CW-AAC 1.0.1.0
Cole Williams AAC Encoder for Windows
Cole Williams Software Limited

OVERVIEW
========

CW-AAC encodes WAV and FLAC audio to AAC-LC in an M4A container using the
FFmpeg native AAC encoder with CW-AAC pVBR support.

BASIC USAGE
===========

  cw-aac.exe input.wav output.m4a
  cw-aac.exe input.flac output.m4a -q 2
  cw-aac.exe input.wav output.m4a --pvbr -q 2
  cw-aac.exe input.wav output.m4a -b 256k

ENCODING MODES
==============

VBR:

  -q <0.1..10>

pVBR:

  --pvbr -q <1..5>

--cvbr remains accepted as a legacy alias for --pvbr.

Bitrate mode:

  -b <bitrate>

METADATA
========

CW-AAC can write M4A metadata directly.

Supported switches include:

  --copy-tags
  --title <text>
  --artist <text>
  --album <text>
  --album-artist <text>
  --albumartist <text>
  --band <text>
  --genre <text>
  --date <text>
  --year <text>
  --track <n[/total]>
  --tracktotal <n>
  --disc <n[/total]>
  --disk <n[/total]>
  --disctotal <n>
  --comment <text>
  --composer <text>
  --copyright <text>
  --encoder <text>

The default encoder tag is:

  CW-AAC 1.0.1.0 - Cole Williams AAC Encoder

OTHER SWITCHES
==============

  --stats
  --version / -V
  --help / -h

INPUT NOTES
===========

CW-AAC uses FFmpeg's normal input demux/decoder path. WAV and FLAC input are
supported by the supplied builds.

pVBR currently supports mono and stereo input.

EXACT AUDIO COPY
================

CW-AAC can be used as a User Defined Encoder in Exact Audio Copy.

Important: this release expects the input and output paths to be the first two
positional arguments. Do not place metadata options before %source% and %dest%.

See EAC.txt for the recommended EAC configuration.

PROJECT
=======

Product:   CW-AAC
Version:   1.0.1.0
Company:   Cole Williams Software Limited
Copyright: Copyright (c) 2026 Cole Williams. All rights reserved.
