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More => Old Versions => Media Center 13 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: enigman on April 20, 2009, 04:15:36 am

Title: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: enigman on April 20, 2009, 04:15:36 am: Hi,

I just upgraded to MC13 and am having trouble playing AC3 WAV files. I've played around with the directshow settings, to no avail. I've tried changing the file extension, also no luck.

Windows Media Center plays them without a problem, whereas MC13 doesn't seem to even launch the direct show plugin (the FFA icon doesn't show up in the tray)

On XP if that matters...

Thanks!
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: Alex B on April 20, 2009, 04:43:30 am: Quote
AC3 WAV files

Is the filename extension .ac3, .wav or maybe something else?

If you want .wav files to bypass the internal wave decoder you must change the settings for the .wav file type in Options > File Types ...

You may also need to install appropriate source and decoder filters. I use the AC3File and AC3Filter DirecShow filters from http://ac3filter.net/. (The FFDShow audio decoder should work as well, but you may still need to install/configure a source filter if the "Automatic" source filter setting does not work.)

I attached a screenshot of the settings that work for me. (Log in to the forum if you can't see the attachment.)
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: enigman on April 20, 2009, 08:25:28 am: Tried these exact settings, and am getting a "MC is unable to play this file" warning

Interesting, when I rename the file .ac3 and put in the exact same settings into the file type window, I get a different error:

"MC encountered errors... failed to play XYZ...You may not have the correct directshow filter installed"

Any thoughts?
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: Alex B on April 20, 2009, 09:19:31 am: I assume you installed the two DirectShow filters I mentioned or already had the latest versions installed. Depending on your set up you may need to adjust some settings in the AC3Filter's control panel.

Could you try this file: http://www.sr.se/laddahem/MultiKanal/DD/SURROUNDTEST_DD_640.zip (It is a small AC3/wav multichannel test file from Swedish Radio.)
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: enigman on April 24, 2009, 06:02:19 am: OK, getting some strange results:

MC recognizes your file, but either
-Plays back digital noise (if I leave WAV file type to default)
-Plays back at 1/4 of normal speed/pitch if AC3 filters are selected.

In both cases, MC appears to be playing the files "internally", and the usual FFDSHOW icon doesn't pop up on the taskbar.

For my file (which is big), it plays back fine via Windows Media Player using the AC3 filters in FFDSHOW, which pops up in the tray when I play the files.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: Yaobing on April 24, 2009, 09:39:33 am: How about trying to play your file in "JRiver video engine (using DirectShow filters)" instead of "JRiver audio engine (using DirectShow filters)", using the same filter selection as Alex suggested?

I see some difference in graph-building between the two.
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: enigman on April 24, 2009, 11:06:21 am: No dice. The strange thing is that MC won't even recognize that the file is valid, let alone play it correctly. If I drag it into playing now, MC sits on an "analyzing now" screen for a few seconds, and then nothing happens. It doesn't appear in playing now, and there's no error message.

I'm guessing it's a pretty weird WAV / AC3 file, but given that Windows Media Player (of ALL things) will play this file without any problems, I'm thinking there's clearly a bug/feature in MC somewhere which is the cause of the problem.
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: JimH on April 24, 2009, 11:14:20 am: Quote from: enigman on April 24, 2009, 11:06:21 am
No dice. The strange thing is that MC won't even recognize that the file is valid, let alone play it correctly. If I drag it into playing now, MC sits on an "analyzing now" screen for a few seconds, and then nothing happens. It doesn't appear in playing now, and there's no error message.

I'm guessing it's a pretty weird WAV / AC3 file, but given that Windows Media Player (of ALL things) will play this file without any problems, I'm thinking there's clearly a bug/feature in MC somewhere which is the cause of the problem.
I wonder if it's related to this report:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=51614.0
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: enigman on April 26, 2009, 07:39:53 am: Sounds similar to the problem I'm having, yes.
Title: Re: AC3 audio files not working
Post by: enigman on May 03, 2009, 12:48:53 pm: OK, I've confirmed a general bug with MC13 and WAV files.

1) My AC3 file plays fine in MC12 (so I converted it to FLAC in MC12, which now plays fine in MC13)
2) WAV files from my voicemail service don't open at all on MC13 either - I don't think they are compressed with anything weird, just fairly low sample rate.

I've found a workaround for the moment, so it's not an urgent bug, but should still probably be looked into.