Can't Winamp play mp4 audio files?

[ksio.amaral89]

I'm trying to play a mp4 audio file (AAC-LC format, I suppose it's unprotected), but nothing happens. Is Winamp player incompatible with AAC files in mp4 format? I don't think I missed any plugin during installation.

I'm using the latest version, 5.65. I have K-Lite Codec Pack Standard v10.0.0 installed, if this info is helpful. Media Player Classic - Home Cinema is able to play mp4 audio files successfully, using LAV Splitter and LAV Audio Decoder filters. Is this some codec or filter issue with Winamp? Thanks in advance.

[DJ Egg]

Hi

Please attach your InfoTool log
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....161361#plugins

What is the extension of the file? Is it .mp4, .m4a, .aac, or other?

[ksio.amaral89]

Thank you for the help, DJ Egg. I am using the latest (beta) build (5.7) instead of the regular 5.65, my mistake to miss the sticky notice stating that.

I'll just repeat the original post there again and attach the log as well. Thank you for the support and sorry for the neglect.

[ksio.amaral89]

I'm trying to play a mp4 audio file (AAC-LC format, unprotected), but nothing happens. Is Winamp player incompatible with AAC files in mp4 format? I don't think I missed any plugin during installation.

I have K-Lite Codec Pack Standard v10.0.0 installed, if this info is helpful. Media Player Classic - Home Cinema is able to play mp4 audio files successfully, using LAV Splitter and LAV Audio Decoder filters. Is this some codec or filter issue with Winamp?

The HTML log generated by Winamp Info Tool v4.2.0 BETA build 3570 is attached.


Thanks in advance.

[DJ Egg]

Hi

To avoid any confusion, I've moved your post here. Best to keep it all in one thread.

The InfoTool log looks ok.

Nullsoft in_mp4.dll is present and is configured to handle mp4, m4a, m4v.
aacdec.w5s & libmp4v2.dll are present.
Therefore everything required to play aac-lc in an mp4 container is present.

You didn't let me know what the file extension is.
Is it .mp4 or .m4a? Or is it something else?

Are mp4;m4a both listed under Prefs > Plugins > Input > MP4 Demuxer (in_mp4.dll) > config > Extension List?
And neither are listed under the DirectShow Decoder extension list (in_dshow.dll > config)?

External codecs are only required if you're trying to use DirectShow for playback.
No external codecs are required if using the MP4 Demuxer for playback.

If everything is set up properly, then the only other thing I can suggest is that you provide us with a link to a sample file so we can check the problem ourselves...

[ksio.amaral89]

Under in_mp4.dll extension list, "MP4" is listed (I clicked the "Default" button to revert any changes); while under "in_dshow.dll, it's not (default list as well). The file extension is "mp4", and the audio is encoded in AAC-LC format, pretty much the same "m4a" audio files.

The audio source is a video hosted in YouTube from which I extracted the audio with the popular aTube Catcher software. The video container format might be either mp4, flv or webm, while the audio format is always AAC-LC, which is confirmed by an audio info log generated by MediaInfo tool available in K-Lite Codec Pack bundle (.txt log attached).

I tried playing this mp4 audio file with Windows Media Player 12 and it worked just fine as MPC-HC did.

This is the video from which I extracted the audio stream: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPV9sVau6T4

I don't believe the culprit is the aTube Catcher software, as it simply extracts the audio from videos, and the audio log show it's in a format accepted by Winamp (AAC-LC). I tried playing this MP4 audio file with Windows Media Player 12 and it worked fine just like MPC-HC.

I'll try to find MP4 audio samples around the web for testing purposes and notice if Winamp is not able to play only MP4 audio files extracted from youtube videos. Thanks again for the assistance.

I have a wild guess it might be a matter of file association confusion by Winamp or Windows Explorer, which is considering the mp4 a video file just by its extension, without taking in account it's a container format, thus it might contain exclusively audio as well. This is based on a section in a Wikipedia article about the MPEG-4 Part 14 format (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp4#.MP4_versus_.M4A.

As the plugin is named "MP4 Demuxer", I believe it's a file splitter which demultiplexes files in container formats, separates the different streams (audio, video etc), and then send each element for its respective decoder, which theoretically would result in Winamp player being able to identify and play either video or audio files in mp4 extension (MPEG-4 Part 14 container format), which is not happening.

Again, thank you for the assistance.

[DJ Egg]

Hmm, yes, the actual sample mp4 file would probably be more useful.

If it's a webm/mkv or flv container, then it will need to have the correct file extension, because Winamp relies on the extension to determine which input plugin to use.

If it's a valid mp4 container, then Winamp should play it if the extension is mp4 or m4a...

[MrSinatra]

is it mono or lossless by any chance?

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=370337

[ksio.amaral89]

Instead of having trouble with editing the mentioned audio file, I decided to attach a very short audio sample in AAC-LC format with MP4 extension. The audio sample is a thunderstorm effect . It's a suitable file for testing purposes, as its size is very small. I recommend lowering down the volume as it's a bit loud, but I don't even think the file will be played.

Everything in the audio file posted before applies to this sample, like the audio stream being extracted from a video in YT. The audio format is the same. Once more, it doesn't play in Winamp. Playing this sample in MPC_HC enables LAV splitter, so apparently it appears to be a valid container format, though containing audio (AAC-LC) only.

Originally Posted by MrSinatra

is it mono or lossless by any chance?

No, mate, standard stereo in AAC format, which is a lossy one.

Thanks in advance.

[MrSinatra]

I could not get the file to play, either as mp4 or m4a. also, both winamp and mp3tag report it as 0 kbps.

[DrO]

the attached file is corrupt (nothing i've tried will play it) and looks like it's missing part of the mp4 container when looking at the raw file data.

[DJ Egg]

Yeah, there's definitely something funky going on with that sample file.

I couldn't get it to play in any of Winamp, WMP, VLC or MPC-HC

MediaInfo reports it as Format / Codec ID: Dash

The headers show the container format to be: ftypdash iso6mp41

The more standard MP4 headers normally show something like:

ftypmp42 mp42isom
ftypM4A isomiso2
ftypmp42 isomavc1mp42

Alas, "dash" is a format I'm not familiar with.
MPEG Dash suggests it's an mpeg file (.mpg)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic...ming_over_HTTP

I would suggest using some other method of extracting audio from YT vids,
savetube or keepvid maybe?

[MrSinatra]

Originally Posted by DJ Egg

I would suggest using some other method of extracting audio from YT vids,
savetube or keepvid maybe?

did u try this?

I use "audiothief" which makes mp3s.

[ksio.amaral89]

Hum, MPC-HC plays it fine, but as all of you stated about the unusual headers, then it must be some issue with aTube Catcher software which is not extracting the audio into a valid container format.
Mp3tag application indeed shows the audio bitrate as null, but for some reason it still plays here in MPC-HC and WMP12, who knows how. Maybe because I've installed the most complete codec package (k-Lite Mega Codec Pack) along with MPC-HC.

No big deal, I'll just keep using MPC-HC. I wish there were audio samples available on the web in mp4 extension to test, however found nothing so far, only standard samples in m4a extension.

Anyway, thank you guys very much for the support.

[Aminifu]

Hi ksio.amaral89,

Winamp relies on a file's extension to determine the codecs needed to play the file. This sometimes causes the wrong ones to be used. The other apps you mentioned look a little deeper into the file's contents to determine the codecs needed. This lets them be more successful in picking appropriate codecs. The Winamp devs may decide to take the same approach in the future.

Even if appropriate codecs are selected, they still need to be available. The K-Lite pack solves that problem for you.


There is a project currently going on that lets Winamp use the current K-Lite mega package instead of some of it's official video plug-ins. Link below if you want to look into it (skip to post #11).

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=369826


There is another project (much longer thread) that has been developing a plug-in (link below) to aid in video support for Winamp.

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=319968


And (as been suggested) it is not a bad idea to try to stick to formats that Winamp already knows how to handle.

[MrSinatra]

a file extension is not necessarily all that is needed, like eg. m4a. winamp does examine beyond that, b/c it has to; to what degree, idk.

[zoftwhere]

How to play MPEG-backed Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG DASH) files in Winamp:

Quick Solution:

• Change the file extension to .MPG to play MPEG DASH files in Winamp.

Comprehensive Solution:

1. Go to Winamp's preferences.
2. Go to the Plug-ins / Input node.
3. Double click the "Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder" entry.
4. Add MP4 as an extension (remember that you will need to add a ";" as separator.
   (eg. "MPG;MPEG;M2V;AVI;MP4")
5. Close the dialog by pressing the OK button.
6. Double click the "Nullsoft MP4 Demuxer" entry.
7. Remove "MP4" as an entry.
8. Close the dialog by pressing the OK button.
9. Close Winamp Preferences dialog by pressing the Close button.

I managed to get audio, visual, and video to run in Winamp this way.

[DJ Egg]

@zoftwhere

Thanks for the information.
I still couldn't get the sample file included above to play though.
So maybe said sample file is corrupt, as we originally suspected.

A working sample file is always appreciated....

[zoftwhere]

The sample is a trailer to Ubisoft's "Rayman Fiesta Run" game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyS26eLmPME

The attachments contains an audio file, and a visual file (video with no audio), both in MPEG-DASH file format.

File: Rayman Fiesta Run Launch Trailer (Audio).mp4
File Format: dash
File size: 1.16 MiB
Audio Format: Advanced Audio Codec
Audio Duration: 1mn 16s
Audio Bit rate mode: Constant
Audio Bit rate: 126 Kbps
Audio Channel count: 2 channels
Audio Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz

File: Rayman Fiesta Run Launch Trailer (Visual).mp4
File Format: dash
File Size: 1 011 KiB
Video Format: Advanced Video Codec
Video Duration: 1mn 16s
Video Bit rate mode: Constant
Video Bit rate: 107 Kbps
Video Width: 256 pixels
Video Height: 144 pixels
Video Display aspect ratio: 16:9
Video Frame Rate: 15.000 fps
Video Color space: YUV

Although encapsulation is out of topic, it is important to note that the the audio and video are encapsulated in a MPEG-DASH container; the codecs used to compress the audio and video are Advanced Audio Codec and Advanced Video Codec respectively.