Program Options

Overwrite

Select the course of action to take when the destination file exists while converting files. The options are:

• Prompt for What to Do - always prompts whether you want to overwrite the file or not.
• Overwrite the file - overwrites the specific file being converted.
• Don't Convert the Original File - does not overwrite the specific file being converted
• Abort current and remaining conversions - cancels current file conversion and aborts all subsequent conversions as well.
• Append number to filename - appends a number to the filename of the converted file using a format that you can select. The format must include the strings "%filename%" and "%number%", but they may be in any order you like. You can add extra characters into the string and those characters will also appear in the converted file's filename.

Default Metadata

All converted files will include the default metadata entered in these fields:

• Comment - Description of the audio file or song.
• Copyright - Copyright information.
• Producer - Producer of the audio file.
• Encoder - Encoder of the audio file.
• Encoded By - Software used for encoding.

If title tag is empty, use file name

Not all source files have tags, which results in empty title tags after conversion. Check this box to use the file name as the title tag.

Formats

Specify what to do if the file being converted is of the same format as the output format. The options are:

• Convert Anyway - converts the file as normal.
  • Check the sub-option if you don't want to recompress a file that has a source with a better compression rate
• Copy File Directly to Destination Folder - copies the file to the destination folder in its original non-converted form.
• Do Not Convert - do not convert the file at all.

Notes: The options in "Formats" will always be over-ridden by the options specified in the "Overwrite" tab. For example, if you specify the "Convert Anyway" option in "Formats", but in "Overwrite" you specify "Don't Convert the Original File", then if the file exists the conversion will not go ahead.

Delete source file after conversion - if the conversion of the file was successful, then the original file will be deleted. If the conversion failed, the file will NOT be deleted. A successful conversion also includes copying of the file to the destination folder, as seen in the above option "Copy File Directly to Destination Folder".

Remember settings for reading files(only applicable to formats .raw and .vox) - If you are converting from .raw/.vox file. You can choose to use default Codec Settings for all other files of this type or set codec settings individually.

Errors

Specify what to do if there is an error produced with the file being converted. The options are:

• Prompt for What to Do - prompts whether you want to continue converting other files or abort converting altogether.
• Ignore Error and Continue Converting Other Files - continues converting other files even if any particular file produces errors.
• Abort File Conversions - cancels current file conversion and aborts all subsequent conversions as well.

Notes: If errors are produced on any file, they will be reported in the "Other Information" column for that file in the file list. To view extra information about the error, right click on the specific file and select "View Other Extended Information" from the menu (shortcut key Ctrl+E).

Audio Processing

To 'normalize' is to adjust the volume so that the loudest peak is equal to (or a percentage of) the maximum signal that can be used in digital audio. Usually you normalize files to 100% as the last stage in production to make it the loudest possible without distortion. Another reason to normalize is to have multiple tracks sound equally loud, or to have equal average loudness.

The 'Peak' normalization method finds the sample of the greatest magnitude within the file. Normalization is then done with this value as the peak. With the Normalize Peak Level set to 100% (0dB), the whole file will be amplified so that the peak reaches 0dB.

The 'Average Loudness (RMS)' normalization method normalizes according to the file's average loudness, or volume. Multiple files normalized to the same peak level using this method will have equal average loudness. The 'Normalize Peak Level' for this method should be set much lower than for the Peak method, because the average loudness will always be lower than the peak sample.

The 'Peak Loudness (RMS)' normalization method attempts to normalize according to how loud the loudest part of the file will sound. This is the best method to use to make multiple tracks sound equally loud. As with Average Loudness, the 'Normalize Peak Level' for this method should be set lower than for the Peak method, because the peak loudness is lower than the peak sample. The actual algorithm used takes the RMS of each 50ms window in the file, ranks the windows from loudest to quietest, and then takes the 95th percentile of these as the 'peak'. Note that no adjustment is made for humans' differing perception of different frequencies.

When there are several audio tracks in a video file, select default audio track to work with

Some video files may contain several audio tracks. Check this box to select the default audio track to work with. Uncheck to select a audio track manually.

1. Artist - TrackName.ext

2. Album - Artist - TrackName.ext

3. Custom Setup (see below)

The Custom Setup is an advanced setting that allows you to decide how the output files will be stored on your computer. This involves the writing of a string of characters that denote information related to the file. An example of how to write a string is as follows:

[%artist% %album% %genre%]\{%tracknumber% %trackname% %year%}

This will convert your files to a folder named "Artist - Album - Genre", with filename "Tracknumber. Trackname - Year.fileextension".

All the arguments that can be used to form the custom string are as follows:

%artist% - the artist name

%album% - the album name

%extratrackinfo% - extra track information (may not exist in all cases)

%genre% - the genre of the album (e.g. rock, jazz)

%tracknumber% - the track number

%trackname% - the name of the extracted track

%year% - the year the album was released

[] - anything inside these brackets will be treated as a folder

{} - anything inside these brackets will be treated as a filename

These details are viewable in Edit Audio Tags functionality (CTRL+T) of Switch.

You can have multiple levels of folders set up, but you are only allowed to have one filename specified in the string.

Run in Background - Select the option "Run Switch in Background Mode" if you want Switch to convert your files but not slow down the performance of other applications you are using. Please note that this option may increase the time it takes for Switch to convert files, depending on the number of other applications you have running concurrently.

Sound Playback - Here you can select which audio device to use. Useful for computers with multiple sound cards installed.

Context Menu - Select this option to add a "Convert with Switch" option to the right-click File Explorer menu.

Confirmation - Select these options to be notified by Switch when you remove files from the list, or when your hard drive space drops below the specified amount.

Duplicate Files - To prevent slowing of Switch when working with long lists, select this option to prevent duplicate files from being added to the list.

Finishing Notification - When converting a long list of files, you may find it useful to use the finishing notification options to alert you to completion.

Use this options page to define some customized shortcut commands which you can access from your File Explorer right click menu. Check the boxes below to add the shortcut to the right click menu. Use the pull down lists to specify which conversion format each customized shortcut should use. Each command will be executed using your current settings for the conversion format you have selected. For example: let's say you select '.wav' as your conversion format. You can now right click on a supported audio file and click 'Convert to .wav using Switch'. Switch will now automatically convert the selected file using your last .wav conversion settings.

• Right click option 1 Check this box to add customized command number 1 to your File Explorer right click menu.
• Right click option 2 Check this box to add customized command number 2 to your File Explorer right click menu.
• Right click option 3 Check this box to add customized command number 3 to your File Explorer right click menu.