WMA playback problem

[Part]

Hi,

I have a system based on an Intel Pentium 3 733 MHZ processor on an Intel original 815E motherboard having 128 MB RAM, a creative sound blaster Live! 24 bit PCI sound card, DirectX 9.0c and running Windows XP professional SP2. I want to convert my stereo mp3 files to WMA professional 9.1, 128 kbps, 96 KHz, 5.1 channel, 24 bit audio files. I'm using dbPowerAmp converter 10.5. I have followed the steps specified on this forum ( by ChristinaS ) to do the same. i.e. by converting the mp3 file to a 24 bit, 96 KHz, 5.1 channel wave file and then converting it to the required WMA format. The problem is, the file is being encoded smoothly but, during playback with Windows Media Player 10, the player is crashing (Stops responding completely) and the track is played with numerous breaks (i.e. stops and starts after every second). Even the OS stops responding during playback. In the task manager the CPU utilization shows 100%. IS there any problem with the hardware configuration? Do I need to upgrade ? Or there's some error in the encoding by dbPowerAmp ? Please help !!!.....

Thanks :smile2:

[LtData]

Re: WMA playback problem

It could possibly be your CPU choking, but its more likely that you don't have enough RAM. Running XP with 128MB of RAM is a horrible experience.

[Deano]

Re: WMA playback problem

Your problem probably does lie with your RAM and processor speeds, as LtData suggests.

However, saying this... why convert mp3's in stereo to 24/96khz 5.1 files? This is a ridiculous as you will be gaining no quality from the audio file whatsoever. In fact, you are liable to be losing some from the conversion. It is impossible to increase the quality of the file when the data is lost.

I don't even know if the stereo will be upmixed to 5.1 with this codec. I highly doubt it.

[Part]

Re: WMA playback problem

Sorry couldn't post a reply in the last few days.... The problem has been solved. The file is being played without any problem by Windows media player 9 on the same hardware platform. Maybe Player 10 does not support multi channel playback. It's the only reason I can figure out. That's a big surprise for me. Don't know about the quality gain or loss as a result of the conversion... got to find out. (It would be a big help if I can get an expert advice on this from anyone of you.) But, it was just to make all the 5 speakers 'speak' , without enabling the CMSS mode of the Creative sound card. Thanks for the help though....