diff --git a/source/SoundStretch/SS_CharTypes.h b/source/SoundStretch/SS_CharTypes.h
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/SoundStretch/SS_CharTypes.h
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+///
+/// Char type for SoundStretch
+///
+/// Author        : Copyright (c) Olli Parviainen
+/// Author e-mail : oparviai 'at' iki.fi
+/// SoundTouch WWW: http://www.surina.net/soundtouch
+///
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//
+// License :
+//
+//  SoundTouch audio processing library
+//  Copyright (c) Olli Parviainen
+//
+//  This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+//  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+//  License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+//  version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+//  This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+//  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+//  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+//  Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+//  You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+//  License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+//  Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+//
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+#ifndef SS_CHARTYPE_H
+#define SS_CHARTYPE_H
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace soundstretch
+{
+#if _WIN32
+    // wide-char types for supporting non-latin file paths in Windows
+    using CHARTYPE = wchar_t;
+    using STRING = std::wstring;
+    #define STRING_CONST(x) (L"" x)
+#else
+    // gnu platform can natively support UTF-8 paths using "char*" set
+    using CHARTYPE = char;
+    using STRING = std::string;
+    #define STRING_CONST(x) (x)
+#endif
+}
+
+#endif //SS_CHARTYPE_H