Winamp won't play m4a?

[anieuwoudt]

I've got a group of AAC (m4a) files that aren't playing in Winamp. They play perfectly fine in VLC, Quicktime and iTunes. I also have other m4a files that play perfectly fine in Winamp.

I'm using Winamp Pro (latest version).

What the?

Edit: The only difference that I can see is the bitrate. The files that aren't playing in Winamp are 900kbps+, while the others are much lower (closer to 300kbps). Is there a limitation in Winamp for AAC playback and bitrate?

[DJ Egg]

Sounds like they're encoded with ALAC (Apple Lossless), which is a proprietary Apple format that, for legal reasons, we can't support by default.

You can confirm this by viewing the File Info (Alt+3) and it should say ALAC under Format Info (as opposed to AAC LC or HE-AAC).

You'll need to install the ALAC Decoder from the Winamp Essentials Pack
http://www.winamp.com/plugin/_/150126

[anieuwoudt]

Originally Posted by DJ Egg

Sounds like they're encoded with ALAC (Apple Lossless), which is a proprietary Apple format that, for legal reasons, we can't support by default.

You can confirm this by viewing the File Info (Alt+3) and it should say ALAC under Format Info (as opposed to AAC LC or HE-AAC).

You'll need to install the ALAC Decoder from the Winamp Essentials Pack
http://www.winamp.com/plugin/_/150126

Great call, that's exactly the issue, thanks for the help.

I'll give Essentials a try.