A (beta) useful online SPL playlist converter

[Gnac]

I haven't had much luck creating SPL playlists using various desktop applications, so I dug up some info about the format, and created a spanky online tool for converting M3U playlists to this enigmatic format.

http://www.magmagateau.com/_TOOLS/pmp/samsung

Please let me know if this works for you (or doesn't work, so that I can improve it).

EDIT: Playlist DNSe is now supported. Thanks to TomCat39 for the detailed documentation and testing!

Also! There is some very basic functionality to convert SRT subtitle files for those whypee-peethree owners with firmware 2.20 or above.

[TomCat39]

I'll be more than happy to test it out and provide some feedback.

Another nice nugget is playlist DNSe.

I have all the available settings for playlist DNSe that gets attached to the foot of the playlist.

If you like I can provide you with that information if you'd like to add that functionality to your webNugget.

[sassafras]

Not to rain on your parade but this is old news.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=27591

[TomCat39]

Originally Posted by sassafras

Not to rain on your parade but this is old news.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=27591

Actually it's not totally old news. After reading through the thread you linked, the converter made by m1lk doesn't work unless the paths are relative. So you still have to manually edit a Winamp M3U file that is created on your pc through the P3/P2 (thus creating absolute paths).

Being this person is actively coding this web app, he can check for relative and absolute paths and correctly output for either. ;-p

Also he can add playlist DNSe 3.0 support for the P3 if he so desires. Making a more complete converter for the P3 specifically.

m1lk's converter will get you by in a pinch, but we have an opportunity here for a more complete converter for the P3.

Edit: Did some testing and reporting back. Assuming you are still willing to develope your webpage based tool.

It works with absolute paths which is nice, so no tweaking the winamp m3u file.

 
test m3u file:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:192,3 Inches Of Blood - Curse Of The Lighthouse Keeper
F:\Music\Metal\3 Inches Of Blood - 08 - Curse Of The Lighthouse Keeper - 2002.mp3
#EXTINF:209,Motörhead - Triple HHH-The Game
F:\Music\Metal\Motörhead - 01 - Triple HHH-The Game - 2008.mp3
#EXTINF:399,Tool - Ænema
F:\Music\Metal\Tool - 13 - Ænema - 1996.mp3

The drive letter will vary depending on what letter is assigned to your P3 when connected to the PC. As you can see, typically winamp creates absolute paths in it's playlist files so only supporting relative paths is a major nuisance being you have to edit the m3u file. It's not that much effort to edit it to the point of being an SPL file. The whole point of the script is to not have to touch a thing.

Your output is perfect and even has the playlist DNSe header and footer (not needed if there is not DNSe data btw).

Your converter also handles all the accepted special characters like Æ or ö. I'm sure it also handles the ¿. Last converter I tried had problems with these initially.

I also like that your converter is webbased so there is no executable or command file to be run. Less fear of "virii".

It would be wicked if you could package up the webpage for everyone to run locally for the day you decide to not host it anymore but that may just be a pipe dream.

As for the DSNe settings.... I have to sit down and do the work all over again. Someone disposed of the information I had posted elsewhere along with all the other information concerning UCI's and other nifty things for the P3.

Nice job and I will get back to you with the DNSe settings. Sort of pisses me off that the info went into the cyberspace blackhole but alas.... Such is life.

[TomCat39]

Okay, I managed to get on emodio.com and download emodio again. Got it setup and figured out how to attach DNSe's to the playlists again. And I've sat down and got all the possible settings. It gets a touch complicated so I will try and make this as clear and as easy as possible to understand.

Okay first off, the data field of the playlist DNSe is 14 digits long.

0 0 0 0 0 2 0 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

That is the base line of the DNSe data field. The first seven digits are for the following settings: Speaker/Headphone/Concert Hall; 3D; Bass Extension; Bass Cutoff; and Clarity. To make things confusing, there are seven digits yet only five settings listed. Well, 3D can use 3 digits, and concert hall rides on the same digit that specifies speaker or headphones.

The last seven digits in the fourteen digit line is the equalizer. The twelves indicate a setting of zero on the equalizer. Increment and decrement by one, totaling ten steps up or ten steps down. So the full range of any band of the equalizer is from 2 (-10) to 22 (+10) with 12 being dead center at 0.

I'm going to label the first seven digits as A-G so the above fourteen digits would be A B C D E F G 12 12 12 12 12 12 12.

A=Speaker/Headphone/Concert Hall
-Possible values are 0, 1, 2, 3
B=3D
-Possible values are 0,1,2,3,4 and 0,4,6,8,10
C=3D (Crossfeed?)
-Possible values are 0,0,0,0,0 and 0,0,0,1,2
D=3D (Unknown)
-Possible values are 0,0,0,0,0 and 0,16,16,16,16
E=Bass Extension
-Possible values are 0,4,8,12,15 and 0,1,2,3,4
F=Bass Cutoff
-Possible values are 2,5,8,11,14 and 0,1,2,3,4
G=Clarity
-Possible values are 0,3,6 and 0,5,10

All the values with two sets of numbers depict the values for speakers and headphones respectively.

I wish where I had posted all this info before didn't vanish. I know I had posted this in a much more clear fashion.

Anyways, lets try making a table to demonstrate this mass of info.

A B C D E F G 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
 
Digit A - Speaker/Headphone/Concert Hall
Speaker Mode/Concert Hall OFF   - 0
Headphone Mode/Concert Hall OFF - 1
Speaker Mode/Concert Hall ON    - 2
Headphone Mode/Concert Hall ON  - 3
 
##Speaker Mode does NOT mean internal speaker##
##Indicates sound is piped to Amplified Speakers##
 
Digit B C D - 3D settings (5 settings 0-4, 0 being off and 4 being max)
 
Digit A = 0 or 2 (Speaker Mode)
3D    -    B C D
-----------------
0     -    0 0 0
1     -    1 0 0
2     -    2 0 0
3     -    3 0 0
4     -    4 0 0
 
Digit A = 1 or 3 (Headphone Mode)
3D    -    B C D
-----------------
0     -    0 0 0
1     -    4 0 16
2     -    6 0 16
3     -    8 1 16
4     -   10 2 16
 
Digit E - Bass Extension [BE] (5 settings 0-4, 0 being off and 4 being max)
 
Digit A = 0 or 2 (Speaker Mode)
BE    -    E
-------------
0     -    0
1     -    4
2     -    8
3     -   12
4     -   15
 
Digit A = 1 or 3 (Headphone Mode)
BE    -    E
-------------
0     -    0
1     -    4
2     -    8
3     -   10
4     -   12
 
Digit F - Bass Cutoff [BC] (5 settings 0-4, 0 being off and 4 being max)
 
Digit A = 0 or 2 (Speaker Mode)
BC    -    F
-------------
0     -    2*
1     -    5
2     -    8
3     -   11
4     -   14
 
Digit A = 1 or 3 (Headphone Mode)
BC    -    F
-------------
0     -    0
1     -    1
2     -    2
3     -    3
4     -    4
 
Digit G - Clarity [CL] (3 settings 0-2, 0 being off and 2 being max)
 
Digit A = 0 or 2 (Speaker Mode)
CL    -    G
-------------
0     -    0
1     -    3
2     -    6
 
Digit A = 1 or 3 (Headphone Mode)
CL    -    G
-------------
0     -    0
1     -    5
2     -    10
 
* Note that in speaker mode Bass Cutoff is never 0.
Even when Bass Cutoff is set to "off" the value of Digit F
in speaker mode is 2.
 
Okay now for the Equalizer.
I'm going to simulate all bands set at the same level
for all 21 possible settings.
 
LvL - 60Hz  150Hz  400Hz  1.1KHz  3.5KHz  8KHz  14KHz
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+10 -  22     22     22     22      22     22     22
+ 9 -  21     21     21     21      21     21     21
+ 8 -  20     20     20     20      20     20     20
+ 7 -  19     19     19     19      19     19     19
+ 6 -  18     18     18     18      18     18     18
+ 5 -  17     17     17     17      17     17     17
+ 4 -  16     16     16     16      16     16     16
+ 3 -  15     15     15     15      15     15     15
+ 2 -  14     14     14     14      14     14     14
+ 1 -  13     13     13     13      13     13     13
  0 -  12     12     12     12      12     12     12
- 1 -  11     11     11     11      11     11     11
- 2 -  10     10     10     10      10     10     10
- 3 -   9      9      9      9       9      9      9
- 4 -   8      8      8      8       8      8      8
- 5 -   7      7      7      7       7      7      7
- 6 -   6      6      6      6       6      6      6
- 7 -   5      5      5      5       5      5      5
- 8 -   4      4      4      4       4      4      4
- 9 -   3      3      3      3       3      3      3
-10 -   2      2      2      2       2      2      2
 
 
WHEW!!! Now that was a crapload of work. But now it's easily utilized.
And I know it won't dissappear anytime soon. \m/ O-O \m/

So my test spl playlist with playlist DNSe looks like this (all settings off)

SPL PLAYLIST
VERSION 1.00

\Music\Metal\3 Inches Of Blood - 08 - Curse Of The Lighthouse Keeper - 2002.mp3
\Music\Metal\Motörhead - 01 - Triple HHH-The Game - 2008.mp3
\Music\Metal\Tool - 13 - Ænema - 1996.mp3

END PLAYLIST
myDNSe DATA

0 0 0 0 0 2 0 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

END myDNSe

Of note..... The playlists made by Emodio are "VERSION 2.00"

SPL PLAYLIST
VERSION 2.00
 
\Music\Metal\Def Leppard - 03 - Slang - 1996.mp3
 
END PLAYLIST
myDNSe DATA
 
0 0 0 0 4 14 6 9 10 11 12 10 8 6
 
END myDNSe

And these spl playlists are limited to 400 songs unlike the internal playlist limit of 200 songs.

Glad that is all out of the way (4+ hours later).

Hope this helps more people than just me.

##Addendum##

Here are the Emodio DNSe GUI and definitions:
EmodioDNSe.jpg
EmodioDNSe2.jpg

[Gnac]

Sorry for not popping in here more often; I've been on a holiday from my computer :B

I'm glad to see that the basic functionality works, and after a huge fight between my brain and my eyeballs over how to use the info posted by TomCat39, I'm ready to tackle this DNSe string-thing.

http://www.magmagateau.com/_TOOLS/pmp/samsung/DNSe.php

That's a test page which crudely emulates the Emodio DNSe dialogue; submitting will create the 14-digit string for the DNSe footer in SPL playlists.

There are a couple of things I'm unsure about, though - namely how to adjust the size and level of the "Concert Hall" effect (it seems to be possible on the P3 itself). Also, I've condensed a few setting "groups" into one control, namely 3D and Sub-bass. This might actually be wrong.

EDIT: Well at least now I can get it to make one of the DNSe strings in TomCat39's examples...

[sassafras]

Ok then, I retract what I said before.

And sticky.

[TomCat39]

Originally Posted by Gnac

Sorry for not popping in here more often; I've been on a holiday from my computer :B

I'm glad to see that the basic functionality works, and after a huge fight between my brain and my eyeballs over how to use the info posted by TomCat39, I'm ready to tackle this DNSe string-thing.

http://www.magmagateau.com/_TOOLS/pmp/samsung/DNSe.php

That's a test page which crudely emulates the Emodio DNSe dialogue; submitting will create the 14-digit string for the DNSe footer in SPL playlists.

There are a couple of things I'm unsure about, though - namely how to adjust the size and level of the "Concert Hall" effect (it seems to be possible on the P3 itself). Also, I've condensed a few setting "groups" into one control, namely 3D and Sub-bass. This might actually be wrong.

EDIT: Well at least now I can get it to make one of the DNSe strings in TomCat39's examples...

Yeah it's an insane amount of info to deal with. That's why I think the table displays it best.

Now to clarify for you. The playlist DNSe is quite a bit different than the DNSe on the player itself for settings and whatnot. First off, there is no "levels" of concert hall or size. It's only on or off in playlist DNSe. And unlike the bass in the player DNSe (1 control setting) there is two controls to play with and they do different things and can be changed seperately, i.e. you don't have to boost bass at all and still can increase the bass cutoff and it will have a profound effect on the sound. Essentially one is bass boost and the other is cutoff (I think it has to do with speaker size). For playlist DNSe it needs to be 2 seperate controls. And lastly, unlike the player DNSe, there is a difference between speaker mode and headphone mode. You can't choose speaker mode on the player DNSe. Speaker mode on the player constitutes the internal speaker and DNSe doesn't work with that tiny thing. However in playlist DNSe, there is a major difference in sound between speaker mode and headphone made for most settings.

Being I use both amplified speakers and a decent pair of inexpensive full range IEM headphones, I tend to make two of every playlist I use. One is for my speakers with custom playlist DNSe settings in speaker mode. And the other is the same playlist but with custom playlist DNSe settings in headphone mode.

I found that the same exact settings in speaker mode sound like crap on my headphones and vice versa.

I've actually found the ability to choose speaker mode and headphone mode in the playlist settings quite useful.

Hopefully that clarifies a bit. I will test the DNS php this weekend and get back to you. Got in-laws in town so end of week is a little full with family.

Cheers!

##Addendum##

The string is perfect every setting I try. You have all the settings possible and the proper string comes out.

I guess now the fun part is figuring out how to incorporate that into the playlist converter.

The thought I had was maybe add a "Playlist DNSe" On/Off switch. If on, it adds the string to the end of a playlist it converts, if it's off, it doesn't even add the DNSe header and footer. I don't know, I'm sure you will figure out something.

Family time now..... Gotta love in-laws. :|

[mehappy]

I created a playlist in the correct format that I've seen everywhere, put it in the /Playlists/ folder, but when I go to play it it just says "No File"
Here is how my playlist is formatted:

SPL PLAYLIST
VERSION 2.00

/Music/Plies-Becky(Dirty).mp3

END PLAYLIST

myDNSe DATA

3 8 1 16 4 3 10 22 19 14 14 15 16 18

END myDNSe

I've truncated the number of songs, for times sake.

Does anyone see what the problem is in the process?

[TomCat39]

you used forward slashes not back slashes.

Change all the / to \

I'm assuming you are converting/saving it in UTF format.

[TAMApete]

ok newbie question.... I've got all my playlists sorted out and whatnot, but how can I get them converted from .wpl to .spl? I've entered them in and it says invalid input file...

[Gnac]

Originally Posted by TAMApete

ok newbie question.... I've got all my playlists sorted out and whatnot, but how can I get them converted from .wpl to .spl? I've entered them in and it says invalid input file...

Nah, that's not a noobie thing. I hadn't considered that people may still want the benefits of DNSe, even if .WPL is a natively supported playlist format on these devices.

Anyway, it should now be posssible to convert .WPL playlists. Yay for XML parsers!

[TAMApete]

Gnac.... you're a god... thank you! I thought maybe I was doing something wrong and starting to lose hope!!

I've been having problems with the P3 for awhile now with going from MTP and UMS. when I would switch to UMS, I would lose my playlists... I'd switch back to MTP and every time I would try to sync my playlists using Windows media player 12, it would stop syncing halfway through and disconnect... so after messing around I went ahead deleted all my music and I'm starting over (syncing with WMP 12 as I write) so hopefully this will work out... My main thing was trying to make playlists while in UMS (it seems easier that way..) but couldn't find a way.

[jumbjumb]

yaaa... It doesnt work... Im the one using ALLL of those features, yes it changes to .SPL, but it always ALWAYS come in with No File. ... I didnt add DNSE or anything and i tried when this site FIRST came, Possibly the first 100's, but it doesnt work.... It said something aobut a UNI-code thing? yaaaa idk how to do that.. and it's realllly annoying that everyone can, but not me..

[Carsten]

maybe your files are in utf-8 formatted and not in ASCII...
try to change that...with an editor..

[TomCat39]

Originally Posted by Carsten

maybe your files are in utf-8 formatted and not in ASCII...
try to change that...with an editor..

If I recall, everything I've read has said it has to be in UTF8 format. I too ran into no file from my conversion yesterday. For grins and giggles, I tried your suggestion and changed it to ASCII, no change, still says no file. I also tried Unicode, Unicode Big Endian and UTF-8. All no good.

Originally Posted by jumbjumb

yaaa... It doesnt work... Im the one using ALLL of those features, yes it changes to .SPL, but it always ALWAYS come in with No File. ... I didnt add DNSE or anything and i tried when this site FIRST came, Possibly the first 100's, but it doesnt work.... It said something aobut a UNI-code thing? yaaaa idk how to do that.. and it's realllly annoying that everyone can, but not me..

Thanks for the report, I am struggling with this too. Comparing my old playlists to new ones made with this converter, I can't see a difference with one exception. This new playlist I have flac and mp3 mixed. Do you have mixed file types?

I haven't tested with pure mp3 only to see if that is the issue. The first entry in my playlist is a flac.

Anyone else having problems with getting their playlist to show the songs on the p3 with this converter?

Am not sure if it is the converter or if it's the player's limitations or something.

[Gnac]

Wagh!

To those of you having issues, it would be a great help if you could zip up the converted playlists, along with the original playlists you are trying to convert. Then I can do some debugging on my localhost, and hopefully figure this out.

[TomCat39]

Originally Posted by Gnac

Wagh!

To those of you having issues, it would be a great help if you could zip up the converted playlists, along with the original playlists you are trying to convert. Then I can do some debugging on my localhost, and hopefully figure this out.

Can do, and now done. I hope you find something being I am totally stumped on this one.

I've been entertaining the idea that something is not quite right with my P3. I am hoping this possibility is far from the truth.

Thank you for your dedication and time Gnac.

[jumbjumb]

Originally Posted by Carsten

maybe your files are in utf-8 formatted and not in ASCII...
try to change that...with an editor..

ehh.... idk how to do that.... XD
Gnac can i show u my?

[Gnac]

I think the problem is to do with my webserver, since I can't replicate the problem on my localhost. I just made some playlists using the online converter, and nothing works.

Using a binary comparison, I see that all the line breaks in converted playlists are now written as "0A 00" (\n) instead of "0D 00 0A 00" (\r\n). This is enough to make the playlists incompatible.

I have no idea what's changed on my webserver (or why), but I've added a little hack to fix the converter.