Introduction
------------
MPEGAHI is a GUI based MPEG audio player using mpega.library and the
AHI audio system. It is NOT another frontend for the CLI based mpega.
Anyway, if you've got problems not related to the user interface but
with AHI, AsyncIO or mpega.library, PLEASE contact the corresponding
author directly. I wouldn't be able to help you in this case.

Requirements (not included in this archive!)
--------------------------------------------
mpega.library    (Aminet:util/libs/mpega_library.lha)
asyncio.library  (Aminet:dev/c/AsyncIO.lha)
AHI audio system (Aminet:mus/misc/ahiusr.lha)

Features
--------
 - FREEWARE!  No beta, no nag requesters and no expiry date!
 - GadTools based font sensitive user interface
 - Workbench application (you can drop icons on its window)
 - Easily configurable
 - AHI device level access (uses default audio mode automatically)

Getting started (configuration)
-------------------------------
Important! You need a properly installed and configured AHI audio system
to run MPEGAHI. Without a correct setup the sound may be very poor!

First of all run the AHI setup program in your Prefs drawer. Select
one of the units from 0 to 3 but not the Music unit. If you don't use
unit 0 for anything already I recommend using that one.

Select one of the "fast stereo++" audiomodes that matches your audio
hardware. For Prelude playback I recommend "Prelude:Fast 16 bit stereo++
realtime".

Now you need to know what sampling rate most of your MPEG files
have. Probably it's 44100 Hz because that's the standard CD rate. If
you have a slow processor you may want to run MPEGAHI in frequency division
mode to reduce CPU load. Have a look at the table below for the recommended
settings.

It is important to set the frequency slider to your mostly used frequency
divided by your chosen frequency divisor. For example, if you're going to
playback lots of 44100 Hz MPEGs and frequency division is 1:2, set the
Frequency slider to 22050 Hz.

If you don't plan to have several programs playing back audio at the
same time, please leave the Channels slider at position 1. The remaining
settings depend on your audio hardware.

Ok, press the "Save" button in the bottom left corner.

Now it's time to configure MPEGAHI itself. If you've chosen another
AHI device than 0, you have to change the AHIUNIT tooltype of MPEGAHI
first. If not, just start it by double clicking on its icon and pop up
the setup window by chosing Config... from the menu.

Set the sliders and checkmarks to the recommended settings, save them using
the menu and close the settings window again.

That's it! MPEGAHI is now configured. You may want to fine-tune the
settings later. The overall performance depends on the speed of mpega.library
AND the the speed of your soundcard's AHI driver.

Recommended settings (tested with Prelude:Fast 16 bit stereo++ realtime)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

          |     Layer 1/2        |        Layer 3
Processor | Quality|FreqDiv|Mono | Quality|FreqDiv|Mono
----------+--------+-------+-----+--------+-------+-----
68040-40  |  high  |  1:2  | off | medium |  1:2  | on 
68060-50  |  high  |  1:1  | off |  high  |  1:1  | off


Usage (how to load and play sounds)
-----------------------------------
Most of the buttons should be self-explanatory because they can be found
on almost every CD player or tapedeck. However, as a computer program,
MPEGAHI is based on files, so there may be slight differences. The bottom
line buttons from left to right are:

 - Eject      Stops playback, empties the current playlist and opens a
              requester to select one or more files
 - Skip back  Moves to the previous track in the playlist if there is one.
 - Stop       Simply stops playback. (What else did you expect? :-)
 - Play       Starts playback if there's at least one track in the current
              playlist. If it's not, opens a requester to select tracks.
 - Skip fwd   Moves to the next track in the playlist if there is one.
 - Pause      Pauses playback at the current position

Just above the control button's there's a position slider. As you play
a file, it's button moves from left to right to display the relative
playback position within the current track. You can use the mouse to drag
this slider to a new position.

Legal stuff
-----------
MPEGAHI is copyrighted freeware. It may be distributed freely as long as
no modifications are made to the executable and this document. A nominal
fee may be asked to cover distribution costs.

MPEGAHI may not be used for any commercial purposes or included with any
commercial product without the written permission of the author. It may
NOT be stored on ftp servers or websites that also hold commercial software
products or drivers for commercial hardware. The only exception are servers
of the Aminet archive.

No responsibilities are taken for damaged speakers, amplifiers, Amigas
or any other components or data involved while using MPEGAHI.

Although I've done some beta testing I can't guarantee that MPEGAHI will
not crash! If you find any bugs, let me know.

 PERMSSN    UID  GID    PACKED    SIZE  RATIO     CRC       STAMP          NAME
---------- ----------- ------- ------- ------ ---------- ------------ -------------
[generic]                  270     628  43.0% -lh5- b1d5 Dec 29  1997 MPEGAHI.info
[generic]                13401   24416  54.9% -lh5- c6d3 Dec 28  1997 mpegahi.030
[generic]                 4638    7819  59.3% -lh5- 81ed Dec 29  1997 MPEGAHI.030.info
[generic]                13339   24324  54.8% -lh5- d7b1 Dec 28  1997 mpegahi.040
[generic]                 4640    7819  59.3% -lh5- 0348 Dec 29  1997 MPEGAHI.040.info
[generic]                13317   24312  54.8% -lh5- 28cc Dec 28  1997 mpegahi.060
[generic]                 4639    7819  59.3% -lh5- d853 Dec 29  1997 MPEGAHI.060.info
[generic]                 3016    6583  45.8% -lh5- 8e2f Dec 28  1997 MPEGAHI.liesmich
[generic]                  425    3080  13.8% -lh5- 231b Dec 29  1997 MPEGAHI.liesmich.info
[generic]                 2409    5322  45.3% -lh5- 29db Dec 28  1997 MPEGAHI.readme
[generic]                  498    3080  16.2% -lh5- 08e0 Dec 29  1997 MPEGAHI.readme.info
---------- ----------- ------- ------- ------ ---------- ------------ -------------
 Total        11 files   60592  115202  52.6%            Dec 29  1997