Manual

Table of Contents
Note for Screen Reader Users....................................................................................................................2

Welcome to DePopper................................................................................................................................3
Quick Start.................................................................................................................................................4
Auto Help...................................................................................................................................................8
Main Screen Commands............................................................................................................................9
Program Options......................................................................................................................................11
Minimize Big Clicks............................................................................................................................11
Minimize Small Pops..........................................................................................................................12
Stereo Modifiers..................................................................................................................................14
Filter Frequencies................................................................................................................................15
Minimize Tape Hiss.............................................................................................................................17
Normalize Frequency..........................................................................................................................19
Normalize Volume...............................................................................................................................20
Presets......................................................................................................................................................22
Preview.....................................................................................................................................................24
Advanced Options....................................................................................................................................25
General................................................................................................................................................25
Input.....................................................................................................................................................28
Output..................................................................................................................................................30
Directories...........................................................................................................................................32
Suffixes................................................................................................................................................33
About...................................................................................................................................................34
Tips for Best Results................................................................................................................................35
Command Line Switches.........................................................................................................................36
System Requirements...............................................................................................................................44
Troubleshooting.......................................................................................................................................46
What is New in DePopper 4.....................................................................................................................49
Bug Fixes and Enhancements..................................................................................................................50
Uninstallation...........................................................................................................................................56
Privacy.....................................................................................................................................................57
Developers...............................................................................................................................................58
-1
Note for Screen Reader Users
Important: If you do not need a screen reader to read this manual, please go to Welcome To Depopper
(next chapter).
This manual has pictures, but no explanation depends on them. You, screen reader user, should be able to
read this manual as if it was a text only document, simply ignoring the pictures. If you find incompatibilities
with your screen reader, please let us know.
DePopper has a feature named Auto Help, which opens a different help screen for each newly activated
screen.
Unfortunately, some screen readers read the help screen instead of reading the program screen, making it
very difficult to use the program. For this reason, by default DePopper disables Auto Help for screen reader
users. But you can get exactly the same information in a different way: when you want to know more about
any program screen, just press the F1 key. You will get the same help screen, at the moment you need it.
You can enable Auto Help in the Advanced Options screen, any time you want. You can reach the
Advanced Options screen by activating Options in DePopper main screen, then Advanced Options.
Some help screens have both a graphics version and a text only version. Both screens have the same
contents and the only difference is the interface. Being a screen reader user, when you press F1 in
DePopper you will get the text only help screen.
As far as we know, DePopper does not have any command that depends on eyesight only. If you answered
Yes when DePopper asked you if you are visually disabled and you found a command that requires
eyesight to be executed, please let us know.
The DePopper welcome help screen contains a short description on what DePopper can do. After reading
it, you can close the help window and your screen reader should read the program screens properly. If you
need help for any program screen, press the F1 key.
Note for Screen Reader Users - 2

Welcome to DePopper
DePopper cleans a list of audio files, recorded from vinyl records or audio tapes, with minimum losses. The
resulting sound is bright, very close to the original. Only the clicks, pops and tape hiss are minimized.
DePopper is automatic: you click the Browse button to specify your files, click Start and let the software do
the job while you sleep or do something else. You can also use drag & drop instead of using Browse. In
many situations, the resulting sound files will need no further processing. But if you prefer different settings,
you can also choose from many available Presets or change them directly with the Options window. You
can also create your own presets.
DePopper has few commands. It’s easy to learn and easy to use. DePopper tiny screen is excellent for low
resolution laptops and netbooks, but you can resize or maximize it as you wish. DePopper interface and
help sections also have improvements for the visually disabled people (screen reader users).
DePopper displays an automatic screen to help you while you still do not know the program well. The help
text changes as you change the program screen that you are using. This feature is intended for learning
how to use the program. We suggest you to disable this automatic help feature only after you know the
program well. Please read the Auto Help chapter for information on how to disable the automatic help
feature.
Welcome to DePopper - 3
Quick Start
Are you new to DePopper? Do you have some audio files recorded from vinyl in your My Music directory
and want to start using DePopper right now? Just take these steps...
1) Open DePopper. If you are using DePopper for the first time, you will be asked if you are visually
disabled (screen reader user). Because DePopper interface does not depend on eyesight, we have many
users that can't see. Answer accordingly.
2) DePopper will open a new screen named "A Small Note From Us", introducing itself. You don't need to
copy the contact data because DePopper has this information in its Advanced Options screen. For now,
read its contents and then check (mark) the bottom right checkbox where you can read "Do not show this
screen" again and click OK.
Quick Start - 4
3) DePopper will open a one time screen with a short text explaining how to reactivate the initial prompt.
After reading it, click OK.
4) DePopper main screen will open and, unless you are visually disabled (explained in Note For The
Screen Reader Users), its automatic help screen will open on the right. You can disable the automatic help
screen later, after becoming familiar with the program.
5) Click the Browse button. DePopper will open a standard Windows screen asking you to choose one or
more files from your My Music directory. The screen format depends on your Windows version (XP is
different from Vista and Windows 7) and personal preferences, but the functionality is the same. My Music
is the default directory when you start DePopper for the first time, but you can change it later. DePopper by
default remembers the last used directory.
Quick Start - 5
6) Select the files that you want to process. In our example, there is one wav file (test.wav) and one mp3
file (jazz.mp3). We strongly recommend recording your vinyl sources to wav format for the best possible
quality. To select more than one file, hold the Ctrl key while you click the files (this is Windows standard).
Then click Open. Your selected files will appear on DePopper file list.
7) Click Start and DePopper will process both files, removing their clicks and pops. At the end, you will
have two new files, named jazz_NEW.wav and test_NEW.wav (depending on your Windows configuration,
the file extensions may not appear).
8) That's all. Listen to your new audio files.
DePopper has a tiny screen, but it is powerful and very flexible. Now that you know how to use DePopper
to help you with a very specific need, why not knowing more about everything that DePopper can offer? To
know much more about DePopper, just keep on reading this manual.
Quick Start - 6
Auto Help
The Auto Help feature displays a help screen on the right side of your application. DePopper automatically
updates this help screen as you browse through the program options. This is very useful when you are
having first contact with the software and we strongly suggest the use of Auto Help during the first days or
weeks (depending on how frequently you use the program).
You can disable Auto Help anytime, but we recommend disabling it only after you learn the commands that
you need to use. If you disable Auto Help, you can always get the same help texts by clicking the Help
button on any program screen.
To disable Auto Help, click Options in the main program screen, then click Advanced Options and uncheck
the Enable auto help checkbox. You can enable Auto Help again any time you want.
Auto Help - 7
Main Screen Commands
By default, DePopper main screen is small, to use minimum desktop space. You can resize this screen, if
you want: just drag its bottom right edge until the screen has the format and size you want. Alt-Space and
then Size also works. Or you can maximize it, if you prefer. Only the main screen can be resized. Other
configuration screens have fixed sizes. Here we explain the main buttons on this screen:
File list
List of audio files to be processed, on the left. This is an edit window, where you can place the names
of the files you want to process. Although you can type the file names directly, we suggest you to use
the Browse button instead. This avoid mistakes and automatically sets your default folder.
Browse
Use this button to change the current folder and choose one or more sound files.
All
Use this button if you want to choose all the audio files in the current folder.
Start
Click this button to start processing the file list.
Quit
Click this button or press ESC to terminate the program.
Options
Click this button to change the way DePopper processes your audio files.
Help
You may click this button or press F1 to get useful information about DePopper.
Main Screen Commands - 8

Program Options
By clicking the Options button in the main screen, you can fine tune DePopper for your specific needs. You
should check only the boxes with the options that you want to use, as each option takes processing time.
Minimize Big Clicks

This option processes clicks caused by big and deep scratches on disk surface. If your records do not
have deep scratches, you may prefer to use Minimize Small Pops alone.
You can change this option settings to control how DePopper will try to remove big scratches and clicks
from the recording. Use this option only if Minimize Small Pops does not eliminate all the scratches of
your sources. This option uses waveform analysis and may get false detections in some situations. If
you click its setup button on the Options screen, you can change how it works as follows:
Slope Trigger
Here you control the sensivity to isolated large amplitude variations. Small values can cause false
detections (valid sounds being wrongly detected as a scratches or a clicks), while large values will
miss some clicks. The default value 70 is optimum for most situations.
You probably will want to increase this value if you identify some distortion in the sound that
disappears when this option is unchecked. You may want to decrease it if you are still getting big
glitches even with this option checked.
Program Options - 9
Extra Precision
This option activates a different engine with less false detections and better click removal. It is not
particularly fast in single core computers, but usually the improvement is worth waiting. However, it is
fast in computers with more than one logical CPU (dual core, tri core and so on), because it uses
parallel processing. Starting with version 3, this option is disabled by default in single core computers
and enabled otherwise. Unless you have a single core computer and processing time is a concern
for you, we suggest to always enable this option, for best possible audio quality.
Filter Below 38 Hz
This option is available only if Extra Precision is enabled. When this option is enabled (default),
frequencies below 38 Hz are filtered out before removing the big clicks. This may be necessary for
fixing some patterns of big clicks.
This option is enabled by default.
Minimize Small Pops

Check this option to process clicks and pops caused by adhered dust and small scratches. Frequently
such small clicks and pops have high density, sounding like something frying. This option is somewhat
slow, but the results are very realistic. If you are cleaning classical music records or other high-quality
music sources, from well preserved sources, you probably will want to increase the Precision setting,
which delivers unmatched results. For most good quality records, this option can be enough to remove
almost all pops and scratches without false detections. Please be aware that for certain kind of
scratches you may need to use the Minimize Big Clicks option too.
This command is somewhat slow, but it lets the program to remove most of the high density small pops
without changing the overall quality of the recording.
Program Options - 10
The Minimize Small Pops option uses a specially designed engine that is safe against false
detections.
You can fine tune this control in the following ways:
Trigger
Here you control the threshold for removing the small pops. The lower this value, the more intense is
the action. Low values will muffle the sound and may cause distortion, while high values will miss
some clicks. The default value 24 is optimum for average records.
This option may affect some percussion sounds, like hi hats, cymbals, hand claps and fingered bass.
If your records are very well preserved, use a higher value for Trigger, like 28. If your records are
extremely well preserved, use 32. Higher values give more natural sound. The optimum value for the
trigger is the highest possible value that still removes the small pops. Usually this ideal value does
not change much for the same user, but differs from one user to another, because a person normally
preserves all his/her records the same way.
If you have well preserved classical music records, you may consider using the "Vinyl, some clicks,
well preserved" or "Vinyl, very well preserved" presets, which automatically assign adequate values
to this setting.
Time window
Normally you should set this control to Small (default) and keep it unchanged. A longer time window
forces the program to catch longer small pops, but may also make the sound less natural.
This control is intended for those who have very well preserved records with classical music and
need to remove very thin small pops only, because their records have only that kind of pops. In such
records, a longer time window will not increase the pops removal and may adversely affect some low
frequency instruments.
Please note that using low values with average records will make the program miss some small
pops. If you have well preserved classical records, you may consider using a specific preset, which
will automatically assign an adequate value to this setting.
Compensate High Frequencies

A high density of small pops, frequent in worn records, causes a false impression of treble boost.
When the software removes this noise, the ear senses the difference as trebles loss (which is not
true). Check this box to slightly increase the high frequencies, after noise reduction. This will
compensate the difference in the perception by ear.
The increase in high frequencies is maximum for Trigger = 22 and decreases progressively until
ceasing for Trigger = 34. We did this change to avoid increase in brightness when the source already
has high quality. The purpose of this option is to compensate treble loss, not to increase brightness.
The default for this option is on.
Do not enable this option when processing cassette tapes or other sources with high
frequency hiss, because the hiss will increase.
Precision
If you are cleaning classical music records or other high-quality music sources, you probably will
prefer to wait longer to get maximum quality. If you are cleaning popular music, you can get good
quality without waiting so long. The lowest precision is fast, but has poor quality. High precision is
great for solo percussion instruments, that can cause ghost sounds when processed with normal
precision. The highest precision gives the best sound but also needs a fast computer to process the
songs, unless you can wait for a long time (all precision values except Low are accelerated when
you use a dual or more core computer). If you use Normal (balanced speed and quality), the
processing time will be acceptable and you will get good results with most music styles.
If you have a fast computer which does the job for you at night while you sleep, you should
definitely try the highest precision.
Pulley Turntable
Pulley turntables have a variable low frequency noise that cannot be removed without affecting the
song because it varies from turntable to turntable. Even in the same turntable, it may change,
depending on the pulleys and their contact with the plate. This option removes all low frequencies,
helping to improve the sound (the pulley noise remains, but it is not so loud).
Stereo Modifiers
This option combines channels from a stereo source in different ways, to do some extra cleaning when
possible.
Convert low frequencies to mono

Some turntables with rumble have mechanical characteristics such that most of the rumble has
opposite phase on left and right channels. Recordings made with such turntables will have their
rumble significantly attenuated when this option is enabled, as this option converts frequencies below
120 Hz to mono. The results are not the same for all turntables, so it’s necessary to try in order to
see if it works for a specific turntable.
If you listen to your songs using a home theater with one subwoofer, and configure your system to
direct all low frequencies to the subwoofer, you won’t notice any difference. The subwoofer plays the
low frequencies in mono, and this is also what this option does. The difference is noticeable only with
separate low frequency speakers, having strong bass.
Center channels only (mono source digitized as stereo)

This option is a center channel extractor. A mono source, like an LP from the '50s, will play mono in a
stereo turntable, but its clicks and pops will distribute to left, center and right. This option, when
enabled, eliminates everything which is not exactly at the center, improving the final quality of such
records. The resulting sound will have two equal channels, both with the original center channel only.
Do not use this option with stereo sources, or you will remove all instruments which are on the left
and on the right. This option requires correctly balanced channels to work properly (source file with
same volume on both channels).
Reverse channels (switch left and right)
Left becomes right and right becomes left. Of course this setting only makes sense if you do not
enable any of the other two settings.
Both source file and output format should be stereo for this option to work. There is no action if the
source file is mono or if the output format is mono.
Filter Frequencies
Use this option to attenuate low frequencies (typically rumble and pulley noise) as well as higher
frequencies (hiss in older vinyl records and cassette tapes, for example). You can also boost
frequencies that you want to enhance, like trebles in a muffled recording. You can define up to six
frequencies to adjust. DePopper can also remove 50 Hz and 60 Hz hum, induced by electric wires (AC
Hum).
Remove 50 Hz
Check this if your recordings have 50 Hz noise (Europe). The program removes the base frequency
(50 Hz) and its first harmonics (100 Hz, 150 Hz, 200 Hz and 250 Hz). If you don't want to remove the
harmonics, use Boost/attenuate specific frequencies (below).
Remove 60 Hz
Check this if your recordings have 60 Hz noise (USA). The program removes the base frequency (60
Hz) and its first harmonics (120 Hz, 180 Hz, 240 Hz and 300 Hz). If you don't want to remove the
harmonics, use Boost/attenuate specific frequencies (below).
Remove all audible harmonics

By default, DePopper removes only the first harmonics together with the undesired AC hum, but you
can enable this setting to remove all the audible harmonics. This is useful for ungrounded cables,
that cause a severe hum with a huge number of harmonics. The use of this option may cause some
echo effects that are particularly noticeable with speech. This setting is only available when Remove
50 Hz / 60 Hz is selected.
Remove frequencies below (…) Hz

A pulley turntable generates low frequency rumble that you can remove by using this option. Simply
fill the space with the desired minimum frequency. For example, if the frequency is 40 Hz, the
program will remove all frequencies below 40 Hz.
Remove frequencies above (…) Hz

Older vinyl records, as well as cassete tapes, usually do not have frequencies above 13,000 Hz, so
you with such records you can set this field value to 13000 to remove all frequencies above this
upper limit. Mechanically recorded 78 rpm records usually do not have valid frequencies above 5000
Hz, so you can set this field value to 5000 for such records (you will remove only surface noise).
Remove frequencies between (…) and (…)

If you need to remove a range of frequencies, specify the lower and upper limits here.
Boost/attenuate specific frequencies

Here you can optionally enter up to six extra frequencies to be removed. Do not use commas (for
example, write 13000 instead of 13,000).
• The Hz column should contain the frequencies you want to filter.
• The dB column should contain how many decibels you want to boost or attenuate for each
frequency.
• Finally, the Q column must have the number 10, unless you want a very selective filter. The
default values are compatible with earlier versions of DePopper.
Q is defined as follows:
Q = f0 / delta
Where f0 is the central frequency, defined in the Hz column, and delta is the range of frequencies to
be boosted / attenuated. Example: if dB is -60, f0 is 5000 Hz and Q is adjusted to 10, then delta will
be 5000/10 = 500. In other words, all frequencies between 4756 Hz and 5256 Hz will be attenuated
by 60 dB. The central frequency is equal to the geometric mean between minimum and maximum
frequencies, because our ears hear logarithmically, not linearly.
If all this math is not familiar to you, use the default Q = 10, which gives good results for most
applications.
Minimize Tape Hiss
This option is intended to remove tape hiss. It may work with other types of non-variable hiss, like noisy
streamed radio, but this depends on how the source sound was created.
To get the best possible results with magnetic tapes when using this option in automatic mode (default),
please record your tapes this way:
1. Having everything installed, wires properly connected and so on, start your preferred recorder
program in your computer but do not start to record yet. Keep it ready to start recording when
you click the REC button.
2. Put your tape in the player (if it's not already there) and start to play before the desired song
starts. For example, start to play at the very end of the previous song. If you intend to record the
first song in the tape, or an entire side of the tape, start to play at the beginning, but wait until
the real tape hiss begin. It must be the hiss that exists during the entire tape, and not the very
low hiss that exists in the initial non-recordable portion of the tape.
3. Being sure that your player is playing the tape itself, with the hiss that you want to remove, and
NOT the initial portion in the beggining of the tape, click the REC button on your recording
software.
4. Wait for the song (or the tape side) to end and click STOP button on your recording software,
before the tape reaches the plastic portion at the end. This way you make sure that there is tape
hiss in the entire source file, which is very important.
5. After clicking STOP in your software recorder, now you can stop your cassette (or reel) player.
Your source file is ready for DePopper. If you recorded using an audio editor, DO NOT
REMOVE the initial and final "hissy" portions in your source file before using DePopper.
Remove them later from the processed file, if you want or need. However, if you left your
equipment recording an entire side of a tape and you were not present when the player
reached the end of the tape, you must remove the final "non tape hiss" part of your audio file.
The only hiss in our audio file must be tape hiss.
6. Repeat the above steps when recording every source file that you want to dehiss. We suggest to
record all the source files and later process them at once with DePopper, only after all of them
are in your hard disk. This way you can do something else while DePopper cleans your files.
DePopper automatically detects the lowest noise level in your source file and uses this lowest noise
level as reference for removing the noise from the entire file. This is the reason why the file should
never contain passages with lower level than the real tape hiss that you want to remove, like the initial
or final non-recordable parts of the tape: DePopper would take these almost silent passages as noise
reference and, because the actual noise is much higher than them, there would be no hiss removal at
all! Similarly, if the source file contains only music and not a single short passage that contains only tape
hiss, DePopper will remove too much information and you'll get the "sci-fi" sounds.
The above tips are essential for getting the best results when using the Minimize Hiss option in
automatic mode (default). You only need to read the text after the black line below if you want to know
more about how this option works or if you are getting bad results even when strictly following the above
steps.
Please note that this option is effective only to minimize tape hiss and similar (not variable hiss).
Some info about what this option can and can't do:
✔ This option does not fix pops or clicks;
✔ This option may cause distortion if used directly with non-tape sources;
✔ This option is not effective with variable hiss, like surface hiss in well worn records;
✔ To work automatically, this option needs a hiss-only passage that lasts at least 0.2 second in
each audio file. We will explain more about this below;
✔ This option is not effective when the player uses automatic output level control, like some
portable cassette players. This includes audio recorded from a tape that by its turn was
recorded from other tape using automatic level control. It's easy to see why: the automatic
level control transforms the steady tape hiss in variable tape hiss.
Now, let's see more information about how this option works. Reading the text below is not essential for
using this option:
We call noise floor the hiss you hear in areas of the sound that should be silent. For example, you can hear hiss during the
pianissimo passages of a classical/instrumental song. DePopper can analyze each song to automatically detect its noise
floor. When processing the song, DePopper will lower the level of all frequencies that have amplitudes that are equal to or
below the frequency amplitudes of the noise floor, leaving the frequencies with higher amplitude intact.
Like all the methods that analyze the entire song before processing, this method may give unexpected results if you change
the disks while you are recording and later try to process the mixed songs and disk changes as if they all were a single
song. With the hiss and equalization options, you normally get the best results when you have only one wave file for each
song or tape side (recorded at once and without the non-recordable passages in the beginning or at the end).
Because of its implementation, Minimize Hiss is particularly effective when there is an interval of at least 0.2 second in
the source file that contains only tape hiss. Most songs have more than 0.2 second of hiss before starting and/or after
ending, and sometimes even in the middle, so this is not usually a problem.
However, an absolute silence (without any hiss) in the song may be wrongly interpreted as noise reference by the program,
making the option ineffective. This does not happen with samples digitized the normal way, but may happen if the sample
was previously changed in some wav editor. This may also happen if you started recording to your computer before
pushing the play button of your cassette player. The start of the recorded song will not have the tape hiss and the program
may interpret that silence as being the noise reference. To avoid problems like these, always start digitizing after pushing
the play button of your cassette player and stop digitizing before pushing the stop button, as described above. It's simple if
you think this way: to work properly, this option needs the more silent part of the song to be tape hiss. If this does not
happen, it may or may not work properly.
The new setting Detect and ignore non-tape passages, described below, can help you with non-silent passages that
are not tape hiss, if they are not too loud.
These are the settings for this option:
Trigger
Specify a higher value to detect higher level as hiss and vice-versa. In automatic mode, the trigger
value is compared to the average audio level from the sample, so it self-adapts to each source files.
The default value 0 is optimum for most situations.
Factor
A high value will drastically cut everything that the software identifies as hiss, resulting in a metallic
sound. A low value will give a more natural sound, but will leave some hiss. The default 0 is optimum
for most situations.
If you think the default settings are not working well for a particular song, just take the following
steps:
• Set Factor to 100.
• Adjust Trigger to the point you can barely hear some hiss (the sound may be very metallic at
this point) and then increase its value by 1.
• Adjust Factor to the point you can barely hear some hiss and then increase its value by 1.
The optimal settings for a specific song not necessarily will not be the same for other one. Since the
automatic mode is self adaptive, usually the preset values (both zero) should work well for most
songs. We strongly recommend the use of the default presets, provided that the original audio files
have the 0.2 second reference, as described above.
Detect and ignore non-tape passages

This setting is new to DePopper 4. Enable it to force DePopper to ignore all sounds below the usual
noise level when detecting the noise floor in the automatic mode. This is the default. You may want to
disable this setting if the average hiss level in your source file is very low, causing DePopper
automatic mode to ignore it (this will cause DePopper to excessively attenuate trebles). This setting
only works with the automatic mode enabled (Restrict prediction disabled).
Restrict prediction
By default, the program analyzes the entire file before processing and considers the lowest
frequency amplitudes as hiss, within certain conditions. This works very well for most sources,
particularly if somewhere in the song there is a gap with more than 0.2 second that has only tape
hiss, which is usual in tape sources. However, in some situations you may have a sustained sound
that is not hiss. For example, a piece of a song which has a constant flute in the background or even
the sound of a distorted guitar that lasts for the entire audio sample. Normally such sounds would be
automatically treated as noise and attenuate. Enabling this setting disables the automatic mode,
using a fixed standard noise reference instead, preserving such instruments. This is not 100%
guaranteed to work fine, particularly if the volume of the instruments is really near the hiss level, but
is expected to correct the most identifiable situations. With this option enabled, you can experience
some decrease in trebles, particularly the low level trebles.
Normalize Frequency
Check this option if you want all the songs to have the same bass and treble balance. This option is
somewhat slow, só you should check it only if you have large tone differences in different songs or if you
have enough available time (for example, if you process your files while you sleep). You can
compensate big differences between channels, too.
For example, use this feature if you plan to record a CD or create a sequence of MP3 files and your
sources have different bass and treble leves. With most softwares, you would need to make separate
adjusts for each song. However, with DePopper the frequencies of each song will be automatically
adjusted so all the songs will seem to have the same bass and treble intensities.
Songs with low bass sounds will have their low frequencies increased. Songs with too much or too few
treble will have their high frequencies attenuated or increased, respectively.
Gain
If you think the volume is too low or too high after normalization, adjust this setting to change the
average volume to your preference. If the gain is too high DePopper shows you, after processing, a
message like this: “8.2% samples exceeded max level in freq normalization”. This means that for
each 1000 audio samples (a CD has 44,100 per second), an average of 82 samples had to be
corrected to avoid clipping (if the anti-clipping is enabled, which is the default) or were clipped (if anti-
clipping is disabled). Ideally you should set the highest gain which does not display this message, or
displays a very low value, below 8% (the default value is calibrated to give good results in most
situations).
Balance Channels
Enable this setting if your audio source has too much bass and/or too much treble in only one
channel. By default this option is checked, because it should not noticeably affect the result if the
source is already balanced.
Try To Avoid Clipping

Enable this setting to minimize the risk of distortion if your source is very unbalanced in frequency
and you want to normalize it, or if you want a high volume with minimum distortion for some reason.
Normalize Volume
This option normalizes the volume based on the frequencies between 680 Hz and 7 KHz. Check this
option if you have big volume differences from one source to another.
For example, you can use this feature if you plan to record a CD or create a sequence of MP3 files and
you want all songs to have the same average level. The program adjusts the overall level so the
frequencies between 680 Hz and 7 KHz will have the same average volume (by default, 24 dB below
the peak level). You can change the following settings:
Level
It’s advisable to lower this value if the source material has intense bass sounds, which may lose their
strength. Values higher than the default -24 dB may result in low dynamic range. Use a lower value
for classical music, typically -30 dB or even lower, because this music style has low average level
with very strong peaks, that should be preserved.
Balance Channels
The default is checked to compensate large volume differences between channels. If one channel
has much more bass than the other channel, the channels will be balanced by the frequencies
between 680 Hz and 7 KHz, resulting in an audio file that will look unbalanced in a wave editor.
However, because the human ear has low sensivity to low frequencies, the audio file will be sound
balanced when played.
Try To Avoid Clipping

When this option is checked (default), DePopper applies an adaptive compression to the parts of
the song that would be distorted by clipping. You may want to uncheck this option for certain very
specific speech applications. Unchecking this option with music can cause high levels of distortion,
particularly with low frequencies (bass).
If the level is too high, DePopper shows you, after processing, a message like this: “8.2% samples
exceeded max level in vol normalization”. This means that for each 1000 audio samples (a standard
audio CD has 44,100 audio samples per second), an average of 82 samples had to be corrected to
avoid clipping (if the anti-clipping is enabled, which is the default) or were clipped (if anti-clipping is
disabled). Ideally you should set the highest level which does not display this message, or displays a
very low value (the default value is calibrated to give good results in most situations, except
classical music and speech, that require a lower value).
Presets
DePopper defaults are suitable for average vinyl records, but what if your audio sources are not average
vinyl records? For example, you may want to process original cassette tapes, not recorded from vinyl. Or
78 rpm records, which require different settings. Adjusting the options independently for specific sources
may be a difficult task if you are starting to use DePopper. The Presets screen was created to help you
with such situations.
You can open the presets window by clicking on the Presets button in the Options screen.
For example, what to do if you have 78 rpm records, manufactured in 1920? You can do this way:
1. In the presets list, click on Vinyl, 78rpm, before 1930 (you may need so scroll the list to see
this option).
2. Click Use selected button.
That's all. Your DePopper is now configured to process 78 rpm records.
These are the buttons in the Presets screen:
Use selected
This button is available only if one preset is selected. Click this button to use the selected preset.
After you click this button, the Presets screen will close and all options will be updated in accordance
to the new settings. If a preset is selected, a summary about it is displayed on the right of the list.
New preset
Click this button to crate a new preset from your current options. DePopper will prompt for a unique
preset name and an optional description. After entering name and optionally the description, the new
preset will appear on the list, ready to be used.
Delete
Click this button to delete the selected preset. This button is available only for user defined presets.
Presets - 20
Cancel
Click this button to close the Presets window without activating any preset. Presets created with the
New preset command are kept.
By default, user defined presets are stored in a My Documents subfolder. The exact location of My
Documents folder can vary from computer to computer, depending on local language or customized
settings. Some Windows emulators, notably Mac based Windows systems, redefine the default My
Documents location to a path not in accordance to Windows file name rules. For example, file
names starting with a dot are illegal in Windows. When this happens, DePopper attempts to create a
directory below the root of the Windows disk drive and use it instead of the wrong the My Documents
folder. Therefore, the existance of such folder does not indicate any malfunction.
Presets - 21
Preview
You can open the preview window by clicking Options in the main screen and then Preview.
Use this command to preview the results you will get with the combination of options you are using. The
preview mode lets you hear how a small passage of the song will be after processing. You can use the
following controls:
Start
The time in seconds, from the start of the song, where preview starts playing.
Length
The preview length in seconds.
Start + Length should not exceed the length of the original song.
You can play only one song (the selected song in the file list) at a time. If you select no song, then
DePopper plays the first song.
Please note:
✔ Minimize Big Clicks, Minimize Small Pops, Minimize Hiss and Filter Frequencies, if selected,
play the preview the same way you will get after full processing.
✔ Normalize Frequency and Normalize Volume, if selected, give approximate results in the
preview, because they depend on analyzing the entire file and that would increase preview
time. Therefore, during preview they analyze only the few seconds specified in the parameter
Length, which can result in differences.
✔ Minimize Hiss analyzes the entire file, when Restrict Prediction is disabled (default), because
it's not possible to get good approximate results for this option without scanning the entire
source file.
The preview function may not work in some computers, even when Media Player can play the
audio files. However, this does not necessarily interfere with file processing. If your preview function
does not work on your computer, just process the audio files normally and listen to them in Windows
Media Player.
Preview - 22
Advanced Options
You can reach the advanced options window by clicking the Advanced button on the Options screen. In
the advanced options window you can adjust many program settings that are changed infrequently.
Because there are too many advanced options to fit in a single screen, they are grouped by category on a
left menu tree. Clicking each of them changes the center settings screen accordingly.
General
Includes the following advanced options:
Enable Auto Help

Check/uncheck this option if you want to enable/disable the Auto Help feature, which opens a help
screen together with the program, following and explaining each screen that you use..
Delete Original Files After Processing

Check this option if you have low disk space and you want DePopper to delete the original files after
processing. Be careful, because files once deleted cannot be recovered. We always suggest to keep
the original files. Verify the new files before deleting the old ones.
Create log files

By default, DePopper automatically creates a log file after each session. You can uncheck this option
if you do not want this log file to be created. When enabled, this advanced option has these sub-
options:
Advanced Options - 23
Zipped html format
DePopper records the log file using html format, saves the DirectShow block diagrams as jpeg
pictures and packs everything inside a zip file. You can read the log file by expanding all its file to
a single directory and opening the html file with a web browser. This is the preferred log format if
you need to send us the log data for technical support purposes. You may uncheck this setting to
get a text only log, useful for batch files.
Erase old log before each Start

Appending new text to the log file in every session can quickly increase its size. Check this option
to erase the old log file before processing a new group of files, saving disk space. You can
append to plain text log files only. Zipped html log files are always erased before processing a
new group of files (enabling "zipped html format" automatically enables this option).
Log to registry
If Windows forces DePopper to terminate abnormally terminate, DePopper cannot save the log
data to a file. However, our tech people needs the log data to understand what happened inside
the program. Starting with version 4, you can enable this option and DePopper will write the log
data to a special variable in Windows Registry. If Windows aborts the program, when you run the
program again DePopper will be able to recover the log from the previously aborted session
history, written up to the point where the interruption ocurred, ready for our tech support analysis.
Do not enable this setting unnecessarily, because it slows down DePopper execution.
Show "Low Disk Space" warning

By default, DePopper verifies if the destination directory has enough available space for the files it
will write. Some environments do not inform this space correctly, so you can disable this warning if
you are sure that there will be always enough space in the destination directory. Note: if you disable
this option and your disk runs out of space when processing, DePopper can process forever, until
you end it in Task Manager.
Open File Browse Window On Start

Check this if you want DePopper to open the file browse window ("Choose one or more files") on
start. Uncheck this otherwise. For example, you may want to uncheck this if you like to drag and drop
the audio files directly on DePopper screen.
Remember last current directory

By default DePopper remembers the current directory from the previous version. Disable this setting
if you don't want DePopper to behave this way. This can be useful if you run DePopper from a batch
file, for example.
Minimize DePopper after clicking Start

Enable this setting if you want DePopper to minimize its screens when starting to process. You can
restore the screens normally while the program processes, by clicking its icon on Windows Taskbar.
Restore DePopper after processing
Disable this option if you don't want DePopper to restore from an eventually minimized state after
processing (you can restore DePopper by clicking its icon on Windows task bar).
Exit DePopper after processing

Enable this option if you want DePopper to exit after processing all your files. No final summary is
displayed: if you suspect about errors you have to read the log file (if its generation was enabled).
Shut down system after processing

Enable this option if you want DePopper to shut down (power off) your computer after processing all
files. No final summary is displayed: if you suspect about errors you have to read the log file (if its
generation was enabled). To work correctly, this feature depends on computer hardware and
software, as well as logged user configuration and permissions, so not all computers will be powered
off. This option may take a while to start.
Lower priority when processing

Enable this option if other applications are noticeably slower while you are running DePopper.
Enabling this option will make other programs to run more smoothly, but can also increase
processing time.
Always copy temporary files

This option has effect on WAV output only. The temporary file (_TMP by default) created by
DePopper is a WAV file itself. Normally, when the output is WAV, DePopper renames this temporary
file to _NEW after successfull processing. Renaming is considerably faster than copying. However,
some computers do not allow this final rename operation and the processing ends with a _TMP file
instead of a _NEW file.
Enable this option if this happens in your computer. With this option enabled, DePopper will force a
copy of the _TMP file to a _NEW file, so you will get a _NEW file, as it should be. If the computer
does not allow deleting the _TMP file too, you may have to manualy delete your _TMP files later.
Check DC level before processing

Enable this setting if your audio board input is not perfectly balanced around the zero axis (recorded
files appear vertically shifted in a waveform diagram). This problem happened sometimes in the past,
but it's rare today, so this setting is disabled by default.
Disable parallel processing

By default, DePopper uses parallel processing in multi-core computers. Check this setting to force
DePopper to use sequential processing. Please note that if you enable this setting the processing
time will be roughly multiplied by the number of logical CPUs in your computer. For example, if you
computer is a quad core, enabling this setting will force DePopper to take four times longer to
process the same set of files. Usually you can use parallel processing in modern multi-core
computers, so this setting is disabled by default.
Display current preset in main screen
Enable this setting if you want to see the name of the currently active preset on the title bar of the
program main screen. Only exact matches appear, including user-defined presets, if any. If the
current settings do not have a matching preset, "Custom user settings" appears instead. For
example, if you select the preset "Vinyl, traditional", you will see "DePopper - Vinyl, traditional" in
the title bar. However, if you change anything in the program options (simple options, not advanced
options), the text "DePopper - Custom user settings" will appear instead. If you manually change
the options in a way that other preset matches your settings, the name of the other preset will
appear.
Play this wav file after processing

Here you can choose a wav file that DePopper will play after processing all files in the file list. Click
Browse to select the wav file that you want. Click Blank to avoid playing any sound at all. Please
choose a wav file only some seconds long, because you won't be able to interrupt the sound while
playing. If a wav file is defined, DePopper plays it even in batch mode. If the wav file does not exist,
or if the user clicks Stop, DePopper does not play any sound after processing.
CPU usage
Windows XP, Vista and Seven isolate DePopper from other programs and from themselves, so it's
impossible for a malfunction in DePopper to cause a lockup or a reboot in these operating systems.
Therefore, lockups and reboots while DePopper is cleaning audio files always indicate hardware
failure. If the hardware failure is due to CPU overheating, lowering the CPU usage will reduce the
CPU load, at the expense of more processing time. Bad CPU cooling is very dangerous. See the
Troubleshooting section for details.
Enable All Screens

Click this button if you want DePopper to re-display the screens that you marked as "Do not show
this screen again".
Reset Defaults
Click this button to do a full reset in DePopper, restoring all default settings, as if DePopper had just
been installed. User defined presets and registration are preserved. If you confirm this action,
DePopper will ask you if you want to save your current options (not advanced options, only options)
as a new user defined preset, so you can easily reapply them afterwards. After the confirmation and
the answer, DePopper will close. Next time you open DePopper, it will be completely reset.
Input
Includes the following advanced options:
Input masks
Here you can define which file extensions DePopper will look for when you click Browse or All on
the main program screen. By default this text is "wav;mp3;mp2;mpa;wma", which are the file types
that DePopper and/or DirectShow natively support. But if you are sure that your computer has the
DirectShow codecs for decoding other file types and you want to use them, you can add their
extensions to the definition. For example, if your computer can decode flac, m4a and ogg, you can
change the text to "wav;mp3;mp2;mpa;wma;flac;m4a;ogg" (order is not important, use ";" to
separate).
DePopper will then recognize the new extensions and when you click Browse you will see your flac,
org and m4a files that didn't appear before. Same for the All button.
The Input masks text tells DePopper which file types to display on the file selection screen. If you
define a type that your computer does not have decoding for, DePopper will allow you to choose files
with that type, but will not process them.
Auto detect
If you click this button DePopper will attempt to detect the most common audio formats supported by
DirectShow in your computer, adding them to Input masks. Please note that DirectShow decoders
are third-party programs and we do not have control over them. The auto detection is optional
because problems in your pre-installed DirectShow decoders can crash DePopper.
Never use DirectShow

Enable this advanced option if Windows DirectShow does not work properly in your computer.
Mp3 input specific settings
If DePopper is not processing a specific mp3 file, you can try different decoding methods here.
Normally the built in decoder gives the best results.
Output
Here you define the default output format for processed files. It can be wav, mp3 or external encoder.
You can configure each output file type separately as follows:
WAV
Sample rate, Channels and Bits - Define you preferred combination. You can only change these
settings if Match input format is unselected.
Match input format - Enable this to create an output wav file with the same sample rate, number of
channels and bits as the source wav file. If the source file is not wav, the output file will always be
16 bits. When this setting is checked the numbers in sample rate, channels and bits are
meaningless.
Output header format - Use DePopper 3 header unless you are using some other program that
only that can read the old DePopper 2 format only.
MP3
Sample rate, Channels and Data rate - Define you preferred combination.
EXT
Use this advanced option if you want an unsupported output format and you have your own
command line format converter (an external program) for the format that you want. This is the basic
syntax for invoking the external program: cmdname /switches "%src" "%dst "
Use the name (full path) of your program instead of cmdname. The use of switches is optional and
depends on each program. The parameter "%src" should be as is and will be replaced by the name
of the input (or temporary) file. The parameter "%dst" will be replaced by the name of the output file,
which will be the input file name with the new output extension. Don't forget to specify the new output
extension in the Output extension field.
DePopper will invoke the program, in accordance to the command line, for each processed file.
DePopper holds its execution until the external program terminates. When invoking the external
program, some command prompt windows can pop-up during processing, even if DePopper is
minimized. Example using the Lame MP3 Encoder (must set output extension as mp3):
lame.exe "%src" "%dst"
Example using the FLAC Encoder, the Free Lossless Audio Codec (must set output extension as
flac):
flac.exe "%src" -o "%dst"
Currently the external program must be placed in the same folder a your song files.
Use the Reset button to restore the command line text and the output extension to their defaults.
Directories
Here you can redefine where you want to place your processed audio files, your presets and your log
file. For each directory you have the following buttons on the right:
Browse - Click to choose a new location for the directory that you want to redefine.
Default - Click to restore the directory to its default.
Open - Click to open the directory and have access to the files it contains.
These are the directories you can redefine:
Destination directory
DePopper will write your processed files to this directory, if specified. By default, DePopper writes
the processed files to the source folder, if it is write enabled.
Presets directory
By default DePopper writes your user defined presets to a directory below your My Documents
folder. Change this if you want to store your presets to a different place. Please note that directory
names beginning with a dot are not valid in Windows and can cause problems, so avoid using them.
Log file directory

By default DePopper writes your log files (if enabled) to the same directory where the processed
files are placed. Change this if you want to store your log files to some other fixed directory. Please
note that directory names beginning with a dot are not valid in Windows and can cause problems, so
avoid using them.
Current directory
Here DePopper displays the directory that is opened when you click Browse on its main screen. It is
also the directory where DePopper gets the audio files from, when you click All in the same screen.
Suffixes
Define here the suffixes that you want DePopper to use when processing your files.
New File Name Suffix

Define here a suffix to be added to file names after processing, to make them different from the old
files. You can leave this blank only if you define an old file name suffix (below), if the destination file
will always have different extension from the source file or if you defined a fixed destination directory.
Otherwise, you must specify a new file name suffix.
Old File Name Suffix
Optionally you can define here a suffix to be added to the original file names, if you do not want to
add a suffix to the new files, for example. If you want to replace the original files by the new files (not
recommended), you can define no suffix in the new file name, an _OLD suffix here and enable delete
original files after processing. Be careful: once deleted, the original files cannot be recovered.
Temporary File Name Suffix

You must specify a suffix for the temporary file names. Define here a suffix to be added to a
temporary file, when in use.
About
Here you have access to the version number, build date, license information and contact data. You can
also use the Register button to paste your key code if your DePopper is unregistered. The Register
button does not appear if you are already registered.
Tips for Best Results
✔ Record your original files as uncompressed WAV, whenever possible. DePopper accepts MP3
and WMA too (the last one using Windows DirectShow), but these formats use lossy compression
and therefore have less quality (sometimes poor quality) when compared to uncompressed WAV.
We included decoding for these formats because some lite versions of digitizers allow saving
uncompressed WAV only to those who pay for the full versions. No chain can be stronger than its
weakest link: in order to get the best possible results, record with the best possible sound - and
the best possible sound is uncompressed WAV.
✔ Never record your songs with excessive volume. By excessive volume we say with clipping
distortion. The clipping distortion happens when the peaks of the song exceed the maximum
dynamic range allowed by the chosen output format. The maximum dynamic range allowed by 16
bits audio exceeds the maximum dynamic range found in commercial vinyl records and magnetic
tapes, so there is no resonable reason to record using a volume that distorts the sound. If you
want a high volume in order to listen to the songs in a portable device or similar, you can use
Normalize Volume later to safely raise the audio volume, using its anti-clipping feature. A distorted
input file confuses the waveform analysis done by the program and may result in an even more
distorted output file after processing.
✔ Check only the options you really need. For example, don’t check Minimize Big Clicks if your
source files do not have big scratches. Use the presets feature for quickly setting the adjusts that
better match your records. If the results are not as good as you expected, turn off all options
except one, and fine tune its settings to get the best results. Repeat this procedure for each
feature alone and finally check all the features you need again.
✔ If you identify distortion when using Minimize Big Clicks, particularly “bubble sounds”, enable
Extra Precision in its settings. This is slower than the default, but will give you more accurate
results. Extra Precision is default for computers with more than one logical CPU. If you still get
distortion, try increasing the Trigger value.
✔ For Minimize Small Pops we suggest to use the highest trigger that still removes all the small
pops.
✔ If Minimize Small Pops is enabled, your record has few pops and you hear "bumps" or "gaps" in
the sound, try using a lower time window. This can cause DePopper to miss some longer small
pops, but the undesired effect shouldn't appear anymore.
✔ If you are converting an original tape recording (cassette or reel) to CD, use the preset named
"Cassette, original tape" as your starting point.
✔ If you are converting a tape recorded from vinyl, use the preset name "Cassette, recorded from
vinyl" as your starting point.
✔ About the cassette player itself: make sure that the head is clean, correctly aligned and
demagnetized. If you don’t pay attention to these details, you will lose trebles (but hiss will
remain). It’s much easier to get a good sound from a recording that has all its original trebles.
✔ When possible, try to record separate songs to separate files, particularly if the songs have
different average volumes and you intend to normalize them. DePopper normalizers work in a
per-file basis, so they cannot compensate volume differences inside a single file.
Tips for Best Results - 33

Command Line Switches
NOTE: this topic is for advanced users. Knowledge and experience with DOS commands and their syntax
are required for creating automated tasks that use these switches properly.
Switch Usage
/tbm Batch mode - In batch mode DePopper does not prompt
for input files and starts processing immediately, without
clicking OK. The final pop-up with a summary of errors or
success message is not displayed and the program exits
after processing. However, events are written to the log file
normally, provided that it is enabled in Advanced Options
(default). For batch use it's also advisable to disable the
auto help (also in Advanced Options), as well as disabling
zipped html log (to get the same plain text log as before).
The opening screen prompt should be disabled, too.
/ext1=defaultaudioextension Custom input extension - Defining a custom input
Example: /ext1=wav extension makes sense only when with /fl=* (described
If the extension has spaces, the entire below), which loads all files in the current directory. This
switch should not be used when the files are specified one
switch must be enclosed between
by one, as inside a file list.
quotes: "/ext1=wav file"
If this switch is not specified, wav is assumed.
/ext2=newoutextension Custom output extension - Defining a custom output

Example: /ext2=abc extension may be necessary when using a second utility
If the extension has spaces, the entire that will load all files processed by DePopper, after the
switch must be enclosed between new files are generated. If the output extension could not
quotes: "/ext2=abc file" be other than wav, the second utility would load all files,
processed and not processed, because they are in the same
directory by default. However, if the _NEW files have a
different extension, the second utility can be configured to
load only their extensions. This switch is optional.
/fl=filelistname File List - The file list is a text file with one audio file
Example: /fl=myfilelist.txt name per line. DePopper processes line by line, ignoring
If the extension has spaces, the entire and logging syntax errors (with the exception of the
switch must be enclosed between asterisk, described on the left). Currently, all files must be
quotes: in the same directory, which must be current when
"/fl=filelistname with spaces" DePopper runs. File names in file list cannot have paths
If filelistname is an asterisk, all files and should have their extensions (wav, for example).
in current directory are added, in In a batch processing it's possible to use the DOS
accordance to /ext1 (defaults to wav). command CD before running DePopper, to change the
Example: /fl=* default directory. File list contents must have one file name
per line. File names inside filelist cannot have the
following characters:
Backslash - \
Command Line Switches - 34

Slash - /
Colon - :
Question mark- ?
Asterisk - *
Quotes - "
Less than sign - <
Greater than sign - >
Pipe - |
If one of these characters is found, a warning is issued to
the log file, the line is ignored and processing continues.
However, if the character is in the first column, the line is
ignored without warning, allowing the use of comment
lines (or disabling valid lines temporarily). We suggest the
use of "*" as the first character for comment/disabled lines.
/cfg=cfgfilename Configuration File - The configuration file list is a
Unicode text file with one variable setting per line. Each
Example: /cfg=mycfgfile.txt
variable setting has a type identifier (1 = text, 4 = number),
If the extension has spaces, the entire a tab separator, the variable name, other tab separator and
switch must be enclosed between its value. If there is no value (for example, an empty
quotes: directory), the trailing tab should be added anyway. No
"/cfg=cfgfilename with spaces" leading blank is allowed.
Typically, the configuration file contains the permanent
data that DePopper uses, the data which is preserved
between sessions. For example: source files directory,
destination files directory, filter settings and so on.
Example (3 columns, use tabs to separate):
1 Current Dir C:\SourceFilesDir
4 Remember Dir 1
4 Create Log Files 1
4 Create Log Zipped Html 1
4 Erase Log B4 Clicking Start 1
1 Log Directory C:\LogFilesDir
4 Open Browser Window On Start 0
4 ShutDown After Processing 0
1 Old File Suffix
1 New File Suffix _NEW
1 Tmp File Suffix _TMP
1 Destination Directory
C:\DestinationFilesDir
1 Output Format WAV
Note: the log file directoryis not currently available in the
program interface. To reset the log file directory to blank,
change its registry variable to an empty string. This is the
variable:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\

(...)\Depopper3\Settings\Log Directory
For a listing of currently supported settings in a
configuration file, please see the table at the end of this
chapter.
Note:
You can use a command-line text filter utility, like grep, to get only the main lines of the generated log
file. For example, lines beginning with "Will process", "Failed to open", "Reason" and/or "Success".
Examples:
1) In a bat file this sequence of lines will process the audio files described in filelist.txt which are
stored in C:\My Music folder:
C:
CD "\My Music"
"C:\Program Files\Droid Informatica\DePopper4\DePopper4" /tbm /fl=filelist.txt
Contents of filelist.txt can be like this (no paths, must include extensions):
First Singer - The First Song.wav

Other Singer - Other Song.wav
* This is a comment line
* Blank lines are also allowed
A Third Song without singer.wav

songfilenamewithoutspaces.wav
2) In this new example this sequence of lines in a bat file will process all audio files in the specified
directory (which here is C:\My Music):
C:
CD "\My Music"
"C:\Program Files\Droid Informatica\DePopper4\DePopper4" /tbm /fl=*
3) In this example this sequence of lines in a bat file will process all mp3 audio files in the specified
directory (if the computer has DirectX installed), but not wav files:
C:
CD "\My Music"
"C:\Program Files\Droid Informatica\DePopper4\DePopper4" /ext1=mp3 /tbm /fl=*

Valid settings for cfg files
Type Name Default
4 Show Splash 0
4 Show Auto Help 1
4 Delete After Processing 0
4 Create Log Zipped Html 0
4 Erase Log B4 Clicking Start 1
4 Warn Low Disk Space 1
4 Open Browser Window On Start 0
4 Remember Dir 1
4 Minimize After Start 0
4 Restore After Processing 1
4 Exit After Processing 0
4 ShutDown After Processing 0
4 Lower Priority When Processing 0
4 Always Copy Temporary Files 0
4 Check DC Level 0
4 Disable Parallel Processing 0
4 Display Current Preset 0
1 Snd Play After Processing (empty)
4 CPU Sleep 0
1 Input Masks wav;mp3;mp2;mpa;wma
4 Never DirectShow 0
1 Mp3 decoding internal

1 New File Suffix _NEW
1 Old File Suffix (empty)
1 Tmp File Suffix _TMP
1 Destination Directory (empty = same as source)
1 Output Format WAV
4 Output MP3 Sample Rate 44100
4 Output MP3 Chanels 2
4 Output MP3 Bit Rate 128
4 Output WAV Sample Rate 44100
4 Output WAV Channels 2
4 Output WAV Bit Depth 16
4 Output WAV Format 1
4 Output WAV Is Float 0
4 Output WAV Match Input 1
1 Output External Command copy /b "%src" "%dst"
1 Output Ext Cmd Extension XYZ
1 Destination Directory (empty)
1 Presets Directory (empty)
1 Log Directory (empty)
4 Display Graphics 1
Advanced settings (not available in the interface)
Type Name Default
1 Log File depopper3_log.txt
4 Main Window Pos Top (depends on computer screen)
4 Main Window Pos Bottom (depends on computer screen)
4 Main Window Pos Left (depends on computer screen)
4 Main Window Pos Right (depends on computer screen)

1 Current Dir (default Windows music dir)
Enable/Disable Options
Type Name Default
4 Minimize Big Clicks 1
4 Minimize Pops 1
4 Stereo Modifiers 0
4 Filter Frequencies 0
4 Minimize Noise 0
4 Normalize Volume 0
4 Normalize Frequency 0
Minimize Big Clicks
Type Name Default
4 Big Clicks Slope Trigger 70
4 Big Clicks Extra Precision (depends on # of logical CPUs)
4 Big Clicks Filter Below 38 Hz 1
Minimize Small Pops
Type Name Default
4 DePop Peak Factor 24
4 DePop Time Window 2
4 Small Pops Precision 1
4 Boost High Frequencies 1
4 Small Pops Pulley Turntable 0
Minimize Small Pops (deprecated, use Small Pops Precision instead)
Type Name Default
4 Small Pops Extra Precision 1
4 Small Pops Low Freq Drums Fix 0

Stereo Modifiers
Type Name Default
4 Stereo Modifiers LF2MN 0
4 Stereo Modifiers Center Only 0
4 Stereo Modifiers Reverse Channels 1
Filter Frequencies
Type Name Default
4 Filter Cut 60Hz 0
4 Filter Cut 50Hz 0
4 Filter Remove Harmonics 0
4 Filter HiPass Freq 2147483647
4 Filter HiPass Freq2 0
4 Filter LoPass Freq 0
4 Filter LoPass Freq2 2147483647
4 Filter Rem Freq 1 0
4 Filter DB 1 -150
4 Filter DB 2 -150
4 Filter DB 3 -150
4 Filter DB 4 -150
4 Filter DB 5 -150
4 Filter DB 6 -150
4 Filter Q 1 10

4 Filter Q 2 10
4 Filter Q 3 10
4 Filter Q 4 10
4 Filter Q 5 10
4 Filter Q 6 10
Minimize Hiss
Type Name Default
4 DeNoise Noise Trigger 0
4 DeNoise Noise Factor 0
4 DeNoise Ignore Silent Passages 1
4 DeNoise Restrict Prediction 0
Normalize Frequency
Type Name Default
4 Gain Frequency 0
4 Balance Channels Frequency 1
4 Supress Clipping Frequency 1
4 Cut Below 20Hz 1
Normalize Volume
Type Name Default
4 Normalize Vol dB -24
4 Balance Channels 1
4 Supress Clipping 1
Preview
Type Name Default
4 Preview Start 30
4 Preview Duration 10
Use tabs to separate types, names and defaults, this way:

4[TAB]Active Instance[TAB]0
...where [TAB] is the tab character, not the text "[TAB]".

System Requirements
✔ The 32 bits version of DePopper was designed and tested to run on a true PC compatible
computer with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 7 x64.
✔ The 64 bits version of DePopper was developed and tested with Windows 7 x64 only. This
version of DePopper will not work with Windows 9x, ME or 2000.
✔ Minimum memory requirements are 512 MB of installed RAM for Windows XP and 1 GB of
installed RAM for Windows Vista/Win7 (may be more if other memory intensive applications are
running at the same time as DePopper).
✔ Windows XP requires Service Pack 2. Windows Vista requires Service Pack 1.
✔ There must be enough disk space for the audio files, both source and destination, plus temporary
files. The space for the temporary files depends on the chosen output format.
✔ Audio output is necessary for the preview feature to work. The preview feature may not work in
some computers, even if other applications play audio files properly. This does not affect file
processing.
✔ DePopper may need a functional sound board, with its drivers correctly installed, for processing
file formats that need DirectShow to be decoded (wav and mp3 files normally do not need
DirectShow decoding).
✔ There is a size limit for the files that DePopper can process. The temporary and output files
should not exceed 2 gigabytes. For 16 bits wav output, this means that the duration of each file
(time length) should not exceed 180 minutes (3 hours). For 32 bits wav output the maximum time
length for a single file will be 90 minutes. For 64 bits float wav output the maximum time length for
a single file will be 45 minutes.
✔ If your file system uses disk quotas, or if you are using DePopper from a network, or if your disk
is almost full, the disk quota / available space must be sufficient for twice the size of the longest
temporary file plus the sum of the lengths of all destination files.
✔ The destination directory must have write permission.
✔ DePopper 4 directly decodes uncompressed WAV files having the following formats:
WAV
• 8 to 192 KHz sample rate
• 1 or 2 audio channels (mono or stereo)
• Integer 16/24/32 bit depths or float 32/64 bit depths
MP3
• 8 to 48 KHz sample rate
• 1 or 2 audio channels (mono or stereo)
• 8 to 320 Kbps data rate
Other
All other formats are decoded with Windows DirectShow, provided that their corresponding third-
party decoders are installed and working properly, as well as DirectShow itself. If you want to
process different formats, like flac or m4a, and DePopper is not opening such files in your
computer, make sure to install the correct DirectShow filters (codecs) in the computer. Such
System Requirements - 43
filters are developed by other companies and we are not responsible for possible malfunctions in
them, or unexpected screens that they can display.
Please note also that DePopopper 4 does NOT decode 8 bits WAV files directly.
✔ Like all Windows 64 bits programs, the 64 bits version of DePopper accepts 64 bits DirectShow
filters only.
✔ We highly recommend to record your audio files as uncompressed WAV. This format has the
best possible audio quality and does not depend on DirectShow. DirectShow may behave
differently from one computer to another, depending on the installed filters, so we cannot make
sure that DePopper will successfully open a specific non-wav file type in a computer, even if other
programs can open it.
✔ DePopper is an audio program. At present, DePopper is not prepared to process files with video
streams. It's up to you to make sure that the files you want to process are audio only files. If you
try to process a file that has one or more video streams (for example, an mpeg file) and your
computer has the necessary DirectShow audio filters, DePopper will process the audio
information only. If there is more than one audio stream, DePopper will process only one of them.
If you have problems attempting to process a file that includes a video stream, please use a
demultiplexer utility to extract only the audio stream before using DePopper.
✔ DePopper is very CPU intensive and requires a correctly cooled CPU. A bad CPU cooler (and
not DePopper) can cause global lockups and reboots and can even damage your processor by
overheating, regarless of the programs that you are using. Important note: if DePopper is simply
closed by Windows with a message like "This program did something wrong will be terminated",
this is NOT a CPU overheat problem.
System Requirements - 44
Troubleshooting
Here you will find some reported problems and how to fix them.
_TMP files remaining

This happens when the computer does not allow DePopper to rename the processed temporary files
to _NEW. If _TMP files remain at the end of processing, having the processed (_NEW) files or not,
enable "Always copy temporary files" in the Advanced Options window. This will force DePopper to
always copy the _NEW files after successfull processing, instead of renaming. If even with this option
enabled the _TMP files remain, this means that Windows is not allowing DePopper to delete them
and you must remove the _TMP files manually.
We must say that this is not a DePopper problem. This is always caused by some other program
that opens and locks the temporary file, like a file indexer, for example.
Sound is distorting
The most frequent reason for distortion is excessive volume when recording. In order to work
correctly, DePopper needs the audio file to follow exactly what is recorded in the vinyl groove,
including the clicks and pops. If the recording volume is too high, the peaks are clipped off (made
flat) by the digitizer (normally the audio board). If a click/pop has its peak clipped, it may not be
recognized as such anymore by the waveform analyzer. Also, correct passages of the song that are
clipped during recording can be wrongly interpreted by the software as having clicks and pops, so
they will wrongly be "fixed", causing more distortion.
Therefore, never record a song with excessive volume. In other words, never allow the peaks of a
song to be distorted when recording. If you want a high volume (for example, to listen to the song
later in a portable device), digitize it as recommended and increase the volume only after processing
its clicks and pops. DePopper itself has a feature named Volume Normalization which can safely
increase the volume for you, using dynamic compression to avoid distortion.
Other reason for distortion is not following the standard rules for using the Minimize Hiss option. If
the audio sample does not have the 0.2 second hiss reference, starting when instruments are
already playing and finishing before them, some instruments may be entirely removed and the sound
may become very "robotic". See Minimize Hiss settings in order to remove the hiss properly without
these undesired effects.
A third reason for distortion are false detections when Minimize Big Clicks is enabled. If this happens,
raise the Trigger value for that option until the distortion disappears.
Does not remove hiss

DePopper was made to remove tape hiss, which is uniform along the entire song. If you are
attempting to remove the hiss from tape and the hiss does not change, you probably have a passage
somewhere in your sample where the noise level is below the average tape hiss. When digitizing
your songs, please follow the standard rules for using the Minimize Hiss option, exactly as described,
and the hiss removal will work.
Surface hiss, as found on some old vinyl records, and nature hiss, like wind hitting a microphone,
cannot be completely removed, although there can be some improvement if the same instructions
are followed carefully.
Troubleshooting - 45
Preview does not play
Preview is not guaranteed to play in all computers, even if Windows Media Player plays normally.
DePopper preview uses Video For Windows (VFW), while other players use DirectShow.
Does not process flac, m4a, etc.

Processing flac and m4a requires the corresponding third-party DirectShow decoders to be installed
in the computer.
Does not process copyrighted audio files

DePopper does not process files protected with DRM (Digital Rights Management). This would be a
copyright violation.
Does not remove all clicks & pops

Some instruments, particularly fingered instruments and some kinds of percussion, have
characteristics that are very similar to vinyl clicks and pops. If DePopper has some doubt about the
nature of the sound, it skips the fix operation, because this way a valid instrument will not be
considerably affected. Manually removing a missed click with some audio editor is much easier than
reverting a passage that was damaged by a wrong fix.
Phantom sounds appear in some songs

In Minimize Small Pops settings, set Precision as High (slower, better sound) or Very High (slowest,
best sound).
Processed songs have more hiss than original songs

Disable Compensate High Frequencies in Minimize Small Pops settings.
Random total lockups and reboots when processing

If when processing a long audio file your computer reboots by itself or hangs, interrupting all
programs while DePopper is processing, please read this: no regular program malfunction can
cause a reboot or a total lockup in Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. These operating systems
are protected against memory corruption and invalid instructions executed by normal programs (not
device drivers, virus/trojans or system programs).
Rebooting a computer requires a sequence of complex operations that cannot happen by accident.
When a program tries to use memory that does not belong to it or tries to execute processor
instructions that it can't, or does something that could cause problems, Windows simply stops the
program *before* it can cause any harm and all that happes is a screen displaying "This program (did
something wrong) and will be terminated".
Also, no program executed with normal privileges, like DePopper (that does not require
administrative rights to run) can physically damage the computer. This is a myth. Only device drivers
malicious replacements for system files and virus/trojans are potentially dangerous, but they are
different a class of programs that DePopper does not belong to. DePopper is a conventional
application.
The most frequent reason for reboot or lockup during DePopper processing is CPU overheating, a
hardware problem. DePopper is very CPU intensive. DePopper does a huge number of calculations
during a long time. This increases the CPU temperature, that is normally lowered by a CPU heatsink
together with a cooling fan. If they work properly the CPU never overheats. As the cooling fan ages, it
may become less capable of cooling the heatsink, therefore allowing the CPU temperature to
increase above its acceptable level. If this happens, the computer behavior becomes erratic, causing
reboot and/or lock up. After reboot, which takes some time, the CPU temperature has lowered and
the computer appears to be working correctly again. EXTREME TEMPERATURES ARE
DANGEROUS TO THE CPU and THEY ARE NOT CAUSED BY DEPOPPER. THEY ARE CAUSED
BY BAD COOLING DEVICES.
So why other programs, like spreadsheets, text editors, web browsers and picture editors do not
cause reboots and lockups? Because such programs take most of their time waiting for keyboard
input. They almost do not use the CPU, not increasing its temperature.
If you are having reboots or lockups while using DePopper, our first advice is to test DePopper in a
second computer, to confirm that DePopper itself does not cause this (otherwise it would cause the
same problem in all computers that use DePopper around the world). Then, replace your CPU
cooling fan with a brand new one. The cooling fan is almost inexpensive when compared to the price
of the processor that you can lose if you allow the overheat to continue. If the cooler is bad, your
CPU can fry when running any CPU intensive program, including, but not restricted to, DePopper.
With the CPU working within its adequate temperature range, the reboots and lockups will not
happen.
What is New in DePopper 4
• New native 64 bits version, for 64 bits Windows versions.
• Processes wav files with 8, 16, 24, 32 and 64 bit depths.
• Resizable main screen can now be maximized, allowing maximum space for long file names.
• More settings in Filter Frequencies, keeping the compatibility with previous versions.
• Removing the DC level is now optional and disabled by default.
• Improved 50 Hz / 60 Hz hum removal, optionally removing all audible harmonics.
• More robust mp3 decoding.
• User defined presets now appear at the top of the listing.
• New optional ways of logging: zipped html, plain text and registry. Log files are now written to the
destination folder by default.
• File extension masks are now configurable and can also be auto detected. DePopper uses these
file masks with the Browse and All buttons.
• Optional wav output using DePopper 2 format, for compatibility with some programs.
• Optionally displays the current preset on the main screen top bar.
• Improved center channel extractor (in Stereo Modifiers).
• Configurable directories for presets and log files.
• Improved Advanced Options screen, with lots of new settings.
What is New in DePopper 4 - 48

Bug Fixes and Enhancements
This is the history of the bug fixes and enhancements for the latest versions of DePopper.
Version 4.00
Developed in new environment. Version 4 was developed in Visual Studio 2010 and is ready to
make better use of the new features offered by Windows Seven.
Improved Minimize Big Clicks extra precision engine.
Rewritten frequency normalizer.
More flexible Filter Frequencies settings.
Improved center channel extraction (Stereo Modifiers).
New native 64 bits version available, faster than WOW64 in x64 systems.
Integer 16/24/32 and float 32/64 bit depths are now fully supported for wav files.
Built-in mp3 decoding (no more DirectShow issues for mp3 files).
Improved printable PDF manual.
New optional log formats, including registry log, to help tech support.
Improved DC level removal (now optional and disabled by default).
Lots of new advanced options.
User defined presets now appear at the top of the presets list.
Current preset can now be optionally displayed at main screen top bar.
Fixed final message height issue for huge number of processed files.
Fixed /ext1 command line option.
If enabled, the log file is now correctly written to output folder by default.
New one-time screens with useful tips for first time users.
User-definable file type masks with optional auto detection of supported types.
Optional legacy DePopper 2 format output.
Optional user defined wav tone at the end of processing.
Better compatibility with Parallels Desktop.
Version 3.10
Progress bars are back! DePopper now displays the progress indicator and the time indicator.
Optimized memory management for long audio files in dual, tri and quad core computers.
A redesigned Small Pops settings window, with a new (and higher) precision level. Having
simplicity in mind, but also wanting to offer more sound quality, we redesigned the settings screen to
offer more flexibility with a simpler layout.
New Reverse Channels option in Stereo Modifiers settings, for switching left and right channels.
Bug Fixes and Enhancements - 49

Background processing is back! Click on minimize button to minimize your DePopper while
processing yourfiles. You can now configure DePopper to start processing minimized and to
optionally restore its screen after processing all files.
New option for closing the program after processing. This option is useful for computers that for
some reason do not activate their screen savers (or hibernate, or sleep) if DePopper is open.
Now it's possible to lower DePopper priority when processing a set of files. This will allow other
CPU consuming applications to run more smoothly while DePopper does its job.
Fixed scroll bar bug in error report.
Fixed bug that prevented Presets from working properly when default Documents folder was a
network drive or a mapped root drive.
Fixed a crash that sometimes happened when clicking the Stop button while processing.
Fixed a crash that could happen in computers very low in memory, when using Minimize Small
Pops.
Fixed disk space validation bug with network and root directories.
Fixed some possible freezings with disk full.
Version 3.01
New advanced option, "Always copy temporary files". This option has effect on WAV output only.
Some rare computers do not allow DePopper to rename the temporary file, which is faster than
copying. Enabling this option forces DePopper to copy the temporary file instead, which takes more
time but works in these computers. If the computer does not allow deleting the _TMP file too, it will
be necessary to manualy delete the _TMP files later.
Improved log file with more detailed information.
PDF version or program documentation added by request. Now Windows menu displays both
options, the previous format (CHM) and the new format (PDF). The PDF file has topics on the left
and hyperlinks, like the CHM version. Both files have same contents.
Version 3.00
Developed in new environment. Versions 1 and 2 of DePopper were developed in Visual C++ 6.0.
Version 3 was developed in Visual Studio 2008, is much safer against compatibility problems with
Windows Vista. Version 3 is also ready to make better use of the new features offered by this
operating system.
Unicode support. Now DePopper can accept file names and other texts with Unicode character
sets.
Multiple CPU support. In computers with many CPUs (dual core, tri core, quad core and so on),
DePopper will increase the speed of some functions by using parallel processing.
CPU usage control. This advanced option adjusts DePopper use of the CPU, for computers with
low heat dissipation.
Free main window resize. DePopper screen size in pixels remained the same during almost ten
years, while monitor resolutions increased considerably, much more than their sizes. This made
DePopper screen to look smaller, because today the same pixels take much less space on screen.
Now it's possible to resize DePopper main screen by dragging the bottom right edge, like any other
resizeable Windows screen. The new screen size is automatically saved when DePopper quits.

External encoding. DePopper can use an external program to encode the processed file to your
preferred format.
Presets. Use predefined settings in accordance to your needs, or create your own presets based
on your specific adjusts.
No more Temporary Files advanced option. This advanced option was removed and now
DePopper always overwrites the destination file many times.
Flexibility. Advanced Options is now available in the Options screen, as well as in the system
menu.
Less vulnerable to registry damages. DePopper key code and permanant data are stored in
Windows Registry, in accordance to Microsoft guidelines. Some other programs were invasively
deleting DePopper data (including key code) when the program was not used for some time. This is
not a DePopper problem, this is other program erasing DePopper data, but we did some changes in
order to make DePopper less vulnerable to other program erasing its registry keys.

Uninstallation
DePopper is uninstalled in the standard way for Windows applications.
For uninstallation:
1. Make sure that DePopper is closed.
2. Click Start on Windows Taskbar, to see the menu tree, and find DePopper shortcuts
3. Click the shortcut Uninstall, below DePopper
4. Follow the instructions
*** OR ***
1. Make sure that DePopper is closed.
2. Open the Control Panel (located at My Computer)
3. Double click Add/Remove Programs
4. Highlight DePopper in the Install/Uninstall tab
5. Click Add/Remove
6. Follow the instructions
If you have problems when uninstalling, please read the file Uninstallation Issues.txt, at DePopper
directory.
Uninstallation - 52
Privacy
Privacy Information
• DePopper does not send us your personal information, even for tech support purpose. Instead,
all the relevant tech information is recorded to a file named DePopper3_log, only if file
logging is enabled. The log file is can be a plain text file or a zipped html (default), depending
on your configuration. If you need to send us such file, by your own decision, you can always
verify all the information that is written there.
• If you purchase your DePopper license directly from us using credit card, your credit card data
is discarded after processing. Your personal data will never be shared, sold or given to anyone
without your written permission.
• If you purchase your DePopper license directly from us using PayPal, we do not have access
to your personal data, except your email, that will never be shared, sold or given to anyone
without your written permission.
• If you purchase your DePopper license from a reseller, we have no access to your personal
information, including your email, or your purchase data.
• DePopper personal key code does not require periodic validation. You never need to reenter
your DePopper personal key code except if one or more of these events occur: you uninstall
DePopper, you reinstall your Windows, you install DePopper in a new computer or if other
program (not developed by us) delete both DePopper registry key and its backup file.
• Your personal key code is for your private use only. If we find your personal key code in a
public distribution, including P2P, forums, newsgroups and any type of piracy, your key
code will no longer work in the next version of DePopper. If this happens to you, contact us in
order to ask for a new key code. Public distribution of the personal key code is a direct
violation of the license agreement and can result in its termination.
• When we have your email, we keep it to contact you only if we developed a fix for a serious
bug, if you request our contact or to inform you about an important change in our software. We
do not send you emails informing you about minor bug fixes (you need to see our page of
upgrades to be informed about them). We use your e-mail only for the above purpose and
never give your email to anyone.
• We do not send you emails advertising other programs we develop, unless you ask us or give
us explicit permission to do so.
• ALL your information is strictly confidential.
Privacy - 53
Developers
DePopper was created in 1999 and is developed by
For detailed contact information, please open your DePopper and click About in Advanced Options.
Developers - 54

Manual

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Table of Contents

Note for Screen Reader Users....................................................................................................................2

Note for Screen Reader Users - 2

Main Screen Commands - 8

Minimize Big Clicks

This option is enabled by default.

Minimize Small Pops

Compensate High Frequencies

Convert low frequencies to mono

Center channels only (mono source digitized as stereo)

Remove all audible harmonics

Remove frequencies below (…) Hz

Remove frequencies above (…) Hz

Remove frequencies between (…) and (…)

Boost/attenuate specific frequencies

These are the settings for this option:

Detect and ignore non-tape passages

Try To Avoid Clipping

Try To Avoid Clipping

Includes the following advanced options:

Enable Auto Help

Delete Original Files After Processing

Create log files

Erase old log before each Start

Show "Low Disk Space" warning

Open File Browse Window On Start

Remember last current directory

Minimize DePopper after clicking Start

Exit DePopper after processing

Shut down system after processing

Lower priority when processing

Always copy temporary files

Check DC level before processing

Disable parallel processing

Play this wav file after processing

Enable All Screens

Includes the following advanced options:

Never use DirectShow

Log file directory

New File Name Suffix

Temporary File Name Suffix

Tips for Best Results - 33

/ext2=newoutextension Custom output extension - Defining a custom output

Command Line Switches - 34

Command Line Switches - 35

First Singer - The First Song.wav

A Third Song without singer.wav

Command Line Switches - 36

Command Line Switches - 37

Command Line Switches - 38

Command Line Switches - 39

Command Line Switches - 40

Command Line Switches - 41

...where [TAB] is the tab character, not the text "[TAB]".

Command Line Switches - 42

_TMP files remaining

Does not remove hiss

Does not process flac, m4a, etc.

Does not process copyrighted audio files

Does not remove all clicks & pops

Phantom sounds appear in some songs

Processed songs have more hiss than original songs

Random total lockups and reboots when processing

What is New in DePopper 4 - 48