0.18.0

Fixed

• A result validation that ends with a critical finding now fails the affected file instead of reporting it as exported successfully. The report stays attached to the item, so the findings remain visible in the validation panel.
• A run that was stopped is no longer misreported: an inactivity timeout now ends the wait for the process directly and is reported as a timeout, while only an actual user cancellation is reported as one.
• After a process is terminated the app waits briefly for it to exit and stops the output readers before reading what was captured, so the collected output can no longer be read while it is still being written.
• Result validation no longer expects 48 kHz when the Premiere profile is selected but the preset does not use it: the archive preset forces FLAC and a stream copy keeps the source format, so both reported a sample-rate warning for a correct export. A stream copy also no longer claims that a lossy source was written to a lossless format.
• An unexpected error in an asynchronous command (start, download, analysis, retry, preview) is now logged and shown as status instead of shutting the app down; cancelling a running command is treated as a normal outcome.
• A log file that cannot be written after a batch run (read-only or full output folder) is reported as a warning instead of ending the session through the crash handler. The exported files are already finished at that point.
• The crash handler no longer fails when the crash log itself cannot be written and shows the error without a log path in that case.
• Adding files no longer leaves the window in a half-usable state: while a dropped folder is analyzed, Cancel is available, Start is disabled and further drops are rejected, and the analysis can now actually be stopped.
• The processed preview render can be cancelled as well; it is a full FFmpeg pass and previously had to run to completion.
• The tool source shown in the app bar is translated instead of always appearing in German.

Changed

• The release packaging script now requires an explicit -Version in major.minor.patch form instead of falling back to a stale default version.
• The tool check for FFmpeg, FFprobe and yt-dlp is bounded by a timeout: a binary that never answers is terminated and reported as unavailable instead of blocking the startup check indefinitely.
• Reading the remaining tool output after a process exits is bounded as well, so a pipe that a child process keeps open cannot hang a run.
• The update check accepts only an https link to the project host from the release API and otherwise falls back to the known releases page, because the link is handed to the shell when it is opened.
• The queue no longer re-evaluates every button and rebuilds the summary on each FFmpeg progress tick, so the window stays responsive during a batch export.
• The startup checks for yt-dlp and for a new release are stopped when the window closes and no longer write into a closed window; an unexpected failure in either is logged instead of being swallowed.
• A tool that is missing or does not answer is remembered for half a minute instead of being probed again on every call, where each attempt cost the full probe timeout.
• A cancelled update check is reported as a cancellation instead of as "no update available".

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.17.0

Added

• A video/audio URL can now be dropped onto the window to fill the download field.
• Added an update check: on startup (at most once a day) the app asks GitHub for the latest release and shows a notice that links to the download when a newer version is available. It can be turned off in the settings file.

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.16.0

Added

• Added a "download best original only" option for the URL download: saves the best available audio stream to the output folder without running it through the preset pipeline, for when you just want the untouched original.
• Added playlist support to the URL download: an optional mode downloads every entry of a playlist (up to 100) and adds them all to the queue.
• Source analysis now logs the source quality (bitrate, sample rate, channels) so the original quality is visible before processing.

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.15.0

Added

• Added a URL audio download: paste a video/audio URL to fetch the best available audio stream with yt-dlp, which is then analyzed and exported through the normal preset pipeline (loudness normalization, true-peak limiting, format choice). The stream is remuxed without re-encoding to avoid an extra lossy step. yt-dlp is bundled in the with-ffmpeg package and kept up to date in a writable per-user folder.
• The URL download embeds title/artist metadata and cover art into the downloaded source, can optionally split a video into per-chapter tracks, and can optionally remove sponsor/ad segments via SponsorBlock. A log note states that the original stream is kept without an extra lossy encode.
• Embedded cover art is now carried through to the exported file for containers that support it (FLAC, MP3, M4A) when the source is an audio file; metadata tags are preserved as before.

Fixed

• Release packaging now bundles the real FFmpeg/FFprobe binaries instead of a Chocolatey PATH shim, and package verification rejects shim-sized tool binaries so the with-ffmpeg package always contains a working FFmpeg.

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.14.0

Added

• Added an inactivity watchdog: FFmpeg/FFprobe processes that stop responding are terminated and reported instead of hanging the run.
• Added a free disk space check before processing starts, with needed/free numbers in the error message.
• Added folder support for drag and drop; dropped folders contribute their supported audio files recursively.
• Added window size and maximized-state persistence across sessions.
• Added a selectable loudness target (-14 LUFS streaming, -16 LUFS podcast, -23 LUFS EBU R128 broadcast) with the preset default as the automatic fallback; result validation checks against the selected target.
• Added an optional adaptive noise tracking mode for the noise reduction presets for material with varying background noise.
• Added safe cleanup for stale processed-preview WAV files.
• Added tests covering processed-preview cache invalidation for filter options and selected audio streams.
• Added settings persistence tests for corrupt, missing and non-writable settings paths.

Changed

• Mono sources are now normalized with a dual-mono EBU R128 measurement so they no longer end up about 3 LU too loud.
• Lossy export formats now get extra true-peak headroom (-2.0 dBTP instead of -1.5 dBTP) because lossy encoding can push peaks above the limited value.
• The preset preview now uses the same two-pass linear loudness normalization as the export and renders in 24-bit.
• The preset preview of longer sources now plays the loudest section instead of always the first 20 seconds.
• Adding multiple files now runs the analyses in parallel, and FFmpeg/FFprobe discovery results are cached for faster batch processing.
• The main view model is organized into feature-focused partial classes; log output is batched into fewer UI updates during processing.
• The main window XAML is organized into section UserControls with shared styles in an application-level resource dictionary.
• The in-memory log is now capped so very large batch runs keep the UI responsive; the oldest lines are replaced by a truncation marker.
• Missing output loudness/peak diagnostics now produce a warning for loudness-changing presets.

Fixed

• Fixed loudness-normalized exports being written at 192 kHz instead of the source sample rate (oversized WAV/FLAC files, 96 kHz AAC).

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.13.1

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.13.1 fixes CI release package verification.

• Stabilizes release package verification tests on GitHub Actions.
• Avoids fragile PowerShell error-message assertions in CI.
• Keeps checksum and package verification behavior unchanged.

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.13.0

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.13.0 improves Windows release transparency and packaging checks.

• Adds an explicit asInvoker application manifest so the app does not request administrator privileges.
• Generates SHA256 checksum files for release ZIP packages.
• Verifies checksum files during release package validation.
• Uploads checksum files with GitHub Release assets.
• Documents normal user execution, SmartScreen warnings and checksum verification.

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.12.7

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.12.7 improves export stability and batch reporting.

• Checks output folder writability before FFmpeg processing starts.
• Cleans up stale AudioQualityEnhancer-owned temporary export files safely.
• Makes batch warning filters include all result-check warnings and errors.
• Adds result status counts and severity ordering to Markdown reports.
• Gives result-checking status more room in the batch queue UI.

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.12.6

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.12.6 improves the batch and reporting workflow.

• Adds a dedicated result-checking status for batch items.
• Shows localized categories for analysis and result-check notes.
• Adds a short per-file verdict to result reports.
• Makes FFmpeg render argument planning easier to test.
• Moves batch processing and validation state transitions into the queue service.

AudioQualityEnhancer 0.12.5

Technical analysis and result validation refinements. Adds clearer mono, multichannel and transcoding-risk findings, stricter post-export checks, centralized archive export handling and improved FFmpeg error messages.