Changelog

4.0.0

April 25th, 2024

Major

Different compatibility, reliability and performance improvements (more below).
Added TTS (Window ▶ Text to speech [Ctrl+T]).
Added a web import interface, which is not exclusive to Meowpad, but available for all websites to provide their own Add to Soundpad links.
Added Arabic and Hebrew translations.

Remote control interface

Updated the remote control interface to version 1.1.2.
Added commands: DoPlayRandomSound, DoPlayRandomSoundFromCategory and IsTrial. See reference implementation for details.
The remote control interface is now available in the free version of Soundpad.
Fixed command DoScrollTo to be able to scroll to the first line.
Fixed crash, that could occur when multiple commands were simultaneously received while the playback had a hang.

Hotkeys and Auto Keys

Hotkeys and Auto Keys now work in user mode as reliable as if Soundpad is run as administrator. There was a similar fix in previous versions, but it didn't work for everyone.
Auto Keys are now pressed after the configured Push-to-Talk delay is over.
Added troubleshooting mode to the Auto Keys (right-click the A-icon in the statusbar ▶ Troubleshooting).

Hotbar

Increased maximum elements to 20x10.
Added special hotkeys to switch hotbar pages.
Added option to set a page title.
Added option to lock the hotbar to prevent accidental drag and drop actions.
Added option to automatically select the sound in its category when a hotbar entry is left-clicked.
Added option to show the pagination above the hotbar.
Added format options to change the style and the amount of displayed text lines.
Format changes are done immediately rather than after confirming the dialog.
The hotbar is immediately updated when the window is resized instead of in an idle moment after resizing.
Fixed last hotbar entries not being clickable at their last pixels if using many columns in fullscreen.

Sound Editor

Added option to use another editor (File ▶ Preferences ▶ Editor ▶ Use external sound editor).
Added shortcut Ctrl+E to edit the selected file. Added shortcuts to save as Ctrl+Alt+S and crop Ctrl+T.
Added save and close option (in the Sound Editor at File ▶ Close window after saving).
Added option to save files as mp3 (only if an mp3 encoder is available).
Added a Reverse effect.
Show selected range as tooltip (toggleable at File ▶ Show selected range).
Added context menu to sound editor.

Drivers and compatibility

Reworked the setup, which increases the compatibility with all kinds of different systems and audio drivers.
Fixed specific compatibility issues with Lenovo notebooks models 81 and 82, Focusrite Scarlet Solo, different virtual audio drivers and many other devices.
Improved overall compatibility with Windows 11.
The setup status is now more precise, particularly when Soundpad is used with multiple devices.
Updated driver extension. It will now consume even less CPU.
Added mic boost option to amplify the volume of your microphone (File ▶ Preferences ▶ Devices ▶ Right-click a recording device ▶ Set boost).
Got rid of the reoccurring restart required error. A system restart isn't necessary anymore, except in rare occasions.
Users, who experienced the error code 2 or error code 5 when selecting devices, will be greeted with a new dialog with an instruction how to fix it.
Reworked core thread components, reduced timeouts and improved handling of improperly dropped instances of the driver extension. Beyond fixing different issues and improving performance and responsiveness, this fixes an often reported bug, where it begins to hang at the end of a playback for up to a few seconds and no other sound can be played until the hang is over.

Others: New

Added option to adjust the speaker volume with a logistic function. It allows to adjust the volume more precisely in low and high volume ranges (right-click the volume slider to toggle).
Added m3u support. Drag & drop an m3u file onto categories to create a category for that m3u. It will automatically load the first image from the m3u folder as category icon.
Allows more image formats to be dropped on categories.
Added more tray options.
Added option Pass hotkeys to hotkey context menu (H-icon in status bar).
Added color column to allow sorting by color.
Allow sorting by index.
Added menu to restore backups of the sound list (File ▶ Restore sound list).
Added navy theme.
Added Set hotkey context menu to categories to play random files from that category.
Added option: Typing prefers TTS rather than search (File ▶ Preferences ▶ Interface ▶ Misc).
Allow .opus file ending.
Added option to Edit tag text (right-click a sound ▶ Edit tag text).
Added option to find and remove missing sound files (Edit ▶ Find dead entries).
If a sound file is not found and struck through, then you may edit its location by right-clicking it ▶ Edit file location.
If you enabled File ▶ Preferences ▶ Interface ▶ Toolbar ▶ Display microphone level on toolbar, then you can add a dynamic marker to it by right-clicking that panel on the toolbar. It will mark the measured voice volume.
Added icons to special hotkeys.
Added some stock icons.

Others: Changes

Slightly reordered the context menus of the sound list and hotbar to have a similar structure.
Hotbar now ignores continuous playback options. Played sounds are always stopped after playback.
Special hotkeys to select the next or previous category won't select hidden categories anymore.
Hidden categories can't be selected as destination for recordings anymore.
The hotkey overview shows the filename instead of the Tag if the Tag column is hidden in the main window.
Only import playlists (.spl, .m3u) if no sound files or directories are selected along with them.
Select the next hotbar page instead of the previous one when removing pages.
The theme is set to dark by default on first start, except Windows (10 or newer) is configured to use the light theme.
Right-click on a sound file ▶ Rename file is now available for all file types.
Focus the sound list after the search, the recorder or other windows are closed.
The progress bar of a file import isn't immediately shown, but only if the import takes some time.
Redesigned category options dialog.
Set min sizes in all windows. Removed resize option from certain dialogs.
Added notification panel for File not found.
Show trial limit message as notification panel when loading lists, otherwise it is too unobtrusive.
Added launch parameter --version.
Many changes in troubleshooting report. Added launch parameter -t, with which a report can be created from command line.

Others: Fixes

Windows won't be restored in an invisible state anymore, e.g. being too small or hidden behind the taskbar. Windows are restored on one monitor in multi monitor setups if the window is closed while being shown on two or more monitors.
Fixed context menus opening in the wrong location if a new monitor connected.
The width of table columns cannot be decreased until they disappear.
Fixed app hang when quickly pressing different hotkeys.
Fixed Aero docking in non-native themes. Fixed some visual glitches when resizing windows. Fixed border shadows in sub windows.
The sound recorder now locks its buffer file to avoid manipulations. It fixes a rare issue when recordings failed to be read after the recording has finished.
The tag reader supports more file types and correctly reads multiple artists.
Updated list of forbidden characters, that could make a sound list unreadable. Also improved sound list save speed.
Fixed undo/redo not working properly when sounds were removed from the All sounds category.
Fixed Select in explorer not always selecting the target file inside a directory on Windows 11.
Fixed incorrect seek position of certain m4a files.
Fixed decoding bug of certain flac files, which were decoded with a lower volume than they actually should have.
Having the same sound multiple times in one category won't increase the play count multiple times.
Write protected directories can't be selected for recording anymore. The encoder will return an error if a write operation to a protected directory fails instead of getting stuck in a loop.
Fixed menu items being executed although a text control had focus.
Fixed menu items being executed by hotkey on disabled menu items in non-native themes.
Fixed delayed scrolling behavior in text components in non-native themes.
Fixed plenty of different other UI problems.
Updated Restart Win-Audio to wait until all dependent services are completely running. It increases the reliability of that function on Windows 11.
Fixed crash when no recording device is used with Soundpad, the voice measurement is running and the Win-Audio service is restarted.
Fixed crash when the Win-Audio service was stopped and then the preferences were opened.

3.4.10

August 16th, 2021

Added command line option -l to register the full version.
The serial number is now partly blurred in the about dialog.
Added a link to the about and register dialog, with which you can retrieve your serial number.

3.4.1

May 5th, 2021

Fixed crash when using Ctrl+Z to undo changes in the sound editor with non-native style, although there were no changes, yet.
Fixed crash when loading a sound list with hotbar identifiers, that don't exist.

3.4.0

April 30th, 2021

Hotbar

The hotbar can now have multiple pages.
Changed rendering, which is much faster with many entries.
Changing the grid format is now quicker and moving the window with 1000 Hz mouse polling rate on Windows 10 Build 19041 or newer lags less.

Hotkeys and Auto Keys

Added option, which allows to assign hotkeys to a row rather than to a sound. Pressing the hotkey will play the sound at the row of the currently selected category (File ▶ Preferences ▶ Hotkeys ▶ Same hotkeys in all categories).
Fixed: Using undo, after setting a random category hotkey, which overwrote a sound file hotkey, didn't restore the hotkey of the sound file.
Changed hotkey prioritization. Hotbar hotkeys now have a higher priority than random category hotkeys or sound file hotkeys. If you load a sound list, which contains sounds with hotkeys, that are already in use by the hotbar, then the hotkeys of the hotbar will prevail.
Fixed detection of fullscreen windows in multi-monitor setups for the Auto Key rule Press when foreground application is fullscreen.
Fixed Auto Keys being affected by the state of num lock, when used with particular keys like Home or End.
Changed Alt+Numcode recognition. It now takes the last key down on the numpad into account even if Alt is released before the numpad key.
Fixed: Alt+Numcode hotkeys on hotbar entries weren't saved correctly and vanished upon next start.
Attributes of special hotkeys are now shown in the hotkey overview, e.g. Volume up by 5% instead of just Volume up by.

Installer and compatibility updates

On certain audio devices Soundpad wasn't working in Skype, Lync, Microsoft Teams and similar voice applications, because they used DSP offloading, which bypassed Soundpad. This update contains a workaround to bypass their bypass. To apply it: Go to File ▶ Preferences ▶ Devices, deselect your microphone, apply, then select it again and Restart Win-Audio or your computer.
Fixed another problem with Nahimic related driver incompatibilities (requires reinstalling of Soundpad).
Fixed general incompatibility with Microsoft's Surface Pro, Microsoft's Surface Laptops, Monster Tulpar Laptops and HP Envy Laptops (requires reinstalling of Soundpad).
Fixed another conflict with WAVES MAXXAUDIO (requires reinstalling of Soundpad).

Remote control interface

Updated the remote control interface to version 1.1.1.
Added method: DoPlaySoundFromCategory. See reference implementation for details.
Added ACL to the interface, so UWP apps can access it.
Calls from command line are now also logged when logRcCalls is enabled.
Updated return codes to contain additional information about errors.

Others

The sound recorder now negotiates differently with the audio drivers about the audio format. That should accommodate flaws of the drivers and fix the 88890008 error for many devices.
Audio files with format changes inside the stream can now be decoded properly.
Rename or delete categories on key down.
Fixed NumDel deleting the selected category, although NumDel was assigned as a hotkey and should've been blocked.
Added minimum size to the main window in the dark and light themes. It's not possible to resize the window until it is completely gone anymore.
Show correct SteamID in the About dialog instead of the multiseat account id.
Fixed wrong position of the register button in the About dialog.
Fixed crash if the Media Feature Pack is installed, but its resampler module is missing or broken.
Fixed occasional crash when Soundpad is launched by adding a sound from Meowpad. The sound import will now wait for Soundpad to fully initialize first.
Fixed occasional error message on exit of Soundpad, when the working copy of the sound list couldn't be saved on the first try.
The error message, that is shown if a save operation fails, now also contains an error code.
Fixed logger: Log level was falsely reset from NOLOG to INFO.
Fixed some typos in German translation.

3.3.2

July 18th, 2020

Minor spelling correction in Norwegian translation.

3.3.1

July 16th, 2020

Fixed error in remote control interface, which prevented the Text-To-Speech app from working correctly.
Logging of remote commands is now turned off by default and can be turned on by setting logRcCalls to 1 in the registry.
The old num lock functionality can be enabled by setting numLock to 1 in the registry.

3.3.0

July 15th, 2020

Major

Meowpad was recently updated and supports sound lists. Soundpad can now download such lists with one click.
Added history of the last ten sounds, that have been played. See new menu entries Edit ▶ Select recently played file and Play ▶ Play recently played file. The list resets automatically upon restart of Soundpad.
Added two special hotkeys, one to play the current file again and another one to play the previously played file.
Added a context menu to the seek slider and to the track time, which allows you to select the currently played file and the category it is in. Double-clicking the time does the same.
Added auto stop option, that is turned on by default. What it does, is explained in its tooltip in the preferences (File ▶ Preferences ▶ Hotkeys ▶ Advanced options).
Updated remote control interface to version 1.1.0. It can deal with categories and some new functions. Remote control commands are now logged (Help ▶ Show Log).
Added language confirmation.
Added reset button to the preferences window, with which you can reset all your local preferences to defaults. The sound list or system wide changes on the recording devices remain unchanged. To reset system wide changes you need to uninstall Soundpad.
Added launch parameter --clean, which resets all your local preferences.

Hotkey handling

Numpad hotkeys now ignore the status of Num Lock.
Numpad hotkeys aren't restrictive anymore and can be used with all modifiers.
Left and right modifiers are handled separately allowing you to set Ctrl+1 and RCtrl+1 hotkeys. You can enable the old behavior in the hotkey preferences (File ▶ Preferences ▶ Hotkeys ▶ Advanced options).
Added recovery of wrong modifier states, when the release of modifier keys is blocked by the system or by other applications, e.g. when pressing Win+L or Ctrl+Alt+Del or when using DisplayFusion and pressing Alt+Tab.
Improved performance of hotkey recognition when a lot of hotkeys are configured.

Others

Fixed volume slider being attached to the wrong playback device in a particular configuration.
Fixed special case in the installer when all microphone effects were disabled before installing Soundpad.
Updated installer to install differently for certain ASUS headsets like the ROG or TUF on Windows 10 with ROG Armoury II.
Double-clicking a special hotkey or auto key in the hotkey overview now jumps to the appropriate entry in the preferences.
Added separate special hotkeys to start recording from speakers or to start recording from microphone.
Added separate notification sounds when starting to record from speakers or microphone. The old shorter notification sound is still available and if you want to have it working as it was before this patch, you can choose the old recording.m4a notification sound at File ▶ Preferences ▶ Notifications for Start to record speakers and Start to record microphone.
Playing random sounds from the menu now selects the sound file and the category it is in.
Double-clicking the splitter between categories and sounds doesn't close the categories anymore.
The hidden all sounds category can now be selected from the menu even if the categories panel is closed.
Bring window to foreground when opened by double-click from tray icon. It could happen that it wasn't shown when other windows hid it behind themselves.
Custom theme only: Removed small gaps between the minimize, maximize and close button. Clicking in these gaps was handled like a click on the title bar and allowed to move the window.
Custom theme only: The maximize icon now changes when the window is maximized.
Custom theme only: Fixed submenus staying open sometimes.
Added option to configure whether typing automatically opens and starts a search (File ▶ Preferences ▶ Interface ▶ Misc ▶ Typing begins search).
Restarting Win-Audio will now apply all device changes before the audio service is restarted. In previous versions you had to apply the changes first.
The option to reduce other applications volume now also disables the appropriate option in Windows when it is being disabled in Soundpad.
Added custom tooltip to the volume slider, which shouldn't flicker like the old one.
Added save button to the troubleshooting window and a refresh option.
Removed obsolete -t and --theme launch parameter entirely. You might see an error message if you still have -t 2 in your launch parameters.
Different visual adjustments in all dialogs and windows for the upcoming support of right to left languages.

Older changes