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[Omni]

(I'm not posting this at anyone's request, only my own curiosity.  I'm just wondering if anyone else can duplicate this or at least educate me on the subject.)

Using dbPowerAmp's AAC encoder and subsequent update (both found here), I converted one of my ape files to aac.

After renaming the resulting .mp4 file to .acc, MC (v.9.1.289) was able to play the file.  (And contrary to official statements, all the tag infomation was present as well, though the playback bitrate indicator was wrong.)

Some few hours later, MC decided to "Media Core" crash whenever it tried to access the .aac file, either when trying to play it or even when just trying read the file for tag info (presumably).

I've tried two things:

• I deleted the file and then re-encoded it exactly like before, but MC sill "Media Core" crashes when either accessing that file directly or just accessing the directory itself, i.e., via the "My Computer" branch.
• I just tried reinstalling v.9.1.289 (on top of itself), but still no luck playing the file without MC crashing.

I don't have any experience with the AAC format, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but dBPowerAmp's AAC encoder is to AAC what LAME is to MP3, right?  

Could it be that these dBPowerAmp AAC files are not in a standard file format that MC can handle?  (Of course, if that were true, it doesn't make sense that MC would be able to play it for a few hours before up and dying on them forever more.)

Omni

[SteveG]

MC uses Quicktime 6.4 to play AAC files. You could try playing the same file directly in Quicktime multiple times and see if you can reproduce the playback crash.

[jeffh]

I found the following post on how to encode using quicktime 6.4 as an external encoder with foobar. With minir amounts of change the script also seems to work well with MC9.1. I am using it to create a series of AAC files from my collection of ape files.
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?showtopic=12814&
Only problem I seem to be having is that about 10% of my files currently import with no duration and no bitrate and so do not play in MC9.1. The files do play file in itunes. I assume this is just more of the same sort of problem people have already been seeing and so I will watch for a fix.

[kiwi]

(And contrary to official statements, all the tag infomation was present as well, though the playback bitrate indicator was wrong.)

I would bet that the tags created by dbPowerAmp are different from those of iTunes.  My understanding is that they don't have iTunes/QT generated tags working.  I can get tags to work with my songs as well.  Namely, import into MC and then retag.  These tags now work.

I wonder how files encoded in dbPowerAmp work in the iPod.

kiwi

[Wobbley]

Can someone tell me the exact parameters to enter if I want to use the DBPowerAmp encoder as an exterrnal encoder in MC.  If someone knows them, could you please list them exactly as I would enter them in the parameters textbox in the External Encoder dialog box?

Thanks,

Wobbley

[Omni]

MC uses Quicktime 6.4 to play AAC files. You could try playing the same file directly in Quicktime multiple times and see if you can reproduce the playback crash.

What Apple deems to be "QuickTime" confuses me.

For instance, I have (what shows in the splash screen and "About" box) "QuickTime Version 5.0.1" installed.  This is just a player, I believe, and only works with movies, not audio.  (It was installed when I installed Photoshop 7.)

I have never installed any other incantation of anything with term "QuickTime" in it.  Being that's the case, how was I able to play that AAC at all?

Anyway, the other night I downloaded iTunes (for Windows) which supposedly has QuickTime 6.4 included.  I'll either install that or spend an hour downloading the stand-alone QT 6.4 and get back to you.

At any rate, if this is the problem, it's still kind of rude of MC to "Media Core" crash all over the place.    

Omni

[Omni]

Okay, installing QuickTime 6.4 cured the "Media Core" crash problem.

But get this... my initial file extension problem crash has now reversed itself!  (Refresher:  MC would crash when trying to play an .mp4 file, so I had to rename it to .aac.)

Trying to play the .aac file now doesn't do anything at all.  It tries to play it, but it just sits there indefinitely at 0:00.

If I rename it to .mp4, it plays fine.  (But, alas, the tag infomation is now missing unlike before.)

Omni

[Omni]

Can someone tell me the exact parameters to enter if I want to use the DBPowerAmp encoder as an exterrnal encoder in MC.  If someone knows them, could you please list them exactly as I would enter them in the parameters textbox in the External Encoder dialog box?

I'm not sure if you can, at least for AAC, because dBpowerAmp itself externally encodes the file via a batch file.  (see the .\Compression\Mp4 (CLI)\encode.bat in your dBpowerAMP directory)

I guess you can just make your own custom batch file accordingly and call it via MC's external encoder. <shrug>  

Omni

[MachineHead]

I found the following post on how to encode using quicktime 6.4 as an external encoder with foobar.

You do not need to use an external encoder with foobar. If you download the 'Special' version from here it has all the necessary componets to convert ape files to aac. Select whatever files you want, right click, Convert, Run Conversion. However, I would recommend checking the settings first. The list contains many choices of formats. For MP4 & AAC select FAAC. You can also select the output format here (AAC, MP4, M4A) The presets for the conversion are well tuned and should do just fine for you. Just run the conversion when done.

Should play just fine from MC if you have QT 6.4. I don't and they still play, albeit with a winamp decoder pasted in MC's plugin folder.

[Omni]

Yeah, but if one uses these listening tests as a benchmark, then using Foobar would be bad since FAAC is rated as the worst AAC encoder there is (at the moment anyway).

(I found out about this test from this thread at Hydrogen Audio.)

Omni

[MachineHead]

Well, I suppose you could go here and grab the other version and see how that compares.

[hans-jürgen]

Should play just fine from MC if you have QT 6.4. I don't and they still play, albeit with a winamp decoder pasted in MC's plugin folder.

Sorry for bumping up an old thread, but I found this short remark very interesting. So is it (still) possible to play *.mp4, *.m4a and *.aac files in Media Center with the help of the Winamp input plugin in_mp4.dll from Audiocoding.com, meaning that the installation of QuickTime and/or iTunes isn't necessary at all?

By the way, you can use faac.exe as an external codec in Media Center, too, see e.g. this thread:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=23055

@Omni: FAAC v1.24 has been improved in many aspects (also sound quality) from the outdated v1.17 that you refer to. This has been proven in the second AAC comparison from 2004:

http://www.rjamorim.com/test/aac128v2/results.html

When looking at these results, you should keep in mind that Nero used ~140 kbps for all test samples, not 128 kbps, and that an older iTunes version won while the current v4.5 is said to sound worse.

On the other hand FAAC v1.24 now uses automatic cutoff changes with different VBR Quality settings, so the cutoff for the setting used in that test (-q 115 with v1.23.5) would be at ~17.5 kHz, not 16 kHz which was the default value before (a few test participants critized a too low cutoff for v1.23.5).

You can find more information about FAAC in the Wiki of Audiocoding.com:

http://www.audiocoding.com/modules/wiki/?page=FAAC

If this link still doesn't work due to a site and server update, try this one:

http://faac.sourceforge.net/modules/wiki/?page=FAAC

[Omni]

Wow.  Talk about a blast from the past.  It was a year ago when I was experimenting with AAC?!    Time flies!

As for your specific question, I have no clue.  I have iTunes (and subsequently, the required QT libraries) installed, so MC plays my seven iTune's purchased, QT AAC encoded songs, and I don't worry about it.  (Actually, I only have purchased two songs; the other five were freebies from Pepsi. )

So FAAD has improved?  It was at the bottom of the heap a year ago.  I shall go check it out again.  

[GHammer]

This tool works well on iTunes selections:


http://www.ifreesoft.com/

[lionel]

I did a search and found this thread.  I downloaded the in_mp4.dll file, ran the exe and saved it to my plugin file in C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\Plugins.  

Then added it to MC through Tools menu \ plug-in manager \ input \ add plug-in

I haven't tested it yet since I don't have any AAC files yet, but this seems like the solution I was looking for.  I can create AAC files with another program and manage them with MC (which is what I love).

Now, how to take it to some next level type shizzle.  in-dash mp4 players for my car?  portable mp4 players? mp4 encoder for MC?



Sorry for bumping up an old thread, but I found this short remark very interesting. So is it (still) possible to play *.mp4, *.m4a and *.aac files in Media Center with the help of the Winamp input plugin in_mp4.dll from Audiocoding.com, meaning that the installation of QuickTime and/or iTunes isn't necessary at all?

By the way, you can use faac.exe as an external codec in Media Center, too, see e.g. this thread:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=23055

@Omni: FAAC v1.24 has been improved in many aspects (also sound quality) from the outdated v1.17 that you refer to. This has been proven in the second AAC comparison from 2004:

http://www.rjamorim.com/test/aac128v2/results.html

When looking at these results, you should keep in mind that Nero used ~140 kbps for all test samples, not 128 kbps, and that an older iTunes version won while the current v4.5 is said to sound worse.

On the other hand FAAC v1.24 now uses automatic cutoff changes with different VBR Quality settings, so the cutoff for the setting used in that test (-q 115 with v1.23.5) would be at ~17.5 kHz, not 16 kHz which was the default value before (a few test participants critized a too low cutoff for v1.23.5).

You can find more information about FAAC in the Wiki of Audiocoding.com:

http://www.audiocoding.com/modules/wiki/?page=FAAC

If this link still doesn't work due to a site and server update, try this one:

http://faac.sourceforge.net/modules/wiki/?page=FAAC

[hans-jürgen]

I haven't tested it yet since I don't have any AAC files yet, but this seems like the solution I was looking for.  I can create AAC files with another program and manage them with MC (which is what I love).

Thanks for this information, it would be interesting if you also succeed to play *.aac and/or *.mp4/*.m4a files only with that plugin, too.  

Now, how to take it to some next level type shizzle.  in-dash mp4 players for my car?  portable mp4 players? mp4 encoder for MC?

As far as I know, BMW and Mercedes Benz plan to build an iPod into one of their more expensive models, maybe they already have.    But the usual solution would be to use a car adapter for the portable iPod.

There are other portables supporting the AAC format, too, but not necessarily in the MP4 container. Among them are some models of the Philips Expanium CD portable or the DivaGEM FlashROM portable, last but not least newer mobile phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others.

Using FAAC as the external codec in MC should produce compatible files for all of them.

[Intrepide1]

My problem falls right along with these.  I use Nero to convert and rip into aac with the mp4 extension it gives.  Trouble is, only about 90% of my converted file will play or even be recognized by MC.  I've tried changing the extension to aac and m4a.  When named to *.m4a, they play in iTunes, but still not in MC.  I've also tried altering the encoding settings in Nero a little, but to no avail.  Last thing I tried was to install the in_mp4.dll mentioned above, but that didn't help either.  Any help appreciated.

[JustinChase]

I also had some trouble with MC not importing, or playing some on my converted files.  Turns out Quicktime cannot recognize long filenames.  Anything with a name of over 59.3 characters will not play in MC.

I had to spend some quality time truncating many filenames, and am now converting all of my files to .m4a files using dbPowerAMP and a registered version of QuickTime.  It has taken 7 full days so far, and has about 1 full day left.  I test imported a few of the files, and MC seems fine with them.  i have had a couple of goofy stops of conversion so far, but excluded the troublesome files, and everything seems right on target.

Hope this helps.

[Intrepide1]

That was it.  Thanks a lot.  That sucks, but I'm relieved to have a solid answer.  59.3  Thanks

[JustinChase]

You're welcome, glad it helped.

[JimH]

Thanks for finding this.  We'll provide a better error message, at least, in a future build.