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[AllanM]

Hello. All my files are in ALAC. I need to output to an "handheld" (local folder) as aac files. Both are .m4a files.

I have the external encode set this way, which I have tested on the command line and it works:



The problem is that no matter what I do, the output is the same as the input. There is no conversion! I think this might be because both the input and the output are m4a. Is there anyway to convert ALC to ACC and use m4a, which is the standard for AAC? I tried .aac, but the output files are not  converted properly.

[Matt]

I get conversion failures when I try your ffmpeg settings.  It doesn't make a file with conversion or for the handheld.

[AllanM]

Is there a log file I can look at to help debug this?

This works perfectly for me

ffmpeg -i "E:\converted music\source\01-Bob_Dylan-Like_a_Rolling_Stone.m4a" -movflags use_metadata_tags -vn -c:a aac -b:a 160K "E:\converted music\target\01-Bob_Dylan-Like_a_Rolling_Stone.m4a"

on the command line. What error are you seeing?

[AllanM]

OK,I found the logging and this doesn't make any sense to me. Can anyone esplain? Many thanks.

120031081: 7768: Database: CTagSaveHelper::SubmitFile: Start
120031081: 7768: Database: CTagSaveHelper::SubmitFile: Submitting: E:\JRiver Export AAC\Music\10,000 Maniacs\In My Tribe\07 - Peace Train.m4a
120031081: 7768: Database: CTagSaveInfo::GetSupportsTag: tagging of file E:\JRiver Export AAC\Music\10,000 Maniacs\In My Tribe\07 - Peace Train.m4a is not supported.  local 1, cue file 0, media type Audio
120031081: 7768: Database: CTagSaveHelper::SubmitFile: File not taggable
120031081: 7768: Database: CTagSaveHelper::SubmitFile: Finish (0 ms)

[JimH]

It says that the m4a file can't be tagged.

[AllanM]

Great, big help. Thanks for the interpretation. :-)

So why isn't the external encoder working for ALAC to AAC? The same exact command works fine on the command line. Is there any way to debug this? Your help is greatly appreciated.

[Yaobing]

Is the file a Particle?

[AllanM]

Is the file a Particle?

Sorry, what is a "Particle"? All my files are ALAC audio files.

[Yaobing]

Sorry, what is a "Particle"? All my files are ALAC audio files.

Wiki on Particles

The reason I asked was that I can't explain this log line:

Code: [Select]

120031081: 7768: Database: CTagSaveInfo::GetSupportsTag: tagging of file E:\JRiver Export AAC\Music\10,000 Maniacs\In My Tribe\07 - Peace Train.m4a is not supported.  local 1, cue file 0, media type Audio
unless the file is a particle.  A simple way to check: look at "Stack Tag" field and see if it is equal to "Particle".

[AllanM]

Sorry, I don't see that tag. I looked at every tag in JRiver and with exiftool. Am I looking in the wrong place?

The same song converts perfectly on the command line with the same syntax, if that matters.

ExifTool Version Number         : 12.57
File Name                       : 07 - Peace Train.m4a
Directory                       : Y:/music/ALAC/10,000 Maniacs/10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe (1987) [FLAC] {9 60738-2}
File Size                       : 22 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2023:03:02 23:12:47-07:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2446:05:10 16:38:55-06:00
File Creation Date/Time         : 2023:03:02 23:12:47-07:00
File Permissions                : -rw-rw-rw-
File Type                       : M4A
File Type Extension             : m4a
MIME Type                       : audio/mp4
Major Brand                     : Apple iTunes AAC-LC (.M4A) Audio
Minor Version                   : 0.2.0
Compatible Brands               : isom, iso2
Media Data Size                 : 22096785
Media Data Offset               : 40
Movie Header Version            : 0
Create Date                     : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Modify Date                     : 2021:08:27 18:26:31
Time Scale                      : 1000
Duration                        : 0:03:27
Preferred Rate                  : 1
Preferred Volume                : 100.00%
Preview Time                    : 0 s
Preview Duration                : 0 s
Poster Time                     : 0 s
Selection Time                  : 0 s
Selection Duration              : 0 s
Current Time                    : 0 s
Next Track ID                   : 2
Track Header Version            : 0
Track Create Date               : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Track Modify Date               : 2021:08:27 18:26:31
Track ID                        : 1
Track Duration                  : 0:03:27
Track Layer                     : 0
Track Volume                    : 100.00%
Matrix Structure                : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Media Header Version            : 0
Media Create Date               : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Media Modify Date               : 2021:08:27 18:26:31
Media Time Scale                : 44100
Media Duration                  : 0:03:27
Media Language Code             : und
Handler Description             : SoundHandler
Balance                         : 0
Audio Format                    : alac
Audio Channels                  : 2
Audio Bits Per Sample           : 16
Audio Sample Rate               : 44100
Handler Type                    : Metadata
Handler Vendor ID               : Apple
Title                           : Peace Train
Artist                          : 10,000 Maniacs
Album                           : In My Tribe
Track Number                    : 7 of 12
Disk Number                     : 1 of 1
Content Create Date             : 1987:07:27
Beats Per Minute                : 104
Encoder                         : Lavf58.20.100
Initial Key                     : D
MusicBrainz Album Release Country: CA
Media                           : CD
Original Year                   : 1987
Length                          : 3:27
Script                          : Latn
MusicBrainz Album Type          : album
Label                           : Elektra
Catalog Number                  : CD 60738
MusicBrainz Album Status        : official
Original Date                   : 1987-07-07
Barcode                         : 075596073820
ISRC                            : USEE10301543
Artists                         : 10,000 Maniacs
MusicBrainz Album Id            : 17be410b-4ec0-46f3-8eec-a7390e262c66
Acoustid Id                     : 81cf5a11-eb1b-491f-9557-72614af5a4dd
MusicBrainz Release Group Id    : 94d44c63-7dee-3921-aa6e-b28b27753cfa
MusicBrainz Track Id            : b75b23ad-fa89-4006-88e4-3253ad9fd6e2
MusicBrainz Album Artist Id     : b9a06530-1241-4162-836f-7b8e79deaa58
MusicBrainz Artist Id           : b9a06530-1241-4162-836f-7b8e79deaa58
MusicBrainz Release Track Id    : c2ee7874-d392-4dcf-8a9d-b0a3417e81a4
Mood                            : Not acoustic, Not aggressive, Not electronic, Happy, Not party, Relaxed, Not sad
Cover Art                       : (Binary data 172794 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Album Artist                    : 10,000 Maniacs
Sort Album Artist               : 10,000 Maniacs
Sort Artist                     : 10,000 Maniacs
Genre                           : Pop/Rock
Tool Name                       : Media Center
Tool Version                    : 28.0.106
Rating                          : 10
HDCD                            : -1
Track Transition Duration       : -1
Avg Bitrate                     : 855 kbps

[bob]

Stack Tag is a field in MC's database.
Go to audio and do a file list then right-click on the line with the fields like album, artist, name, etc and choose to enable the Stack Tag field.

[AllanM]

Stack Tag is a field in MC's database.
Go to audio and do a file list then right-click on the line with the fields like album, artist, name, etc and choose to enable the Stack Tag field.

Got it! I added the column and it's blanks for all my audio files.

Is there any way to log stdin, stdout, and stderr for the external encoder?

[bob]

Got it! I added the column and it's blanks for all my audio files.

Is there any way to log stdin, stdout, and stderr for the external encoder?

Try tacking this on the end of the command line

Code: [Select]

> output.msg 2> output.err

[Yaobing]

Thanks for checking.  The log lines

Code: [Select]

CTagSaveInfo::GetSupportsTag: tagging of file E:\JRiver Export AAC\Music\10,000 Maniacs\In My Tribe\07 - Peace Train.m4a is not supported.  local 1, cue file 0, media type Audio
appear to be red herrings.  I see them too.  the destination files might have been marked as "particles" during transfer process for some reason.

Anyway, I tried it, using exactly your parameters, and all seem to be working correctly.  The transferred files are encoded to AAC (with original files being ALAC).

Please double check your Handheld settings, and make sure the desired settings are applied to the correct destination device.  The settings are not global, but are per device.

[AllanM]

I don't understand, but it's working now. I have multiple handheld devices (all local folders), so I know each one has its own settings.

The only think I can think of is I had to reinstall iTunes, and maybe ffmpeg uses some share library for AAC encode (but I don't think so).

I really have no idea why it just started to work today. I will chalk it up to sunspots. Thanks you for your help getting me there.

[AllanM]

My mistake! It's still not working. I accidentally set the output to mp4 and the conversion works, but when setting to m4a, no conversion!

I still think the reason is the input files are m4a and the output format is m4a, so could it be that JRiver is thinking no conversion is needed? Even though "Mode: Specified Output Format" I think JRiver doesn't do a conversion if the input and output extensions are the same. Can anyone confirm or refute this? Much appreciated?

Is there a way to force a conversion if the input and output formats (extensions) are the same? Note, input is ALAC and output is AAC

[Matt]

My library is Monkey's Audio (APE) files in High compression mode.

To test I set a handheld up in always convert mode and picked APE Fast.

I was wondering if we would skip APE to APE conversion.  But instead it converted all the files on transfer to Fast.

So I wasn't able to reproduce your problem.

[Yaobing]

I tried exactly the same setup and it worked.  It was m4a to m4a conversion, using FFMPEG, and the same parameters as you used.

[AllanM]

I tried exactly the same setup and it worked.  It was m4a to m4a conversion, using FFMPEG, and the same parameters as you used.

Mine appears to work too, but when I look at the resultant output file in the handheld's folder, they are there, but they are exactly the same size as the originals. Can you verify your output files are actually much smaller?

[JimH]

The version of MC30 probably matters.

[AllanM]

Ahhh! I'm using 28.0.106
Is this issue fixed in 30?

[JimH]

Ahhh! I'm using 28.0.106
Is this issue fixed in 30?

That's what we're testing.  You can download and use the trial version.  It's in a thread at the top of this board.

[Yaobing]

I have tried again, ripping a new CD first, then transferred it to a device (local disk).  It works fine in MC30, using external encoder as you specified.

[AllanM]

Thanks! For $24 bucks I’ll upgrade tonight to see if this helps, and to support your great efforts.

[AllanM]

In V28 I turned off the conversion cache, and I think that solved the issue. I did a quick test, and it seemed to work, and I'm running much larger test now.

That said, I just upgraded to v30, and from Win to Master so I can have a library on my Ubuntu server.

Thanks for all the help.

[Yaobing]

In V28 I turned off the conversion cache, and I think that solved the issue. I did a quick test, and it seemed to work, and I'm running much larger test now.

Thanks for reporting that.  You might have your audio conversion cache set at "Next to file".

I have found an issue and fixed it.  When "Next to file" is used, we find the original file and mistook it for the cached conversion file, and copied it directly.

That said, I just upgraded to v30, and from Win to Master so I can have a library on my Ubuntu server.

Thank you for upgrading.

[AllanM]

Thanks for reporting that.  You might have your audio conversion cache set at "Next to file".

I have found an issue and fixed it.  When "Next to file" is used, we find the original file and mistook it for the cached conversion file, and copied it directly.

Umm, not sure how it was set. Too lazy to restore the library :-)

I'm glad you found the bug. This proves I'm not insane! (OK, no proof yet, but at least vindicated on this one issue)

[Yaobing]

Umm, not sure how it was set. Too lazy to restore the library :-)

Restoring library will not help because it was a setting saved in the Registry.  Once changed, you won't know how it was before the change.