio content > > > > The latest recommendations coming from the winamp for the blind list is to > > install real player 10 or 10.5, windows media player and winamp 5.05. > > > > All co-exist quite nicely these days and each can be configured only to > play > > what you want them to play. > > > > I personally have all of these programs installed and have no problems. > > > > The Tara plug in is well out of date and threads on this now unsupported > > plug in just don't go anywhere. > > > > Kevin > > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Dean masters" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 7:01 PM > > Subject: Re: Playing Real Audio content > > > > > > > Is there a tara plug in that works with the latest version of Winamp? > Will > > > Real Alternative play the latest Real content files? > > > > > > Dean > > > I personally know someone who literally is older than dirt. > > > If you would like to meet him, please write to me > > > or join us on the Masters List: > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: "Aman Singer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > To: "'PC audio discussion list. '" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 6:02 PM > > > Subject: RE: Playing Real Audio content > > > > > > > > > > Hi. > > > > You'll need two programs to play Real audio in Winamp, not just Real > > > > Alternative. You need the Tara plug-in for Winamp as well as Real > > > > Alternative. Download Tara from > > > > http://www.free-codecs.com/download_soft.php?d=349&s=221 > > > > and Real Alternative from > > > > http://whitestick.co.uk/progs/realalternative127.exe > > > > Be sure that all versions of Real player are uninstalled from your > > > > system when you install Real Alternative. > > > > Aman > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > From: "doug leavens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 4:17 PM > > > > Subject: Re: Playing Real Audio content > > > > > > > > > > > > >I tried a Google on "reo alternative layer" to no avail!!!! > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > > From: "janet smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 3:49 PM > > > > > Subject: Re: Playing Real Audio content > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >>o you could also get reo alternative layer wich i think is better > then > > > reo > > > > > > > > >>player. > > > > >> ----- Original Message ----- > > > > >> From: "Aymeric Vildieu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > >> To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "PC audio > > > > >> discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > >> Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 2:45 PM > > > > >> Subject: Re: Playing Real Audio content > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >>> Hi Doug! > > > > >>> > > > > >>> winamp canot play real audio content. I saw a plug-in once > allowing > > to > > > > >>> read real audio content but I would never guarantee that it works. > > > > >>> Anyway we can find nothing on the plug-in section of winamp.com. > > > > >>> it ahs to do with copyright and pattent issues. so I think you'll > > have > > > > >>> to bear with real player to play real content > > > > >>> At 15:30 31/10/2004 -0500, doug leavens wrote: > > > > >>>>If I install Real Player 10, and already have Winamp 5.05 > installed, > > > > >>>>will winamp play real audio content? > > > > >>>>Or are there other steps I must take? > > > > >>>>Thanks in advance. I know this must sound pretty basic to some of > > > you, > > > > >>>>but, please be patient! > > > > >>>> > > > > >>>>_______________________________________________ > > > > >>>>PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > > > >>>>http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > >>>> > > > > >>>>To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > > > >>>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > >>> > > > > >>> > > > > >>> > > > > >>> _______________________________________________ > > > > >>> PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > > > >>> http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > >>> > > > > >>> To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > > > >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > >>> > > > > >>> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > > > >> PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > > > >> http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > >> > > > > >> To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > > > >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > > > > http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > > > http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > > > http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > > http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > > http://www.pc-audio.org > > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _______________________________________________ > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > http://www.pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
