MPEG-4 ALS Decoder plugin 1.00 for Winamp

The MPEG-4 ALS Decoder plugin for Winamp is based on the latest reference software, and plays all files generated with the reference encoder (file extension has to be .als).

In order to enable fast seek operations, files should be encoded using random access points (encoder option -r#, e.g. -r5 for 500ms, preferably together with -u1).

Lossless coding is the latest extension of the MPEG-4 audio standard. The MPEG audio subgroup has finalized the standardization of lossless coding techniques for high-definition audio signals. As an extension to MPEG-4 audio, the "MPEG-4 Audio Lossless Coding (ALS)" standard defines methods for lossless coding.

Features of MPEG-4 ALS:

MPEG-4 ALS defines efficient and fast lossless audio compression techniques for both professional and consumer applications. It offers many features not included in other lossless compression schemes.

- General support for virtually any uncompressed digital audio format (including wav, aiff, au, bwf, raw).
- Support for PCM resolutions of up to 32-bit at arbitrary sampling rate (including 16/44.1, 16/48, 24/48, 24/96, 24/192).
- Multi-channel / multi-track support for up to 65536 channels (including 5.1 surround).
- Support for 32-bit IEEE floating point audio data.
- Fast random access to any part of the encoded data.
- Optional storage in MP4 file format (allows multiplex with video).
- High flexibility of codec parameters for various applications.

Besides these outstanding features, a global MPEG standard for lossless audio coding will facilitate interoperability between different hardware and software platforms, and will thus promote long-lasting multivendor support.