Features and operation
Calmer spectrum with peak markers
31 finely segmented frequency bands rise promptly and fall smoothly. A bright peak marker holds briefly and then falls with a delay. The spectrum does not alter the sound and remains useful at low playback volume.
Large spectrum window and custom advertising
The original crest is centred between Bangert and Software. Full screen and Close window are at the upper right, with Frequency display below. Language follows the main application even when playback is paused. Management > Settings > Custom advertising accepts a central JPG/PNG logo and two text lines on each side. Any custom entry replaces the entire brand block. Clear the logo and both texts to restore it. Logos up to 8 MB are resized for storage.
One fixed loudness adjustment per track
Automatically match loudness starts off and is remembered. The complete recording is measured before playback, then its gain stays fixed through quiet passages, crescendos, pauses, resumes and seeking. Each crossfade track keeps its own fixed gain. Switching during a track takes effect from the next track. Music files remain unchanged. Initial measurement depends on length and source; matching cached measurements are reused.
Clear paths and field numbers
Management > Data & backup > Data paths & music sources displays the program data folder and offers folder pickers for primary/fallback music, backups and exports. Check and save the selection; music files are not moved. Language and appearance offers a visible field-number switch with hover explanation and clickable help. Identifiers stay the same across languages.
Quality filters and large queues
Minimum MP3 bitrates: 96, 120, 128, 192, 256, 320, 384 and 512 kbit/s. Resetting filters preserves the chosen minimum. Missing new tags do not erase known genres or languages. Position updates process only the displayed upcoming tracks while preserving the complete queue.
Measurement limits
The target is -18 LUFS, with up to +18 dB gain and a -2 dBTP peak ceiling. Complete mono/stereo recordings up to 40 minutes and 384 MiB encoded size can be measured. If measurement is unavailable, playback uses a fixed original gain and shows a notice. Gain is never adjusted later within the playing track. Spectrum and actual playback level remain separate.
New player header
The large original crest and Bangert-Software appear on the left. The frequency display is centred and about 3 cm narrower. Player, version and Back to start appear on the right in a clear, readable size.
Faster frequency display
The frequency display measures musical content independently of listening volume. Faster bars use their height even for quiet recordings through shared automatic display gain. Relative band levels and existing colours are preserved; fine horizontal lines divide the bars.
Thumbs beside the current track
Thumbs up sets or removes a favourite. Thumbs down permanently excludes the track from normal playback queues and removes its favourite flag. A new exclusion also removes it from the current queue; playback stops if no future track remains.
One-time exception
Include excluded tracks for one mix applies to the newly started queue. The checkbox resets after a successful start. The saved thumbs-down rating remains; the next normal queue excludes the track again. The exclusion can be removed in the track list.
Shuffle playback
In Player, choose Actions > Shuffle playback to play all current filter matches in a mixed order. Permanent exclusions are respected. Favourites are available from the view selector.
Crossfade now
The new button beside Next track immediately crossfades to the next queued track. It uses the selected 1–10 seconds, or 3 seconds when automatic crossfade is off. Next track remains an immediate skip. An unavailable successor does not interrupt the current track.
Screen stays awake
While VMW is open, it prevents automatic display sleep and the screensaver, including while paused or minimised. Closing VMW releases the protection and restores the previous screensaver state. Deliberate Windows locking remains possible.
Quieter colours
Red is less intense. White uses softer, warmer surfaces. The glare-free scheme also covers backgrounds and gaps so no bright white spaces remain.
Blutfang visits
Newly rendered graphics make Blutfang sharper. He walks across the screen, pauses in the middle, gently turns his head and winks once. His gaze stays directed at the viewer. Separate visit and Halloween switches, previews, click-to-close and Esc remain available.
Portable use - take the folder with you
No conventional installer is needed: close VMW, copy the entire Musikregal folder including Daten to a writable location, then run Musikregal.exe there. Your collection and music index stay with the program. Music sources stay in their existing locations; copying the program folder does not change their saved paths. Keep the complete folder structure; copying only the EXE is insufficient. No reinstallation is needed within the same Windows account. Licence protection, credentials and some settings remain in the Windows user folder. Another PC or account may require activation and credentials to be set up again. External audio files are not copied automatically.
ZIP backup - save, extract and run
Close VMW completely, ZIP the entire Musikregal folder including Daten and store it safely. To restore, extract the complete ZIP and run Musikregal.exe. It contains the program, collection and music index; no reinstallation is needed in the same Windows account. External audio and separately stored licence and credentials are not included.
Audio formats
MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A (AAC/Apple Lossless), AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus and uncompressed PCM AIFF. WAVE, M4B, OGA, AIF and AIFC extensions are recognised too. Apple Lossless: mono/stereo up to 24 bit. AIFF PCM: 8 to 32 bit. Original files are unchanged.
Continuous browsing
Automatic loading is the default; page browsing is optional. Both show continuous row numbers. New pages start at the top of the list. Sort by artist, title, year, genre or album in ascending or descending order. View and sorting preferences are saved.
Clear playback controls
Play starts only the chosen track. Checkboxes mark a selection; Play selection replaces the queue, Queue selection appends the marked tracks. Playback sequence shows the current and next tracks and follows track changes. Stop ends playback and returns to 0:00. Remaining time appears as minutes:seconds, centred directly below the seek bar in the same digit size as the other time displays.
Print media lists
Administration > Collection > Print list. Selection & filters narrows genre, artist, album, year and media type; individual media can be excluded. Sorting & columns sets the order and fields. Page header configures logos and text. Preview shows every page. Print / PDF opens the system dialog. Header, column labels and page numbers repeat.
Familiar operation
All media types, including unassigned files, are included initially. Filters remain saved. Headers and navigation stay visible. Labelled controls follow a tape-deck arrangement. Format, kbit/s and source folder are visible. Highlight colours make the current track stand out. Hover for about two seconds for an explanation.
Successor always ready
During playback the next queued track is prepared, including with crossfade off and in album mode. Pause retains a prepared successor. Queue or source changes prepare the actual next track.
Frequency display on one or two screens
31 vertical frequency bands from 20 Hz to 20 kHz show playback in the header. Second monitor opens a large movable, minimizable display; full screen is optional. The main header then shows a horizontal playback level. Each window remembers its size, position and full-screen state independently. A missing second monitor cannot leave the window off screen. The display does not alter the sound.
Clear history controls
Delete selected entries and clear all history have separate confirmation prompts. Search, selection and actions remain visible above the scrolling list. Explicit button backgrounds preserve delete and confirmation contrast in every theme.
Vivid colours
Choose blue, green, red, anthracite, white, glare-free white, black, orange or rainbow. On black, text and borders can share red, blue, green or white. Rainbow gently animates the colourful background. All settings are saved.
Visits from Blutfang
Language and appearance offers separate switches for Halloween on 31 October and occasional visits. Both start off and include previews. Visits appear about every 30 to 75 minutes on the home or player screen, deferred during typing or dialogs. Music continues. Click the effect or press Esc to close it; reduced-motion settings are respected.
Update an existing installation
Close Musikregal. Extract the private update ZIP outside the program folder, run UPDATE-STARTEN.cmd and select the existing Musikregal folder. Direct update from 1.5.0.1; installing 1.6.0.0 first is unnecessary. Data, sources, favourites, playlists and licence are retained. Do not uninstall.
New installation and your music
Extract all private full-installation parts into the same new folder, then run Musikregal/Musikregal.exe. The public 45-day demo has no private collection. Catalogue and covers are not audio recordings: playback requires your audio files locally or through an accessible source. Copy music to the destination device before travelling.