[Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

**mville** · March 18, 2023, 04:02 AM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

In addition, please can you run Test Conversion on your wav files and report the results?

**Spoon** · March 18, 2023, 10:29 AM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

What is drive G? a NAS? if so include the DSP effect 'CPU force' and set to '1', we are seeing more than a few reports of NAS not behaving if multiple files are opened at the same time on a NAS share, which is a fault of the nas.

**TonyPf** · March 18, 2023, 12:12 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Originally posted by Spoon

What is drive G? a NAS? if so include the DSP effect 'CPU force' and set to '1', we are seeing more than a few reports of NAS not behaving if multiple files are opened at the same time on a NAS share, which is a fault of the nas.

No, it's not a NAS drive, it's a 2nd local hard drive in my PC.

**Spoon** · March 18, 2023, 03:26 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Try the CPU force also as a test.

**TonyPf** · March 19, 2023, 06:03 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Ok, I think I have isolated this down to the "[Multi Encoder]" that is the culprit here and I think it's one of the "[Tag From Filename]" steps that is causing these errors. My first attempt was to create it with 3 steps like I noted in my initial post, such that I have two "[Tag From Filename]" encoder steps after the "[FLAC]" step because I was thinking it would set those 2 tags, Album and Album Artist on the FLAC file it created. The reason I say that is, I first created a test where I ran it against one Album folder and it worked exactly like I was thinking it would; the files got all converted to FLAC and the WAV and FLAC files all got their Album and Album Artist tags set correctly. So then I let run against my entire "G:\Music\WAV" drive folder but that is when I started getting these errors on certain files.

So then after playing around with the individual Encoder processes against individual files, I started to realize maybe I need to make the "[FLAC]" step the 3rd step AFTER the first 2 "[Tag From Filename]" steps such that the WAV files would get their "Album" and "Album Artist" tags set first and then when the "[FLAC]" encoder ran, it would carry over these Tags from the WAV file and set it automatically. But that didn't work.

Test *1
So in my "[Multi Encoder]" I removed the [FLAC] step such that I now only have the 2 [Tag From Filename] steps:
1) Tag Recognition: [artist]\[Album]\[Track] [Title]
2) Tag Recognition: [album artist]\[Album]\[Track] [Title]

After it ran against one of the songs, I received no Errors and the only Tags that were set correctly are "Title", "Album" and "Contributing artists", but not "Album Artist". However, I got the following information message that I am not sure if this is a serious error or not as the WAV file does play fine:

Information converting to [Multi Encoder], <path to my WAV file to be converted> to <path to where my FLAC file will be created>
Warning 'RiffSizeLeft != FileSizeLeft' must be extra data on end of file. [clRIFFHandler::ScanFile]

Test *2
Then I tried to run just the "[FLAC]" encoder by itself against the WAV file and it converted to FLAC just fine - no errors.

Test *3
So then I added back the [FLAC] encoder step after the 2nd [Tag From Filename] step and ran it against the WAV file and it failed with the following error:

Error converting to [Multi Encoder], <path to my WAV file to be converted> to <path to where my FLAC file will be created>
Error Cannot Create Wave Decoder (Unknown ACM ID: 0 (ACM decoder not installed))? [clWaveDecoder_Wave::PrepareToDecodeAudio]

But here is where the strange part is and what is very frustrating to track down and figure out a pattern, because I can run it one time and get one error type and run it again without any changes and get a different error. So after running it the first time, if I view the file in Windows File Explorer, the "Track Number", "Title" and "Contributing artists" are all blank and now the file is corrupt. I cannot play it in any program. So then I went back to my original WAV file that I have saved off in another folder and copied back to my WAV folder replacing the WAV file that just got corrupted and tried to run this exact same process again, but this time I get the following error:

Error converting to [Multi Encoder], <path to my WAV file to be converted> to <path to where my FLAC file will be created>
Error Chunk is out of file. [clRIFFHandler::ScanFile]
Error Cannot Create Wave Decoder (Unknown ACM ID: 636 (ACM decoder not installed))? [clWaveDecoder_Wave::PrepareToDecodeAudio]

Notice this time, I get the "Error Chunk is out of file. [clRIFFHandler::ScanFile]" and that "ACM ID" changed from 0 to 636

Test *4
As yet another test, I modified my "[Multi Encoder]" to remove the 2nd [Tag From Filename] that sets the "Album Artist" step and added the "[FLAC]" encoder step so that it now only has 2 steps in it and it too converted to FLAC without any errors:
1) [Tag From Filename] with Tag Recognition: [artist]\[Album]\[Track] [Title]
2) [FLAC]

Having tried all these various steps, I am thoroughly confused as to what I need to do to try and get this process to work in what would be a very nice one-step process by utilizing the "[Multi Encoder]" to set the Tags and then do the [FLAC] conversion. In hopes that I could get the Tags set for the WAV files, at a minimum, the Track Number, Title, Album Artist and Contributing Artist, so that when the WAV file gets converted to FLAC, it would carry over those Tags.

But as it stands right now, I am not sure how I can get the WAV file part set properly, for 100% of the files, so I may just scrap that part and just do the FLAC conversion and then set the Tags after the fact on those FLAC files and leave the WAV files alone.

**TonyPf** · March 21, 2023, 06:16 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Another interesting find. So, after locating the 200+ CDs that threw the errors when I had the "[Multi Encode]" process with the multiple steps in it to convert the WAV files to FLAC and then set the tags, I re-ripped those songs to WAV format using Windows Media Player, replaced the bad WAV file with the newly ripped WAV file, and verified after each song was ripped to WAV, that it would convert to FLAC by using just the "[FLAC]" encoder. Every time I did this, over 200 times, the files converted to FLAC without any errors.

So then I deleted my entire folder where all the FLAC files are stored, and started the whole conversion from WAV to FLAC over, now that I have good WAV files that I know will convert without errors. I ran JUST the "[FLAC]" encoder against just under 25,000 WAV files and let it run over night. When it finished, 2 songs for whatever reason, threw the error:

Error converting to FLAC, <path to my WAV file to be converted> to <path to where my FLAC file will be created>
Error Cannot Create Wave Decoder (Unknown ACM ID: 0 (ACM decoder not installed))? [clWaveDecoder_Wave::PrepareToDecodeAudio]

The odd part is, if I go to the folder where these 2 WAV files are stored, I now find that the "Track Number" is blank and the WAV file is now corrupt and won't play at all.
Why would dBpoweramp even be making changes to the WAV files? All I am doing is a "[FLAC]" encoder on it, nothing else.

Coincidentally, these 2 files were also part of the 200+ that failed earlier and these 2 were manually tested to convert to FLAC without errors. But run it through the process where it chugged through almost 25,000 files and it corrupts the file and removes the "Track Number" tag.

The other thing to note here is, when I use Windows Media Player (WMP) to rip the files to a WAV file, it automatically sets the tags of the WAV file such as Track Number, Title, Artist. But why on these 2 particular files did it fail whereas the other 200+ WAV files that were also used by WMP to rip to WAV and have their tags set automatically, convert to FLAC just fine?

**GBrown** · March 21, 2023, 06:53 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

To your point, there is no write process against the original wav files involved here. My guess would be they were already corrupted. Especially since you were able to process 25k total files without any other issues, that is very likely the case. Similar to the other 200 or so that needed to be ripped again before you started this process, are you able to re-rip these and have them pass the conversion? Seems like a pretty small amount of time to go through just this limited number of fails, to end up with 25k FLAC files converted from prior rips.

Out of curiosity though, why are you using WMP to rip those discs? There is no error correction or AccurateRip function to verify the integrity of the resulting wav files. Moving forward with new discs you want to rip, you could use the multi encoder to get both wav and flac formats during the ripping process and avoid the secondary conversion process altogether.

**TonyPf** · March 21, 2023, 09:38 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Originally posted by GBrown

To your point, there is no write process against the original wav files involved here. My guess would be they were already corrupted. Especially since you were able to process 25k total files without any other issues, that is very likely the case. Similar to the other 200 or so that needed to be ripped again before you started this process, are you able to re-rip these and have them pass the conversion? Seems like a pretty small amount of time to go through just this limited number of fails, to end up with 25k FLAC files converted from prior rips.

Out of curiosity though, why are you using WMP to rip those discs? There is no error correction or AccurateRip function to verify the integrity of the resulting wav files. Moving forward with new discs you want to rip, you could use the multi encoder to get both wav and flac formats during the ripping process and avoid the secondary conversion process altogether.

Originally posted by GBrown

To your point, there is no write process against the original wav files involved here. My guess would be they were already corrupted

I know for a fact they were not corrupted. Like I mentioned, I went through each of the 200+ songs and re-ripped them and then immediately did a [FLAC] conversion on each of them - doing this over and over 200+ times. And each time the WAV file converted just fine, so I know they were not corrupted to start with.

Originally posted by GBrown

Out of curiosity though, why are you using WMP to rip those discs?

Because I've had Zero issues with any of my CDs over the past 10 years or so ripping all my CDs to MP3 format so I've always used it. Case in point here, for whatever reason when I had to go back and re-rip them using WMP because the dBpoweramp process did something to the WAV files that corrupted them, when I tried to use the [Multi Encoder] process to set the tags. These WAV files previously were created just fine with the Brennan B3 unit, so I went back and used WMP to re-rip those tracks to WAV and then the dBPoweramp had no problems converting them to FLAC when done one-at-a-time.

Originally posted by GBrown

...are you able to re-rip these and have them pass the conversion?

Yes, like I mentioned before, I used WMP to re-rip those 200+ files and run dBpoweramp's conversion to convert to FLAC with NO problems, even the 2 that for whatever reason failed last night running through the 25,000 files.

**GBrown** · March 22, 2023, 12:33 AM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

I understand how you ripped these in the past using WMP. But since you clearly did have some files with errors, I don't see why you would go back and use the same ripping software again. The 2 tracks with the same issues you had before (which by the way out of 25k yields an incredibly low tenth of a percent, of a percent) had the same problem now twice. So something is not right there. Which is why I would suggest you try to do the rip with dBpoweramp and see if that resolves it.

Some errors are relatively insignificant, and may not be audible under normal playback. Which may be the case from the files you listened to before. But ripping large libraries means you want to know for sure, and only something like CD Ripper with AccurateRip can verify this for you. You have already made the investment in the software, why not give it a try? And as I mentioned before, for all of your new rips, you can set it up to do both wav and FLAC at the same time, so no conversion step necessary afterwards.

**TonyPf** · March 22, 2023, 01:36 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Originally posted by GBrown

I understand how you ripped these in the past using WMP. But since you clearly did have some files with errors

GBrown, I think you are missing my point. I had NO errors when I ripped it using WMP, because like I already said, right after I ripped it to a WAV file, I immediately ran it through dBpoweramp's [FLAC] encoder and it converted to FLAC WITHOUT ANY Errors. So that tells me there is not a problem with the WAV file. With that being said, I know there are no errors with the WAV file. It is only when I had it run through my entire 25,000 WAV files, is when it ran into a problem. Now granted, only 2 files failed which is good, but why? I can even go and re-rip those 2 same files using WMP, and then run it through the [FLAC] encoder, and again, it converted to FLAC WITHOUT ANY Errors. It's dBpoweramp that for whatever reason, is corrupting the files.

**Dat Ei** · March 22, 2023, 03:19 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Hey Tony,

we have to distinguish the different kinds of errors. WMP has like iTunes no real error handling on the audio and the ripping level. So even if the resulting wave audio file is correct in itself it doesn't mean that it is errorfree in the sense of accuraterip and bitperfect. The next possible error is on the level of the file itself. Even if it was written and stored errorfree in the past, it doesn't mean that it is errorfree today. Those errors can be produced by the storage (weak sectors) or by errors of the operating system or other magnetic effects. This can corrupt the audio file.

Dat Ei

**TonyPf** · March 22, 2023, 05:19 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Originally posted by Dat Ei

we have to distinguish the different kinds of errors.

I am not quite sure what you mean by "distinguish the different kinds of errors". I already listed the error I get when I ran the "[FLAC]" encoder process against the 25,000 WAV files:
Error Cannot Create Wave Decoder (Unknown ACM ID: 0 (ACM decoder not installed))? [clWaveDecoder_Wave::PrepareToDecodeAudio]

Originally posted by Dat Ei

So even if the resulting wave audio file is correct in itself it doesn't mean that it is errorfree in the sense of accuraterip and bitperfect.

Again, I am confused here with regards to what is a "good" file vs a "bad". If I go and rip the song that errored out again to a WAV format using WMP, and then run JUST THAT ONE file through the "[FLAC]" Encoder, I get NO errors. The file converts just fine. So to me, that means there are NO errors with that particular WAV file that was created with WMP. dBpoweramp is the one that is having issues with the WAV file when it was run though the 25,000 files because it corrupted the WAV file. I never instructed it to do anything with the WAV file itself, except convert to FLAC.

**GBrown** · March 22, 2023, 06:04 PM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Originally posted by TonyPf

Again, I am confused here with regards to what is a "good" file vs a "bad". If I go and rip the song that errored out again to a WAV format using WMP, and then run JUST THAT ONE file through the "[FLAC]" Encoder, I get NO errors. The file converts just fine. So to me, that means there are NO errors with that particular WAV file that was created with WMP. dBpoweramp is the one that is having issues with the WAV file when it was run though the 25,000 files because it corrupted the WAV file. I never instructed it to do anything with the WAV file itself, except convert to FLAC.

So rather than even trying something different and using the (better) CD Ripper that is already included with the dBpoweramp package you already have, you would rather insist on still using the (unreliable) WMP rips over and over. And then you are frustrated when you get the same results.

This thread is going in circles, I'm out.

**TonyPf** · March 23, 2023, 03:06 AM

Re: [Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

Originally posted by GBrown

you would rather insist on still using the (unreliable) WMP rips over and over. And then you are frustrated when you get the same results.

What frustrates me is the fact that I don't understand why you think there is a problem with WMP, when I have repeatedly said that I can simply take one track, rip it to a WAV file using WMP and then run that ONE file through dBpoweramp to convert it to FLAC, and it works perfect. No errors or anything. So how is that unreliable??? WMP did it's job to perfection because dBpoweramp DID NOT have issues with converting it to a FLAC file. If dBpoweramp were to keep running into problems with the same WAV file, then yes, I would agree that WMP is having issues but that's not the case here. If I just left it at that, and that was the ONLY file I wanted to convert, I would say both products did their job 100%. So to say WMP is unreliable is a false statement. I am guessing maybe the problem lies with possibly the "[FLAC]" encoder when it is processing through tens of thousands of files, rather than just one, maybe, just maybe, it runs into a hiccup here and there, and has a problem converting a file to a FLAC file.

[Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

[Multi Encoder] - is corrupting files and throwing errors

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