MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

[kartal]

I'm having problems converting AAC's from MP3's with dbPowerAmp.

Some files convert okay, but some, randomly cause the 'fastenc.exe' to crash with the error: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close'

Anyone else getting this? Any suggestions?
Please help

[xoas]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

What encoder are you using for your conversions? If you are using the AAC encoder did you also install the aac.enc codec and do so on top of the aac.codec?
Do the same files crash consistently during conversion or will a file crash one time and fail to convert another? If some files crash consistently do they have any qualities in common (in terms of bitrate, channels, frequency) and what aac settings are you using for your conversions?
Keep us posted on how you are doing with this problem and how you make out. Should you need further help please let us know about the information I have asked about.
Best wishes,
Bill Mikkelsen

[kartal]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

The encoders I am using are (these are the names of the files I have downloaded)

dMC-AAC-codec
dBpowerAMP-codec-aacenc-alter
dBpowerAMP-codec-mp4
dBpowerAMP-codec-mp4-aacenc-alter
dBpowerAMP-codec-mp4-aac-decode

the version of dbpoweramp is
dMC-r10 I have also tried
dMC-r9

The files do crash consistently but other files with the exact qualities convert succesfully. I am converting an Album in mp3 format, the first five tracks present me with the problems and the rest of the Album converts fine.

The qualities are
192kbps
44.100Khz
Channels - How do i find that out ?

My conversion settings are
bitrate 96kbps, TNS coding Disable, production off, header ADTS(default) with a tick in the preserve id tags.

Sorry for such a long post but its the info you requested.
I hope this helps...

[xoas]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

I wonder if something in the tagging might be the problem.
Here are some possible ideas:
Try downloading and installing the AAC>>mp4/mp4>>AAC codec;
try downloading and installing a different mp4 encoder (Spoon recommends the FAAC encoder-the PsyTEL codec is reported to be somewhat buggy although I have not encountered trouble with it in limited use; you could try one of the other mp4 codecs if you have the appropriate software).

I would recommend the second step first, then the first. I believe that all of the other mp4 encoders use AAC in an mp4 format (technically the term is "container"; AAC was originally designed to work within mpeg 2). Some may create files with an .aac extension while others might create files with an .mp4 extension. This is where, if it makes a difference to you, that the mp4>>aac/aac>>mp4 codec might be useful.

Let us know how you make out.
Best wishes,
Bill Mikkelsen

[hans-j�rgen]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

try downloading and installing a different mp4 encoder (Spoon recommends the FAAC encoder-the PsyTEL codec is reported to be somewhat buggy although I have not encountered trouble with it in limited use; you could try one of the other mp4 codecs if you have the appropriate software).

There are two PsyTEL codecs available for dbpowerAMP: the default is FastEnc which kartal mentioned in his first post, the other one AACEnc (very slow). FastEnc is known to crash with preset settings at -streaming or lower, if you use -normal or higher, you might get away with it. AACEnc does not have this problem, but others like being buggy with multichannel input.

My conversion settings are
bitrate 96kbps, TNS coding Disable, production off, header ADTS(default) with a tick in the preserve id tags.

You could try to use a higher bitrate setting with the buggy FastEnc, but probably this is not what you want. So the best idea is to use FAAC at a VBR quality setting of 75% which should come out at approx. 96 kbps (depending on your input files).

[xoas]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

Hans-Jurgen-
What Spoon actually recommends for the PsyTEL AAC encoder(s), if I understand this correctly, is to install the FastEnc first and AACEnc over it. Presumably these have been modified to work as a single encoder combining the features of both. Sure in my knowledge that Spoon will correct this statement if I am mistaken, it looks like dMC uses this single combined encoder rather than offering FastEnc and AACEnc separately and independently (despite the fact they are separate downloads).
Best wishes,
Bill mikkelsen

[hans-j�rgen]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

Presumably these have been modified to work as a single encoder combining the features of both.

That wouldn't make much sense, because they are mostly identical except for the fact that FastEnc is... well, faster. So if there isn't a checkbox or any other option in the AAC GUI of dbpowerAMP to choose between fast and normal encoding speed, Spoon probably meant to replace FastEnc with AACEnc.

By the way, FAAC is even faster than FastEnc...

[Spoon]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

Yes FAAC is the one to use, I need to update that page incodec central to reflect this.

[hans-j�rgen]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

By the way, which version of FAAC are you using at the moment? The latest has added support for the *.m4b file extension which might also be interesting for dbpowerAMP users who listen to audio books on their iPods. These files are essentially the same as *.m4a files, but the file extension enables bookmarking them in iTunes and on the iPod, i.e. they start at the same position where they were halted, even after switching off the player. FAAD2 does not support this file extension yet, but you could probably simply add it to dbPowerAMP, because there is no difference in the bitstream or file structure to *.m4a, as far as I know.

[Spoon]

Re: MPEG-4 AAC Technology has encountered a problem and needs to close

I should really add m4b support also...