Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[JustinChase]

4. NEW: Media Center natively plays m4a files through its audio engine when the appropriate filters are installed. (enabling cross-fading, ASIO, visualizations, etc.)

Introduced in MC11.1 build 71

THANK YOU!!!

I'm downloading right now.

What filters do I need?  I can already play the files, just not with cross-fade, vis, etc?

[Yaobing]

THANK YOU!!!

I'm downloading right now.

What filters do I need?  I can already play the files, just not with cross-fade, vis, etc?

3ivx filters.
http://www.3ivx.com/download/windows.html



Also, any other file formats that you would like to be played natively in MC?

[LonWar]

3ivx filters.
http://www.free-codecs.com/3ivx_download.htm

It is classified as shareware at this download site. I do not know if it expires after some days of trial. I have not found a free filter for m4a yet. If I find one I will post.

Also, any other file formats that you would like to be played natively in MC?

It's also available in the Klite codec pack....

[danrien]

3ivx filters.
http://www.free-codecs.com/3ivx_download.htm

It is classified as shareware at this download site. I do not know if it expires after some days of trial. I have not found a free filter for m4a yet. If I find one I will post.

Also, any other file formats that you would like to be played natively in MC?

ffdshow works for aac playback, and that is open source and therefore completely free!  also, you might notice a slight bump up in your directshow movie quality if you install ffdshow .

[Seviien]

After installing ffdshow, AAC files do seem to play natively, but only the first time I try to play them.  If I stop playback and start again, I think they revert to the old way of playback.  I say this in part because before, I couldn't get AAC files to play in an alternative audio zone... now I can, but only if I don't stop playback once it's started.

Also, the first AAC file that is played in MC prompts a "failed to connect to a server message" and tells me that MC could not install the in_m4a.mjp.

That supposed ta happen?

[danrien]

yah same here.  also, when doing a conversion or analyzing (or playing for that matter), the file stops when it is around 99-100% complete.  this obviously messes with transferring.

[ichkriegediekriese]

Hi!

He finall better AAC support - GREAT!

But - I still cant burn  Audio CD's from AAC files!?
When starting MC tries do download a sort if plugin which fails!? Any suggestions?
3ivx codec is installed properly.

greetz

[Yaobing]

ffdshow works for aac playback, and that is open source and therefore completely free!  also, you might notice a slight bump up in your directshow movie quality if you install ffdshow .

I followed the link given here, but only found a one year old build of ffdshow.

-EDIT-

[Yaobing]

OK, after playing around with these installations, I have managed to use ffdshow. Here is what I found:

You need 3ivx D4 Media Splitter. Without it FFdShow can not be used. So you will have to install 3ivx package to get that filter. However, you may be able to get by using other media splitter filters, but it must be used in connection with DirectShow's Source filter (i.e. a splitter filter that loads the file by itself would not work because we use DirectShow source filter to load the file).

After installing 3ivx package, and configure the "3ivx D4 Media Splitter" filter to "Allow Unsupported Decoders" I was able to decode m4a files using ffdshow.

A general rule of thumb for playing a new file format (other than those we already do in the past, such as mp3 wma, etc.) in MC's native audio engine: it first should be able to be played in Windows Media Player (after installing appropriate filters), because we use DirectShow architecture to play them.

[Yaobing]

After installing ffdshow, AAC files do seem to play natively, but only the first time I try to play them.  If I stop playback and start again, I think they revert to the old way of playback.  I say this in part because before, I couldn't get AAC files to play in an alternative audio zone... now I can, but only if I don't stop playback once it's started.

Also, the first AAC file that is played in MC prompts a "failed to connect to a server message" and tells me that MC could not install the in_m4a.mjp.

That supposed ta happen?

I  can not reproduce this behavior.

An easy way to see if a file is being played natively using MC's audio engine is to go to Playing Now and see if visualization is displayed.

Another way to make sure is to turn on logging for Playback. After playing an AAC file, you should something like these lines in the log file:

Code: [Select]

10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph: DumpGraph [41c2118]
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:     Filter [199776c]  'MJ WaveBin Filter'
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:           Pin [19978e4]  'In' [Input]  Connected to pin [41c6f94]
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:     Filter [7bcf5fc]  'ffdshow Audio Decoder'
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:           Pin [41c6f94]  'Out' [Output]  Connected to pin [19978e4]
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Connection type  M type MEDIATYPE_Audio  S type MEDIASUBTYPE_PCM
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Subtype description UNKNOWN
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Not temporally compressed
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Sample size 1
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx:      Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx:      Subtype MEDIASUBTYPE_PCM
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: wFormatTag 1
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nChannels 2
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nSamplesPerSec 44100
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nAvgBytesPerSec 176400
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nBlockAlign 4
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: wBitsPerSample 16
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: cbSize 0
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:           Pin [41c6cfc]  'In' [Input]  Connected to pin [84c0074]
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:     Filter [7b4e014]  '3ivx D4 Media Splitter'
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:           Pin [7b4e2fc]  'Input' [Input]  Connected to pin [41b98ec]
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:           Pin [84c0074]  'Audio Output' [Output]  Connected to pin [41c6cfc]
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Connection type  M type MEDIATYPE_Audio  S type Unknown GUID Name
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Subtype description UNKNOWN
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Not temporally compressed
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Variable size samples
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx:      Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx:      Subtype Unknown GUID Name
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: wFormatTag 255
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nChannels 2
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nSamplesPerSec 44100
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nAvgBytesPerSec 16000
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: nBlockAlign 4
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: wBitsPerSample 16
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: cbSize 2
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:     Filter [41b97dc]  'C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Li Shuangjiang\Chuan Gong Haozi\01 Chuan G'
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph:           Pin [41b98ec]  'Output' [Output]  Connected to pin [7b4e2fc]
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Connection type  M type MEDIATYPE_Stream  S type MEDIASUBTYPE_QTMovie
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Subtype description UNKNOWN
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Not temporally compressed
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx: Sample size 1
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DisplayTypeEx:      Format type TIME_FORMAT_NONE
10:36:56 AM: Playback: DumpGraph: Finish (32 ms)

[danrien]

I followed the link given here, but only found a one year old build of ffshow.

Following imjustagamer's tip, I found K-Lite here:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm
which contains both 3ivx and ffshow (newer) and a host of other decoders.

If I do not install 3ivx, but only install ffshow, i can not get my m4a files to play natively. Am I missing something?

yeh sorry i gave a bad link.  but using the new build off of free-codecs.com (which is like from dec 1), i am now having troubles! I was using an older build before and that worked fine (except for the aforementioned stopping at 100%), and now i can't even play an m4a file!  i wonder what changed between builds of ffdshow.  however, if i could make a suggestion i would say it seems like mc needs a bit better dshow filter before it is ready for primetime.

[Yaobing]

yeh sorry i gave a bad link.  but using the new build off of free-codecs.com (which is like from dec 1), i am now having troubles! I was using an older build before and that worked fine (except for the aforementioned stopping at 100%), and now i can't even play an m4a file!  i wonder what changed between builds of ffdshow.  however, if i could make a suggestion i would say it seems like mc needs a bit better dshow filter before it is ready for primetime.

Can they be played in Windows Media Player?

[Yaobing]

After installing ffdshow, AAC files do seem to play natively, but only the first time I try to play them.  If I stop playback and start again, I think they revert to the old way of playback.  I say this in part because before, I couldn't get AAC files to play in an alternative audio zone... now I can, but only if I don't stop playback once it's started.

I can not reproduce this. It works fine for me, playing m4a files in two zones simultaneouly, and hitting Stop and Play buttons repeatedly.

Please also refer to my earlier post (the one just before JohnT's last post).

Also, the first AAC file that is played in MC prompts a "failed to connect to a server message" and tells me that MC could not install the in_m4a.mjp.

This will be fixed in the next build. It's caused by MC trying to download an input plugin for the AAC format, which we do not need since we play aac files through DirectShow.

[danrien]

Can they be played in Windows Media Player?

I just switched to the k-lite codec pack (thanks imjustagamer!), and playback once again works just fine.  however, the same problems i had before (where conversion, track analysis, and playback stop at 99-100%) exist once again.

this might be related:  when it is doing a track analysis, several of the sys tray icons for the decoder show up, right now 8 or so are open from when I was doing track analysis.  These all opened after trying to analyze aac files.

ill provide sys info to help in your quest to perfect this:

Media Center Registered 11.1.71 -- C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 11\

 Workstation 5.2 Service Pack 1 (Build 3790)
AMD Unknown 1005 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 1047 MB, Free - 482 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.3790.1830 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82.3790 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.0.3790 / Shell32.dll: 6.0.3790 / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping /   Drive D: _NEC    DVD_RW ND-3500AG  Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive E:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: Yes /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
  Eject after ripping: Yes /  Play sound after ripping: No 

Burning /  Drive D: _NEC     DVD_RW ND-3500AG   Addr: 0:2:0  Speed:48  MaxSpeed:48  BurnProof:Yes
  Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: Yes /  Write CD-Text: Yes
  Use playback settings: No /

[Yaobing]

I just switched to the k-lite codec pack (thanks imjustagamer!), and playback once again works just fine.  however, the same problems i had before (where conversion, track analysis, and playback stop at 99-100%) exist once again.

this might be related:  when it is doing a track analysis, several of the sys tray icons for the decoder show up, right now 8 or so are open from when I was doing track analysis.  These all opened after trying to analyze aac files.

The icons show up because the player is using the filter. Are they ffdshow icons?
Right-click the ffdshow icon you should see a menu. What are the top four lines there?

[danrien]

The icons show up because the player is using the filter. Are they ffdshow icons?
Right-click the ffdshow icon you should see a menu. What are the top four lines there?

right i know its using the filter (i'm now using the default k-lite decoder, haali), but i find it interesting that it has around 8 filters running.  I would think it would only need one filter open at a time, like when it opens up a divx or xvid file.  i can try to replicate this and send in a picture if u want.

[Yaobing]

right i know its using the filter (i'm now using the default k-lite decoder, haali), but i find it interesting that it has around 8 filters running.  I would think it would only need one filter open at a time, like when it opens up a divx or xvid file.  i can try to replicate this and send in a picture if u want.

Thanks, but there is no need to try to convince me  . I saw that problem, and it has been fixed (for the next build).

[Arnaud]

3ivx filters.
http://www.free-codecs.com/3ivx_download.htm

It is classified as shareware at this download site. I do not know if it expires after some days of trial. I have not found a free filter for m4a yet. If I find one I will post.

Also, any other file formats that you would like to be played natively in MC?

Hello guys,  I installed this filter and now the analyse accept to run it (before it was giving me an error because I didn't have the right filter)
But it only runs it for the first track listed in the windows and hen it stops does nothing then start again.  It is extremely slow.

[danrien]

Thanks, but there is no need to try to convince me  . I saw that problem, and it has been fixed (for the next build).

awesome. thanks.

[Yaobing]

Thanks, but there is no need to try to convince me  . I saw that problem, and it has been fixed (for the next build).

awesome. thanks.

Hm... I wonder if I have conveyed an inaccurate message. I meant to say that the problem of multiple decoder load (as shown in Notification tray) has been fixed. I still do not have any idea of the problem of player not playing to 100%.

Can you post or email me (yaobing AT jriver.com) log info (turn on Playback type logging)?

[Yaobing]

Hello guys,  I installed this filter and now the analyse accept to run it (before it was giving me an error because I didn't have the right filter)
But it only runs it for the first track listed in the windows and hen it stops does nothing then start again.  It is extremely slow.

Please wait for the next build and try again. If the problem persists, please either post or email me (yaobing AT jriver.com) a log file, logging Playback type.

[JimH]

Alex,
I moved your post to a new thread here:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=30615.0

[Alex B]

Nero does this:

A general rule of thumb for playing a new file format (other than those we already do in the past, such as mp3 wma, etc.) in MC's native audio engine: it first should be able to be played in Windows Media Player (after installing appropriate filters), because we use DirectShow architecture to play them.

[Olf]

I must be missing something... I've installed K-Lite and Windows Media Player is now able to play m4a-files. When I try to play them in MC 11.1.74, though, it just says that I should download Quicktime. Is there some documentation I can't find? Am I supposed to configure MC in anyway to be able to use the internal player for m4a-files?

Very thankful for help in this, as I've got a lot of m4a-files I want to play.

[Alex B]

You need also QuickTime. Yaobing just explained that to me in another thread.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalone.html

I think the documentation is this thread for now. 

[Yaobing]

And I am looking for ways to do away with QT completely. For now you do need QT to get certain info out of the files.

[trott]

using version 74 of media center, I can now successfully 'analyze audio' on m4a files. However, I also get an error telling me the tags could not be written to the files.

[Olf]

This is what I did:

• Uninstalled iTunes
• Uninstalled Quicktime
• Uninstalled K-Lite & ffdshow
• Installed 3ivX only

After that, playing m4a-files is working perfectly.

I don't know why it didn't work with K-Lite/ffdshow even though WMP could play m4a-files.

[Olf]

If I'm understanding you right here, I would still need QT to update the tags in my files, is that correct?

In that case, I think I'll use another program to edit my m4a-tags as QT can't handle filenames > 64 characters. This is a problem especially when you run JRMediaCenter as a client-server solution, as you get like 15-20 extra characters from the m01p://192.168.0.200/e:\music stuff.

If you could get rid of QT alltogether, that would be heaven, but otherwise perhaps you could implement a limit on number of characters in the "Rename files from properties"?

[Yaobing]

This is what I did:

• Uninstalled iTunes
• Uninstalled Quicktime
• Uninstalled K-Lite & ffdshow
• Installed 3ivX only

After that, playing m4a-files is working perfectly.

I don't know why it didn't work with K-Lite/ffdshow even though WMP could play m4a-files.

See an earlier post of mine. For some strange reason ffdshow still needs one of the filters in 3ivx package. However this is not the case for everyone. I know someone managed to play it without 3ivx. On my machine I need 3ivx.

If you would like to use ffdshow, you can leave 3ivx installed, and install K-Lite. When K-Lite installation asks whether you want to uninstall 3ivx first, answer no. Configure 3ivx D4 Splitter to "allow unsupported decoders".

[Yaobing]

using version 74 of media center, I can now successfully 'analyze audio' on m4a files. However, I also get an error telling me the tags could not be written to the files.

That error message will go way in the next build.

[Yaobing]

If I'm understanding you right here, I would still need QT to update the tags in my files, is that correct?

In that case, I think I'll use another program to edit my m4a-tags as QT can't handle filenames > 64 characters. This is a problem especially when you run JRMediaCenter as a client-server solution, as you get like 15-20 extra characters from the m01p://192.168.0.200/e:\music stuff.

If you could get rid of QT alltogether, that would be heaven, but otherwise perhaps you could implement a limit on number of characters in the "Rename files from properties"?

It looks like we will be able to get rid of dependency on QT. However, writing tag to file is still not going to work, not immediately anyway. Right now I am concentrating on playback and reading tags. So tags you create in MC will only be saved in the library, not in the file, until we implement tag writing for aac, which we may or may be able to do (for example the limit on number of characters may be hard to accommodate).

[Olf]

But there's no limit on characters in aac-files' ID3-tags shorter than in mp3-files, is there? I never had any problems with long ID3-tags in AAC-files...

[Yaobing]

But there's no limit on characters in aac-files' ID3-tags shorter than in mp3-files, is there? I never had any problems with long ID3-tags in AAC-files...

What I really meant to say is that we never wrote tags to aac files before and I will have to investigate whether we can do it.

[Alex B]

I have now QT7, 3ivX and Nero 7 installed. GSpot can render my AAC files. It shows that only 3ivX splitter and 3ivX decoder are used. I suppose Nero decoder is then not used.

MC11.1 can see the files, read the tags, calculate the replay gain values and play the files, but that's all.

Crossfading, Replay Gain, EQ, Internal Volume, etc don't work.

What should I try next?

[Alex B]

I installed ffdshow on top of the other codecs and now DSP works fine (11.1.74). In this case both software packages were needed. (Or did you change something after the initial posts?)

At first only the iTunes (.m4a) files started to work, but then I renamed my .mp4 files to .m4a and also the Nero files work now.

[Yaobing]

I installed ffdshow on top of the other codecs and now DSP works fine (11.1.74). In this case both software packages were needed. (Or did you change something after the initial posts?)

I do not know why. Some people are able to use ffdshow alone, while some need the 3ivx splitter with ffdshow. Now you are saying 3ivx alone is not enough for you?

Can you send me a sample m4a file?

At first only the iTunes (.m4a) files started to work, but then I renamed my .mp4 files to .m4a and also the Nero files work now.

Right now only .m4a extension will work. What's with all these different extensions? 

Have you tried 11.1.75? It should not require QuickTime.

[Yaobing]

Here is a summary of what I know about m4a filters.

ffdshow - I have not found a separate package that is updated. I admit that I did not look hard for it.

3ivx - on my computer it works all by itself (without having to install ffdshow).

But on my machine ffdshow does not work without 3ivx D4 Media Splitter. So I can not uninstall 3ivx before installing ffdshow.

I also tried CoreAAC decoder. Again it will not work without 3ivx D4 Media Splitter.

I think it probably has to do with the fact that all my m4a files are iTune files.

[LonWar]

Here is a summary of what I know about m4a filters.

ffdshow - I have not found a separate package that is updated. I admit that I did not look hard for it since I found it in K-Lite package.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Codec-Packs-Video-Codecs/FFDShow-MPEG-Video-Decoder.shtml

[Yaobing]

Thanks.

[Olf]

I think this is the official place to go for ffdshow updates:
http://ffdshow.sourceforge.net/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=Getting+ffdshow

[GHammer]

So, is this DirectShow capability, or just for m24?

[Yaobing]

So, is this DirectShow capability, or just for m24?

We are using DirectShow method to play these new types of files. In theory if a file can be played via DirectShow (i.e. there are filters for it) it should work in our new scheme. But for now we only put m4a in our list of supported formats.

[GHammer]

We are using DirectShow method to play these new types of files. In theory if a file can be played via DirectShow (i.e. there are filters for it) it should work in our new scheme. But for now we only put m4a in our list of supported formats.

Ok, just wondering if I could use it to play the occasional WavPack file.

[Alex B]

Good idea. Yaobing already asked this:

Also, any other file formats that you would like to be played natively in MC?

WavPack has a DirectShow filter. http://www.wavpack.com/

[Alex B]

I do not know why. Some people are able to use ffdshow alone, while some need the 3ivx splitter with ffdshow. Now you are saying 3ivx alone is not enough for you?
... Have you tried 11.1.75? It should not require QuickTime.

I'll try 11.1.77 and report.

Can you send me a sample m4a file?

I sent you samples (m4a, mp4 and a playback log).

Right now only .m4a extension will work. What's with all these different extensions? 

  Here are a couple of quotes from a HA thread titled: "Confused. Very confused. AAC, MP4, M4A, WTF?"

- .mp4: only official extension, for both audio and video files (and advanced content)

other related extensions:
- .m4a: introduced by apple for aac/alac audio-only files, m4a can safely be renamed to .mp4
- .m4p: DRM protected files sold in iTunes, using the DRM sheme developed by apple
- .m4e: renamed .sdp files used by Envivio for streaming
- .m4v, .mp4v, .cmp, .divx, .xvid: video-only, raw mpeg-4 video streams (Should be Video Only)
- .3gp, .3g2: used by mobile phones, stores content not defined in .mp4 too (H.263, AMR)

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=38140&view=findpost&p=340282

I see a lot of confusion here, so I'll try to extend what Randall311 already wrote.

MP4 is a container format, a part of MPEG-4 standard. MPEG-4 also standardises some types of compression of sound and video. The sound compression is AAL-LC (Low Complexity), AAC-HE (High Effeciency, also known as AAC SBR and AACplus) and AAC PS (Parametric Stereo). Then we have MPEG-4 video compression divided in MPEG-4 SP (DivX 3, DivX 4, QuickTime), MPEG-4 ASP (DivX 5, DivX 6, XviD, FFMPEG, 3ivX, ND ASP) and MPEG-4 AVC (x264, ND AVC, QuickTime).

Now AAC extension is commonly used for raw audio stream encoded according to MPEG-4 standard. M4V is a MPEG-4 video. MP4 is as I already said a container designed to store raw audio and video tracks and it can also contain tags, subtitles, chapters menues etc. For video files the extension MP4 is used. For audio the extension M4A should be used to distinguish video and audio-only files.

The MP4 container accepts all MPEG-4 streams. It also supports officially MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 audio/video. So you can have an M4A audio fie with AAC compression as well as MP3. Someone already mentioned this here.

So once again AAC is a sound compression with 2 possible extensions (HE, PS). MP4 (M4A, M4B) is a container, which supports storing of AAC and other compression formats.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=38140&view=findpost&p=340480


As you can see, it is actually very simple and straightforward. 

[bbrip]

I still do struggle to import MP4 directly into MC11.1.

I have to rename the files to AVI and then rename them back to after the import to MP4.  Only that way ffdshow will be enabled to decode the files in MC11.

I got rid of QT as I believei it is a bloated unnecessary software if you have ffdshow installed.

However, if I leave filetype in MC11 as "mp4" it still asks for Quicktime, evne so other codecs are installed to play the files!  If I "fake" MC11 to tell it that filetype is "AVI" it plays the file fine, activating directX player and ffdshow, even so the file extnesion is ".mp4", ie. only the "filetype" field in MC11 triggers MC 11 to ask for QT, which I believe must be a bug.

MC 11 should fist look that a codec for whatever filetype is installed and only if it is missing (Ie no ffd show, no quicktime), then it should come up with an error and ask users to download quicktime (the poor ones that dont know better alternatives......

BB

[Alex B]

I still do struggle to import MP4 directly into MC11.1.

I have to rename the files to AVI and then rename them back to after the import to MP4. Only that way ffdshow will be enabled to decode the files in MC11.

I got rid of QT as I believei it is a bloated unnecessary software if you have ffdshow installed.

However, if I leave filetype in MC11 as "mp4" it still asks for Quicktime, evne so other codecs are installed to play the files! If I "fake" MC11 to tell it that filetype is "AVI" it plays the file fine, activating directX player and ffdshow, even so the file extnesion is ".mp4", ie. only the "filetype" field in MC11 triggers MC 11 to ask for QT, which I believe must be a bug.

MC 11 should fist look that a codec for whatever filetype is installed and only if it is missing (Ie no ffd show, no quicktime), then it should come up with an error and ask users to download quicktime (the poor ones that dont know better alternatives......

This thread is about audio playback, but IMO Yaobing could have a look at this issue too because it is closely related. MC should have a mechanism for selecting the correct "route" if the needed codecs are installed. Here is the previous thread: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=29759.0.

[bbrip]

Indeed. I believe it does not really matter whether its audio or video. MC should support directshow features for both

bb

[Yaobing]

I sent you samples (m4a, mp4 and a playback log).

Thanks.

Your m4a file behaves exactly like what I have. I see no difference. On my machine 3ivx D4 Media Splitter (installed from 3ivx package) is still needed no matter what. ffdshow alone would not work. 3ivx package alone would work.

So it seems to depend on machine. Before a better solution is obtained, one can try using either 3ivx package alone, or ffdshow alone, or both package combined, whichever works .

As you can see, it is actually very simple and straightforward. 

Thanks Alex  for the links on aac/mp4 formats.

Indeed. I believe it does not really matter whether its audio or video. MC should support directshow features for both

I have added mp4 in the list to be played natively (in next build - 79 or later). The audio only mp4 file Alex sent me works fine. Not sure what happend to video files. Please let me know how it works.