DSP options

These options change the way things sound. How quickly changes are heard depends on the buffer size set in the Output options. If a crossfading track change transition has been set in the Playback options, that will further increase buffering and latency.

Right-clicking on a slider (except for reverb) will reset it to the default position.

Amplification slider

This is different to the volume slider. The volume slider controls the level of the sound card output, the amplification slider controls the level of the actual decoding. The higher the amplification, the greater the dynamic range of the decoding output, but if it is too high clipping may occur resulting in distortion of the sound.

Reset on new track

This resets the amp level to 0 dB (or Replaygain value) when a track is loaded, and optionally when a new subsong is started too.

Auto-amp

This causes the amplification level to be automatically reduced whenever clipping occurs. With fade-in enabled, it will fade-in new tracks until they clip, then it'll behave the same as normal. Dynamic mode continues to increase and decrease the amplification level throughout playback.

Replaygain

When a track has Replaygain information, XMPlay can use it for the default amp level. When a track doesn't have the preferred value but does have the other (eg. "Album" is chosen but only "Track" is available), it will be used instead. When Replaygain is active, auto-amp is automatically disabled until the amplification slider is moved away from the Replaygain level.

Pre-amp

This is added to the Replaygain level.

Limit according to peak level

When enabled, this will limit the Replaygain level according to the peak sample level (if available), so that it does not clip. If there is other DSP enabled (EQ/reverb/etc), they could change the level and cause clipping despite this limiting. The "Pre-amp" option could be used to compensate.

The availability of Replaygain information is shown in the "General" info window.

Balance

This sets the left/right balance. Negative values move the sound left, while positive values move it right.

Logarithmic volume

When enabled, the volume slider will use a logarithmic curve. Otherwise, it is linear (a percentage).