Today we have finally released Helium 14.8.

The major changes in Helium 14.8 are:

• Support for month/day in year fields.
• BPM fields supports decimals by default, both for tags and in the database.
• The CD Ripper now downloads release and track information again.
  Since freedb discontinued their service earlier this year we have been working on getting a good replacement in place.
• Support for long-paths which will allow you to have filenames longer than 260 characters. Please note that this feature needs to be activated in Windows 10. Click here for more information.
• Switch custom fields using templates in the Tag editor.
• Play, enqueue next and enqueue last available from Music Explorer context menus
• It is now possible to delete pictures in AIFF files with the tag editors.
• Possibility to extract featured artist in the Tag editor.
• Possibility to auto calculate BPM in the Advanced Tag Editor.
• Support for playing files from Windows Explorer when Helium is running.
• Space will toggle play/pause in the main window (when no other control is focused).
• Various improvements to filtering in the track lists.
• Improvements to multiple CD handling when adding albums with multiple CDs to the library.
• Play queue will be auto-populated when auto enqueue is activated.
• Formatting is kept when downloading lyrics.
• When a template is edited in the Advanced Tag Editor, data is not cleared.
• Improved tag reading compatibility.

For more details about the changes, please see the following articles:

• https://implodedsoftware.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/helium-14-8-beta-1-now-available/
• https://implodedsoftware.wordpress.com/2020/08/14/helium-14-8-beta-2-now-available/

Please note that this release of Helium will upgrade your database why we therefore recommend you to create a backup of your current database before installing this version.

Click here to download Helium 14.8

Helium Streamer 4.1.1

Along with this release of Helium we also release an update of Helium Streamer. As Helium and Helium Streamer share much of the code – such as the tag editor and add to database features – Helium Streamer also benefits from the improvements made to Helium.

Other important news in Helium Streamer 4.1.1

• Corrections to transcoding. There were sometimes problems with transcoding flac and other formats for replaying in Helium Streamer for iPhone and Android. These problems are corrected in this release.

Click here to download Helium Streamer 4.1.1.

Welcome to beta 2 for Helium 14.8. This beta contains corrections and improvements found and reported in beta 1.

Some major changes are listed below:

• The CD Ripper now downloads release and track information again.
  Since freedb discontinued their service earlier this year we have been working on getting a good replacement in place. We are happy to say that this beta release contains a first version of this. Disc information is now downloaded from the MusicBrainz database which have lots of information available. We hope that this new plug-in will work well for the vast majority of users. Please let us know if there are any issues or something that we can improve on.
• Improvements to multiple CD handling when adding albums with multiple CDs to the library.
• Corrected issues with creating new databases.
• Improved refresh handling in multiple views when downloading pictures.
• Component upgrades.

Working with the beta version

Please note that this version is not 100% tested yet, if you find anything that does not seems to work as it should, please let us know.

If you submit an issue, please be sure to include as much reproduction information as possible so that we can assist you as quickly as possible.

This version does WILL perform database upgrades, meaning that it will NOT work with the current official version of Helium 14 and Helium Streamer 4.

We recommend you to take a backup of your database before working with this version.

Since Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft, we no longer test Helium on Windows 7. It may work but we cannot guarantee that it is 100% stable.

Click here to download Helium 14.8 beta 2

Helium Streamer

Helium Streamer has also been updated to be compatible with this beta version.

Click here to download Helium Streamer with Helium 14.8 compatibility

Welcome to a new Helium 14 version with many new features and improvements.

Some major changes are listed below:

• It is now possible to delete pictures in AIFF files with the tag editors.
• When a template is edited in the Advanced Tag Editor, data is not cleared.
• Various improvements to filtering in the track lists.
• Support for long-paths which will allow you to have filenames longer than 260 characters. Please note that this feature needs to be activated in Windows 10. Click here for more information.
• BPM fields supports decimals by default, both for tags and in the database.
• Support for month/day in year fields.
• Switch custom fields using templates in the Tag editor.
• Space will toggle play/pause in the main window (when no other control is focused).
• Support for playing files from Windows Explorer when Helium is running.
• Possibility to extract featured artist in the Tag editor.
• Corrected invoking of actions from artist and album hover buttons.
• Formatting is kept when downloading lyrics.
• Possibility to auto calculate BPM in the Advanced Tag Editor.
• Play queue will be auto-populated when auto enqueue is activated.
• Play, enqueue next and enqueue last available from Music Explorer context menus
• Improved tag reading compatibility.

Working with the beta version

Please note that this version is not 100% tested yet, if you find anything that does not seems to work as it should, please let us know.

If you submit an issue, please be sure to include as much reproduction information as possible so that we can assist you as quickly as possible.

This version does WILL perform database upgrades, meaning that it WILL NOT work with the current official version of Helium 14 and Streamer 4.

We recommend you to take a backup of your database before working with this version.

Since Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft, we no longer test Helium on Windows 7. It may work but we cannot guarantee that it is 100% stable.

Click here to download Helium 14.8 beta

Helium Streamer

Helium Streamer has also been updated to be compatible with this beta version.

Click here to download Helium Streamer with Helium 14.8 compatibility

Helium 14.7.1 collects the corrections from Helium 14.7 hotfix 1 and Helium 14.7 hotfix 2 plus some new minor stability fixes and improvements into this new version.

We recommend all users to update to this release.

Click here to download Helium 14.7.1

Another hotfix for Helium 14.7 is now available.

This fix corrects the following:

• Updated SQLite database drivers
• Support for multi-column sorting in track lists, including a visual indicator. Hold down shift when clicking an extra column to sort on to activate multi-sorting.
• Corrected writing of FLAC files containing seektables when removing attached pictures.
• Disk-space warning now shows up as a Do-not-show-again dialog.
• Migrate from Helium 13 message does not show up unless Helium 13 actually exists on the machine.
• Drag and drop folders to Add to files window now works again
• Navigate back from artist details to artists works properly
• Enqueue and play shortcut works properly in track lists
• Tagging form Entire library properly refreshes the tracklist afterwards

We recommend all users to update to this version.

Click here to download Helium 14.7 hotfix 2

A hotfix for Helium 14.7 is now available.

It corrects the following:

• Issues with pasting formatted text into Lyrics and Biography controls.
• Incorrect adjustment of track list in My computer view
• Better ID3 v2.2 compatibility
• Other minor fixes fonud via application exception logs.

We recommend all users to update to this version.

Click here to download Helium 14.7 hotfix

Helium 14.7 is now left the beta stage and is officially available.

The main changes in Helium 14.7 are:

• MusicBrainz data is used in the CD-Ripper.
• Type-to-find implemented in Select columns dialogs, allowing quicker locating of specific columns/fields.
• The years view displays both release years and recording years.
• Improvements to image cache handling which will boost startup time.
• More editable fields in the Tag editors right-panel, copyright and custom fields.
• Possibility to not save ID3v1 tags when tagging files.
• Multiple improvements to Database optimization.
• Updated database drivers (SQLite and MySQL)
• Improved reading compatibility for AAC and WavPack files.
• Improvements to ID3v2 reading compatibility.
• Type-to-find implemented in Music Explorer tree

For more details about the changes, please see the following articles:

• https://implodedsoftware.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/helium-14-7-beta-available/
• https://implodedsoftware.wordpress.com/2020/05/03/helium-14-7-beta-2-available/
• https://implodedsoftware.wordpress.com/2020/05/15/helium-14-7-beta-3-available/

Please note that this release of Helium will not upgrade your database although we still recommend you to create a backup of your database before installing this version.

Click here to download Helium 14.7

Helium Streamer 4.1

Along with this release of Helium we also release an update of Helium Streamer. As Helium and Helium Streamer share much of the code – such as the tag editor and add to database features – Helium Streamer also benefits from the improvements made to Helium.

Click here to download Helium Streamer 4.1.

This updated beta version comes with several enhancements and some bug/stability fixes.

Major changes in this version:

• Updated MySql drivers
• Updated SQLite drivers
• Updated UI components
• Improved reading of AAC files
• Improved reading of WavPack files
• Improved compatibility in ID3v2 tag reading
• Type-to-search feature in the Music Explorer tree
• Improvements to importing of Playlists
• Better cleanup when tagging Lyrics

Working with the beta version

Please note that this version is not 100% tested yet, if you find anything that does not seems to work as it should, please let us know.

If you submit an issue, please be sure to include as much reproduction information as possible so that we can assist you as quickly as possible.

This version does WILL NOT perform database upgrades, meaning that it WILL work with the current official version of Helium 14 and Streamer 4. We recommend you to take a backup of your database before working with this version.

Click here to download Helium 14.7 beta 3

This updated beta version comes mainly with minor fixes and some new features.

Major changes worth to mention:

• Deleting items from a playlist will delete them from the playlist only.
• Artist sort order is no longer overwritten with data form multiple artists.
• Track number is shown in Copy tags feature.

Other minor improvements and fixes are also included in this version.

Working with the beta version

Please note that this version is not 100% tested yet, if you find anything that does not seems to work as it should, please let us know.

If you submit an issue, please be sure to include as much reproduction information as possible so that we can assist you as quickly as possible.

This version does WILL NOT perform database upgrades, meaning that it WILL work with the current official version of Helium 14 and Streamer 4. We recommend you to take a backup of your database before working with this version.

Click here to download Helium 14.7 beta 2

Welcome to this new beta version of Helium 14 that focuses on stability and under-the-hood improvements.

Some main changes are listed below:

• MusicBrainz data is used for the CD ripper
• Better handling of errorous files during adding
• Corrections to tag editor where “Apply down” did not work properly
• Several improvements to caching of images. Startup time will be quicker for most users
• Possibility to not save ID3v1 during tagging
• Multiple improvements to database optimization
• Updates to the plug-in engine

Apart from the above changes, database-drivers have been updated and other minor improvements has also been implemented.

Working with the beta version

Please note that this version is not 100% tested yet, if you find anything that does not seems to work as it should, please let us know.

If you submit an issue, please be sure to include as much reproduction information as possible so that we can assist you as quickly as possible.

This version does WILL NOT perform database upgrades, meaning that it WILL work with the current official version of Helium 14 and Streamer 4. We recommend you to take a backup of your database before working with this version.

Windows 7 users
Make sure that you have the following hot-fix installed:
https://github.com/Microsoft/dotnet/issues/599

Please note that we can no longer guarantee that Helium will work with Windows 7, since Microsoft stopped supporting it on the 14th of January.

Click here to download Helium 14.7 beta 1