PD/S World - AmigaAMP 2.7 beta

In an age dominated by wild conversions, when a product, also the dullest one, conceived and developed originally for other machines, catches up a success quota relatively wide, immediately our small comunity (or at least a good part of it) demands with great voice the relative reincarnation.
An example among the others is WinAMP, the famous player of MPEG audio tracks, which, being literally a hit among PC users, it has been directly (and obviously) reproposed in a red-and-white chequered garment.

Who does not have fast machines, difficultly will succeed to go beyond sobbing whispers or chirping crickets: the sad greed of resources and the insufficient optimization of the code make AmigaAMP a forbidden fruit for low level processors. With a 68060 the horizon appars decidedly more limpid, but however remains clear the intimate correspondance of the program with Risc technology: so for being able to use fully the features of the packet it 's necessary to supply yourselves with a PPC accelerator. I do not agree, however, with the extremist tonalities used from Massimiliano: if a product succeeds to obtain such an immense number of esteemers, it cannot be, by force of things, only a concentrated of defects . LucaS

Features AmigaAMP requires the mpega.library, AHI subsystem and a 68030/50 CPU in order to work, but for a precise execution of the sound samples is strongly recommended a more powerful CPU (060/PPC). The packet does not demand any installation: once unarchived, is ready for an immediate use. Almost similar to the PC version, the start "window" appears like an elegant reproduction (or better, a re-interpretation) in scale of the frontal part of a HIFI system; if you have a PowerPC card, it is possible to place side by side to it a equalizer with the same largeness. The tidy configuration panel allows to specify the output quality of audio tracks (low, medium and high), to choose the sampling frequency, to activate a mono output, to use a "differentengine " from the mpega.library and to set buffer and "task priority". Moreover we are able to make use of a "playlist", lists of musics in the own possession. The greater feature of the program, and not available with other similar tools, is (chameleonic) ability to change "appearance": if in fact the "graphical garment" won't be to your liking, is possible to change it with another, more consonant with the own tastes. Aminet has a good number of "skins" (as they are commonly called), and in some Internet site there are indeed "theme galleries".

Considerations Perhaps, just this unusual peculiarity has been the main (or the only one) dragging craft of the program, and without it, in fact, AmigaAMP reveals itself as what it really is, an anonymous and perfectible player of digital scores. No doubt, indeed, that exists something better around: the great Song Player, as an example, that in addition to be satisfied by less pretentious configurations (a 030/40-50Mhz is more than enough for a correct execution of MPEG samples), it allow also to play CDDA tracks, or the modular and most complete Delitracker, in a position to support dearly mp3 files on not-so-fast machines as well. Furthermore, the idea of "bitmapped interface" surely is not a new one: the EMPY-Gui of the ancient, but still strong Eagle Player is, in fact, the irrefutable proof. Conclusions Objectively nothing exceptional, then: also recognizing the remarkable aesthetic, AmigaAMP does not represent, to cast up accounts, the prototype of the "really cool" tool. Who wishes a player efficient and reliable, better it turn to elsewhere.

The intelligent algorithm of audio compression used by the mp3, has been, substantially, the main motivation that has caused its enormous dissemination: thanks to it, in fact, now it is possible to store sound flows of considerable length and high quality in relatively contained spaces; in order to make a comparison, an MPEG stream of 3,5 mega corresponds about to a wav of 40 megabytes. The success obtained from this format has been so wide to incite the greater high-fidelity system producers to plan "dedicated players" (the so-called RIO); similar to most common walkman; these devices allow to copy in appropriate benches of memory musical tracks and play them in real time with a quality almost identical to that one of the DAT: the advantage of this technology as to traditional CD players resides in a constantly perfect execution, also in particular conditions, of the sound samples. The unstoppable race of the mp3 could go through, in the immediate future, a sudden stop: the "black hole" Microsoft, has recently released an equally efficient audio format and with similar characteristics (if they do not copy a little...) that could, in few time, sweep away the excellent competition. Maybe is simply too early to write out "market analysis", but is right and proper to remember that the well known absolutist and ingenerous politic of the Bill Gates 's "royal palace" never has been satisfied by second places or pacific living together: the absolute domain is, as known, one of its nastiest prerogative .

MAX1200

Global: 79%
Not necessary

Required configuration: 68030/50 Mhz - Wb 3.0 - 6MB Typology: Freeware Advised configuration: PPC 603e 160 Mhz - WB 3.1 - 8MB Registration fee: --- Multitasking: Yes Chipset: ECS/AGA/CGX

.

---

Contact: For this article: macitsan@tin.it English Version: hooligan@libero.it General info: info@amiworld.it