HMusicCentreXin

HMusicCentreXin 1.0.0.0 has been released for download - check out the Downloads page, give it a go and let me know what you think. HMusicCentreXin is not as alien to loyal HMusicCentre users as you might think - Xin is just better!

If you have any queries, comments or feedback about any aspect of Xin, then please don't hesitate to drop me a line... I respond well to feature requests and people who inform me of bugs or surprises (undocumented features included)!

Amazon changes! Amazon recently (cut-off is 15th Aug. 2009) announced changes to their Product Advertising API where requests must be authenticated using request signatures. HMusicCentreXin now works within these requirements for downloading of Covers and Reviews (Albums and Tracks). There are some changes in the HMusicCentre.ini file to allow this to work; these are detailed in the [CONNECTIVITY] section of the latest downloadable file. As a bonus to these required changes, HMusicCentreXin can now access different Amazon locales, i.e. UK, USA, France, Germany and Japan.

HMusicCentreXin is an OpenGL version of HMusicCentre. It uses the exact same data stuctures as HMusicCentre so it will plug in very nicely on top of HMusicCentre, i.e. it is happy with the same AudioRoot, CoversRoot, ArtistImagesRoot etc.. Take a look at what HMusicCentreXin promises...

This is the main list of Artists, a Track is also playing:

List of Albums for an Artist; they spin around:

Track listing for a specific Album, getting seasick?

Track playing that has Lyrics and Timings... karaoke!

Album Covers advertising board - they swap themselves around:

Viewing all Tracks that have Lyrics and Timings for an Artist:

Curious for a bit more Artist information? Then view their Wikipedia Biography:

If you'd like to know what others think about an Album, check out Amazon Reviews:

Artist information shows a picture of them and their Albums in your library:

Album information shows release date, record label, unique IDs and your Rating:

Track information shows filesize (in Bytes) duration, Lyrics status and your Rating:

You can easily see the 5 most recent Albums you've added to your collection:

Queueing of Tracks is simple, Remote #, and you can also view the Queue:

As it becomes more popular, Amazon Reviews of Tracks will be more readily available:

My hand-crafted master volume indicator... ha-ha:

Change the locale of Amazon, simply by editing the HMusicCentre.ini file:

Users should be aware that HMusicCentre is no longer being actively developed. HMusicCentreXin will have all of the development focus from now on and more and more of the features currently in HMusicCentre will be migrated across to HMusicCentreXin.

HMusicCentre's overriding design point has always been about control... you're in control... not your CD player. Here is a HMusicCentre feature tick-list (note the X next to the features that have already been incorporated into Xin or are unique to Xin...

• CD Audio ripping to MP3 with connection to http://www.freedb2.org/ for Album information.
• X Album Cover downloading from http://www.amazon.co.uk and display in HMusicCentreXin.
• X Artist Biography access from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ and display in HMusicCentreXin.
• X Connection to a number of Lyrics providers for searching for Lyrics for Tracks (improved in Xin).
• Connection to Internet Radio streams (Shoutcast) and playback of Radio stations.
• Music Video (MPG) playback in the HMusicCentre window or full-screen.
• X Capability to upload the Lyrics and Timings that you have created for Tracks to http://www.hmusiccentre.org.uk and the automatic download of Track Lyrics and Timings from http://www.hmusiccentre.org.uk by other HMusicCentreXin clients.
• Ability to search for Artist Images and utiity to crop them for inclusion in HMusicCentre.
• Ability to have SAPI Track announcements and Dialogues.
• Sonique type visualisations that add moods to the music.
• X Expansive system logging integrated into the system.
• X Addition of an HMusicCentreXin install package - now a single 2.3mb download.
• X Addition of support for Microsoft XP Media Centre Edition IR remote controls.
• Added capability to search your HMusicCentre library for Lyrics snippets.
• X Simple integration with Microsoft Media Centre - i.e. in and out smooth via "More Programs" menu.
• X Viewing of Artist Biographies easier to fit into the "10-foot experience" with large text (just press OK on your MCE Remote).
• X Added capability to have Backing or Duet Lyrics highlighted in a different colour.
• Improved ripping facilities - you can now rip a specific subset of the Tracks on a CD.
• X Specific to Xin - now plays FLAC files as well as MP3 - FLACs are good because they're lossless, also you can get "master" versions, 96KHz and 24-bit for example.
• X Specific to Xin - Spectrum Analyser (optional via .INI settings).
• X Specific to Xin - Lyrics substitutions externalised to an easy-to-edit XML file.

HMusicCentreXin is designed for big-screen entertainment and a karaoke lifestyle... well, not really - but it's a bit more visual than most MP3 players out there - it's nice to see your CD collection moving around on the screen and having the Lyrics for Tracks.