The Plug-in menu contains a list of submenus for configuring Effect, File, and Visual plug-ins, if any. Plug-ins may be created by different developers. Consult the documentation included with the plug-in for more information. GoldWave Inc. does not provide technical support for plug-ins developed by other companies or individuals.
If the DirectX plug-in is installed, this shows a list of compatible DirectX Audio Plug-ins currently installed on your system. Use this configuration to control what plug-ins GoldWave lists under the Effect | Plug-in | DirectX menu and to associate a different icon with a plug-in. Check the box next to an item in the Plug-in list to add it to the menu. Uncheck the box to remove it from the menu. Select an item, then choose an icon from the Icon list to associate that icon with the item. Note that GoldWave must be restarted before changes are acknowledged.
GoldWave requires plug-ins that process in IEEE 32 bit floating point audio (WAVE_FORMAT_IEEE_FLOAT) format. It will not list plug-ins that process only in PCM 16 bit audio format.
If you are unable to get a particular DirectX Audio Plug-in working, please contact the plug-in developer, not GoldWave Inc.
If the GWVST32 plug-in is installed, use this to search for and add 32 bit VST plug-ins to GoldWave.
If the Plug-In Over Network plug-in is installed, use this to add, remove, and update PIONs to GoldWave.
The GoldWave Audio Plug-in Configuration window configures the internal GoldWave file plug-in and controls general file and MP3 handling and 8 bit encoding.
Many file types are handled directly, but some are handled through external (operating system) decoders installed on the system. These system decoders may cause problems or errors for raw file data or non-standard or unusual audio types. Use the system options to control when the decoders should be used and what file types to avoid. DirectShow decoders were widely used in versions of Windows prior to Windows 7. Media Foundation has replaced DirectShow in Windows 7.
GoldWave can use FFmpeg or Libav decoders if installed. Those support a huge range of file types. Use the FFmpeg/Libav decoders box to specify the folders where the avcodec-56.dll and related modules are installed. Please note that GoldWave Inc. does not provide support for FFmpeg/Libav issues. Due to patent and licensing issues, FFmpeg modules cannot be included with GoldWave or even hosted on the website. Anyone installing those modules is responsible for all legal aspects related to their use.
The MP3 encoding settings control how MP3 files are encoded. Usually these do not need to be changed.
Use the dither setting to mask quantization distortion caused by converting high quality audio to low quality 8 bit. A triangular dither masks the distortion with white noise. Keep in mind that 8 bit quality is inherently noisy, so the white noise is quite audible, but usually less distracting than quantization distortion.
Dithering only affects the quality of the audio saved to the file. GoldWave maintains high quality audio internally, so it is never dithered even after saving. You must close and reopen the file from storage to hear the 8 bit audio quality.
Use the ACM_STREAMCONVERTF_END setting to control how the Audio Compression Manager finishes encoding or decoding the last block of audio. If the last block is incomplete, check this option. This setting is necessary because of inconsistencies in ACM codecs.
Use the ACM MP3 decoder setting to enable MP3 decoding through the older ACM codec. The ACM codec incorrectly decodes MP3 files to silence in some cases, so this setting should not be used unless problems occur with the Media Foundation decoder.