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Author Topic: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.  (Read 10866 times)

JONCAT

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First, to quote the Wiki:

Quote
In order to play these files back with MC you need to have either:

    * Apple's Quicktime Player installed
    * proper DirectShow filters installed, and you need to enable DirectShow M4A support in MC

Generally, using DirectShow for playback will give better results for M4A files in MC12. DirectShow playback allows MC to use visualizations on the files, to natively convert the files to other formats, and a number of other features not available with Quicktime-supported file types. However, because most new users have Quicktime already installed (while they may not have proper DirectShow filters installed to support MP4 decoding), MC disables DirectShow support in favor of Quicktime by default. This is easy to change though!

I have CCCP installed and I believe my DirectShow settings are letting MC utilize the correct filters; I can playback M4A files and see the equalizer in the display which disappears when I disable filters and use the external Quicktime engine.

However, any M4A file fails to analyze.

DC
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Alex B

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2008, 09:40:27 am »

It works for me.

Here's my graph info:

Quote
Filter Graph Info (Graph for type: m4a):

    Filter 'JRiver Audio Renderer'
        CLSID: {EC1F74A8-7E55-4814-9F9F-D417489075CA}
        Host:
        Input Pin 'In'
            Connected to pin 'Out' of filter 'ffdshow Audio Decoder'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_PCM, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx

    Filter 'ffdshow Audio Decoder'
        CLSID: {0F40E1E5-4F79-4988-B1A9-CC98794E6B55}
        Host: C:\Soft\CCCP\Filters\FFDShow\ffdshow.ax
        Output Pin 'Out'
            Connected to pin 'In' of filter 'JRiver Audio Renderer'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_PCM, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx
        Input Pin 'In'
            Connected to pin 'Audio' of filter 'Haali Media Splitter'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {000000FF-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx

    Filter 'Haali Media Splitter'
        CLSID: {55DA30FC-F16B-49FC-BAA5-AE59FC65F82D}
        Host: C:\Soft\CCCP\Filters\Haali\splitter.ax
        Output Pin 'Audio'
            Connected to pin 'In' of filter 'ffdshow Audio Decoder'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {000000FF-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx

- Right-click the display during m4a playback for accessing the graph info. (DirectShow Filters > Copy graph info to clipboard)
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2008, 12:24:12 pm »

I had to re-register CCCP filters and M4A plays back now.

But ALAC files won't. I put the ALAC (alac_dll)  into the plugins folder of MC and registered it with the bat file.

Should this do the trick for ALAC or should I put the dll in a system folder?

thanks
DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2008, 01:01:43 pm »

I dropped the alac dll into the WMP root folder because it doesn't have a plugins folder; I registered the filters after copying them there.

ALAC files playback okay in WMP. but not MC; I see the FFdshow icon in the systray during WMP playback.

DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2008, 08:13:59 pm »

Anyone playing back ALAC in MC? Alex?

DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2008, 11:20:44 am »

bump
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Alex B

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2008, 11:50:04 am »

Anyone playing back ALAC in MC? Alex?

Not really. I prefer APE. I have some FLAC and ALAC files for testing. I am not sure if the DirectShow filter for ALAC works anymore on my PC (I have made several changes to my filter setup since I tested ALAC last time). AAC/M4A works fine.

EDIT

BTW, what you mean by "alac dll" ?

I have this filter: http://www.dsp-worx.de/index.php?n=15. An older version of it used to work, but the new version is not working for me for some reason.
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2008, 12:01:27 pm »

I prefer .ape as well.

By alac.dll I mean the dll available via the link you posted. Thanks for that.

As I said I got alac to playback in WMP but not MC.

DC
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glynor

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2008, 12:19:46 pm »

Do you have multi-channel output enabled?  This use to happen to me when I had multi-channel output enabled in the DSP.
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Yaobing

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2008, 01:34:08 pm »

I just did a test.

1. Downloaded the filter from DSP-Worx (the "binary" version, ran Register.bat).
2. Ripped an album in ALAC, using iTunes.

Imported some tracks into MC and played.

Works fine, except that the filter does not handle international characters in the file and folder names. My Chinese songs did not play until I renamed the files using ASCII characters.
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2008, 07:32:26 pm »

Where did you put the .dll file?

I've got .m4a (non-alalc) running smoothly but all the ALAC rips I did at work don't play.

What OS are you using?

thanks
DC
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Yaobing

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2008, 08:24:43 pm »

Where did you put the .dll file?

I've got .m4a (non-alalc) running smoothly but all the ALAC rips I did at work don't play.

What OS are you using?

thanks
DC

I use XP.

There are a number of files in the package, most of them DLLs, one has extension ax. You can put the files anywhere, all in one folder, and run register.bat that came with the package.
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2008, 09:42:27 pm »

Strange, that's what I figured. I've run the .bat file but no joy in MC.

DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #13 on: July 01, 2008, 12:27:14 pm »

If I disable the MC DirectShow setup by unchecking m4a, MC plays back the ALAC files but I get no sound.

There is no way to differentiate M4A files from ALAC as they are the same file extension....

DC
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Yaobing

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #14 on: July 01, 2008, 03:34:38 pm »

If I disable the MC DirectShow setup by unchecking m4a, MC plays back the ALAC files but I get no sound.

With DirectShow playback disabled, m4a is played in Quicktime engine. Getting no sound in Quicktime engine could suggest some problem with your ALAC file.

When you play the file in WMP, do you notice FFDShow Audio decoder icon in the tray? If so, you can investigate which filters are used.

Strange, that's what I figured. I've run the .bat file but no joy in MC.

Are all the DLLs the package originally contains kept in the same folder?

Here is a screen shot of what I have.

Note that the DSP-Worx filter is a source/decoder filter - doing file parsing and decoding in one filter. Presumably Bass_ALAC.dll is the ALAC codec used inside the filter.
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #15 on: July 01, 2008, 08:34:25 pm »

I uninstalled CCCP last week to seperately install the newest Haali splitter.

Now in MC with Haali & FFDshow audio, I can't get MC to playback m4a (unless I either disable m4a in MC or disbale the JRiver audio renderer in the DirectShow settings...same thing???)

With DC_Bass & FFDshow audio I can playback m4a (aac & alac) only if disable Use JRiver Audio Renderer. So I;m guessign I'm just using the Quicktime engine because I can't see the EQ display running anymore.

The DC_Bass install seems to have enabled ALAC; I used the full installer this time and not the binary.

When I had CCCP installed with the included MP4 support (older Haali version), with Haali & FFDshow as DirectShow settings, playback of aac files, not alac, was working with full support (EQ, analyze, etc.).

DC
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glynor

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #16 on: July 01, 2008, 09:34:00 pm »

Why not just use beta? http://www.cccp-project.net/beta/
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Yaobing

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #17 on: July 02, 2008, 06:18:45 am »

Now in MC with Haali & FFDshow audio, I can't get MC to playback m4a (unless I either disable m4a in MC or disbale the JRiver audio renderer in the DirectShow settings...same thing???)

With DC_Bass & FFDshow audio I can playback m4a (aac & alac) only if disable Use JRiver Audio Renderer. So I;m guessign I'm just using the Quicktime engine because I can't see the EQ display running anymore.

No. If you right-click in display window, you should still see "DirectShow Filters" menu. Disabling "JRiver Audio Renderer" is not the same as disabling DirectShow Playback. When not using JRiver Audio Renderer, audio is sent to DX Video engine (DirectShow) for playback, therefore you do not get EQ etc.

Quote

The DC_Bass install seems to have enabled ALAC; I used the full installer this time and not the binary.

When I had CCCP installed with the included MP4 support (older Haali version), with Haali & FFDshow as DirectShow settings, playback of aac files, not alac, was working with full support (EQ, analyze, etc.).


Haali Media Splitter is not able to handle ALAC, but you can still select it in the graph (MC will automatically drop it when it does not work, and let DirectShow select a working filter - DC_BASS filter). On my machine, FFDShow Audio decoder automatically jumps in as well. It seems to be needed for multiple channel conversion - this I do not quite understand. DC_BASS's output is 2-ch PCM, FFDShow converts it to 6-ch PCM. My output goes to an out-board AMP via digital coax cable. Maybe that makes a difference. (That is only because I had "Dolby Decoder" enabled in FFDShow).

You can alternatively select DC_BASS filter as your source filter m4a file type. It should work for all (ALAC or not).
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #18 on: July 02, 2008, 11:16:54 am »

Right, so why can't I use the JRiver Renderer? I'm pretty sure DirectShow isn't latching on to DC_Bass source filter if I don't select it manually in MC; maybe  I need to raise its merit with radlight.

Maybe I'll try the Beta, thanks Glynor. Probably going to stop chasing this down as I use .ape anyway.

But, if I can't use the JRiver Renderer for the ALAC playback with DC_Bass, will any future ALAC files fail to be analyzed by MC?

thanks
DC
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Yaobing

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #19 on: July 02, 2008, 11:32:03 am »

Right, so why can't I use the JRiver Renderer? I'm pretty sure DirectShow isn't latching on to DC_Bass source filter if I don't select it manually in MC; maybe  I need to raise its merit with radlight.

One possible reason is the version of FFDShow that you are using. As my previous post stated, FFDShow jumps in automatically, making playback of ALAC possible, even if I use JRiver Audio Renderer.

Quote
Maybe I'll try the Beta, thanks Glynor. Probably going to stop chasing this down as I use .ape anyway.

Please to try the beta as glynor suggested.

Quote
But, if I can't use the JRiver Renderer for the ALAC playback with DC_Bass, will any future ALAC files fail to be analyzed by MC?
Analyzing is not affected by not using JRiver Audio Renderer. It should work as long as a DirectShow graph can be built and run.
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

Yaobing

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #20 on: July 02, 2008, 11:45:03 am »

I figured out why FFDShow jumped into the graph. It did so only because I configured FFDShow Audio Decoder to be used for "Uncompressed" formats. After unchecking that option, I can play ALAC files just using DC-BASS Source and JRiver Audio Renderer. See this screen shot.

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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #21 on: July 02, 2008, 12:05:45 pm »

Doesn't work for me. I think Quicktime is being used because I have no Direct Show filter running like you do.

Installing the DC-Bass filter allowed ALAC but something is screwy here.

I need to look into it more.

Dc
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #22 on: July 02, 2008, 12:10:08 pm »

Okay, I tried disabling AAC in FFDshow and now I can playback with DC-Bass selected as source AND using the JRiver Renderer.

BUT, my system is using Cyberlink Audio & Haali for playback.

oh boy....

DC

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Yaobing

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #23 on: July 02, 2008, 12:33:38 pm »

So DC-Bass Source filter still can not load your files, even if you specified in MC to use it. Are there any special characters in the path (both folder names and file names) of your files?
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #24 on: July 02, 2008, 12:35:09 pm »

Getting back on track. Reomved everything, reboot.

Beta of CCCP is in.

I used the Binrary of the DSPworx Bass_alac filter and kept all in same folder, ran register.bat.

I can play m4a w(aac) with DC-Bass as source but haali and ffdshow are getting used instead.

ALAC won't playback.

This filter just won't reigister oproperly on my stystem even though I did have alac working once it was added and disabled in MCs DS setup.

DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #25 on: July 02, 2008, 12:46:42 pm »

Using the FFDshow version in the newest CCCP beta, the FFDshow audio decoder doesn't jump in on auto l(with Uncompressed=all supported enabled) as it does on your system for ALAC. It does for AAC though.

When I register the DC-Bass filter it then shows up in MC DirectShow options but MC just won't use it even when I select it.

And no special characters in any path to answer your earlier question.

DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #26 on: July 02, 2008, 08:24:53 pm »

I dropped an ALAC file on GSPOT codec appliance and ffdshow is used by it and shows up in the systray. Strange the the filter chain isn't connecting like this using MC with Uncompressed enabled/disabled.

- -   Type   REND
- -   Function   Renderer
DSH   4CC   PCM
DSH   Friendly Name   Default DirectSound Device
DSH   DirectShow CLSID   CLSID_DSoundRender {79376820-07D0-11CF-A24D-0020AFD79767}
REG   Driver File   C:\WINDOWS\system32\quartz.dll
REG   Merit   0x00800000


and the properties of my specific ffdshow version according to Gspot:

- -   Type   DSH
- -   Function   Decoder
DSH   4CC   FmtTag: 0x0055   
DSH   Friendly Name   ffdshow Audio Decoder
DSH   DirectShow CLSID   {0F40E1E5-4F79-4988-B1A9-CC98794E6B55}
FIL   File Description   DirectShow and VFW video and audio decoding/encoding/processing filter
FIL   File Version   1.0.5.2030
FIL   Internal Name   ffdshow
FIL   Legal Copyright   Copyright © 2002-2005 Milan Čutka
FIL   Original Filename   ffdshow.ax
FIL   Product Name   ffdshow
FIL   Product Version   1.0.5.2030
FIL   Legal Trademarks   GNU GPL
REG   Driver File   C:\Program Files\Combined Community Codec Pack\Filters\FFDShow\ffdshow.ax
REG   Merit   0x3fffffff


DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #27 on: July 02, 2008, 09:02:53 pm »

All right, I'm not even able to play AAC with Haali & FFDshow anymore.

In the past , I have used CCCP to re-register the filters and "wha la".......

This is bizzzzzarre, especially given that Gspot can create a filter chain that Mc, when 'told' to, can't.

On another note, I reverted to .515 and I've been seeing Mc have problems connecting to FFDshow using Direct Sound, ASIO, etc. I open WMP and everything works fine. MC seems to break down and won't send audio to any soundcard e.g. EMU patchmix (wav for video, ASIO for audio) or Realtek (Directsound). I have to reboot. This has been occurring regularly for a few days...maybe my system is falling apart  ?

DC
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JONCAT

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Re: Playing ALAC (Apple lossless) with DirectShow, Haali, FFDShow, etc.
« Reply #28 on: July 06, 2008, 01:03:59 pm »

bump....might this have anything do with my wav output problem.

I only use CCCP on my system, but it's acting like it's codec tainted.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=47271.0

DC
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