Shn 101 Faq

[hokiefan]

What is SHN?
SHN is short for Shorten. It is a lossless compression algorithm for digital music. It was developed by SoftSound (www.softsound.com). It compresses music files 1/2 to 1/3 of their original size, maintaining perfect sound quality.

Why not MP3/VQF/AAC/ETC?
These compressions all use a lossy algorithm. This means that over time, these lossy recordings can be re-extracted and re-encoded so that it sounds very inferior to the original source. Lossless algorithms such as Shorten (.shn) allow for pure digital reproductions.

What is MKW?
MKW is a lossless compression algorithm similar to shn. The mkw Audio Compression Tool (mkwACT) is a utility that interfaces with SHN, MKW, MP3, and MD5. See Michael K. Weise's homepage (http://home.att.net/~mkw/mkwact.html) for more information.

What is MD5/MD5SUM?
MD5 is a checksum utility. It is commonly used to determine if all of the files have been correctly downloaded. Current FAQ has great Windows Info, unix, mac to follow

Why does it take so long to download files?
SHN files are not small. Am average disc filled with music is about 600 megabytes in a standard .wav format. SHN reduces this in 1/3 to 1/2, and the resultant disc will be about 3-400 megabytes

To md5check and convert Shorten (SHN) to and from WAV files with Windows, we suggest the mkw Audio Compression Tool. (http://www.etree.org/mkw.html)

The mkw Audio Compression Tool (mkwACT) is a free Windows® 95/98/Me and NT/2000 and XP program created for the easy and convenient conversion of WAV audio files to and from various lossless and lossy compressed formats, including Shorten (SHN).

mkwACT is simply the easiest utility available for compressing and decompressing Shorten files, and checking and creating MD5 signatures.

Once you've converted Shorten (SHN) files to WAV, you'll need to burn the WAV files to audio disc. You may either use the software that came with your CD-R drive, or use Feurio!® (http://www.etree.org/feurio.html), an easy to use shareware software package designed specifically for burning audio CD-R's.

Feurio!® is a software program designed for creating audio CD-R's on PC's using Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT/2000. You may use Feurio! for as long as you like without registering, without the software becoming crippled or any features becoming disabled. The only difference between the unregistered and registered versions of Feurio! are a few nag windows that will pop-up reminding you to register.

If you want to play Shorten files on your computer in real-time (without converting to WAV), we highly suggest Shnamp (http://www.etree.org/shnamp.html), the Shorten plugin for Winamp® (http://www.winamp.com/) for Windows users, or xmms-shn (http://www.etree.org/shnutils/xmms-shn) for Linux users.

[JeffLester]

What is FLAC? FLAC is another losslessly compressed file format, like SHN. It has gained popularity because 1) it compresses a little better than SHN, and 2) because it is open source. There are even some portable audio players (AKA MP3 players) that now support FLAC files, like some of the RIO models.

You can read all about FLAC and get the necessary software here:
http://wiki.etree.org/index.php?page=FLAC

[NCLuver333]

I just downloaded one of Glen Phillip's shows in SHN and I'm trying to figure out how to burn the show. I downloaded WinAmp and the SHN plug-in. I can listen to the show, but when I try to burn it, it only completes it halfway when it says that it's done. I can put the CD in the CD drive, but the computer doesn't read it. I also tried to burn it with Roxio Creator as a data disc, and it reads and recognizes it, but neither Roxio or WinAmp can open it. When I Explore, the folder locks up when I try to open the files.
How can I burn the files correctly?

[JeffLester]

Originally posted by NCLuver333
I just downloaded one of Glen Phillip's shows in SHN and I'm trying to figure out how to burn the show. I downloaded WinAmp and the SHN plug-in. I can listen to the show, but when I try to burn it, it only completes it halfway when it says that it's done. I can put the CD in the CD drive, but the computer doesn't read it. I also tried to burn it with Roxio Creator as a data disc, and it reads and recognizes it, but neither Roxio or WinAmp can open it. When I Explore, the folder locks up when I try to open the files.
How can I burn the files correctly?

You need to convert to WAV before you burn. Download mkwACT from the reference above, drag the SHN files into and it will convert them to WAV in the same directory unless you tell it otherwise under options. Then burn the WAV files as an audio disc with Roxio.

[NCLuver333]

I've been trying to download the MKWACT for a while now, but everytime I try to, I always get the message:
16 bit Windows Subsystem
The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

What should I do?

Another message comes up-the one that is included on the site.
MKWACT has unpacked the setup files to...

I'd click "Cancel" and check the TEMP folder. It's not there.

[NCLuver333]

I actually found a new program that seems to work better: dBpowerAMP Music Converter.
Here to download it:
www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm
Here to download the plugin:
www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm