m4a Codec Beta (AAC and Apple Lossless)

[LtData]

There is already an SSE2-enchanced Ogg Vorbis codec.

Also, I believe you can copy the Generic CLI Encoder DLL, rename it to something like "MP3 SSE2 LAME" or something, and make a folder with the same name with the .exe, the encoder.txt file, etc.

Also, you might try adding the "-2pass -2passperiod 0" under the [clistring] area in the encoder.txt file. Edit: won't work, you have to use [infile] to do 2 pass, not a "-".

OR, you could put a "-" without quotes for the input file, as that is what the dMC codec does, according to the encoder.txt file. Note: won't work if you want to do 2-pass.

[Laird_Williams]

Am getting the following error when trying to convert any of my Apple Lossless to flac using dbPA12 and latest beta codec downloaded and installed yesterday. This is happening for anything I try to convert - including files I had successfully converted with the release 11.x codec.

These files were created using iTunes and play just fine with it.

Note that I am launching from the batch converter with Verification on, default compression level, and with a Dynamic Output Location of:

X:\Uncompressed Music\[artist]\[album]\[track][title].

Note that the errors don't have the subdirectory corresponding to the album as part of the output file name, even though it appears in the specification - and the album name is definitely in the tags.

This makes me think that perhaps the tag reader is broken somewhere.

Also - Windows sometimes thinks that dbPowerAmp Music Converter (the one launched by the batch converter) crashed.

This makes me wonder if the Codec installed correctly. Attempts to unistall and reinstall the codec have not changed the results.

Am running under Windows Vista Ultimate. Core2 E6400 CPU and 2GB RAM.

Error Log Follows - thx!

-Laird Williams

Error converting to FLAC, 'Z:\Uncompressed Music\A Perfect Circle\Mer De Noms\01 The Hollow.m4a' to 'X:\Uncompressed Music\01 The Hollow.flac'
Error opening file. [ALACDEC::Open]
Unable to decode m4a file (is corrupt or not supported audio type).

Error converting to FLAC, 'Z:\Uncompressed Music\A Perfect Circle\Mer De Noms\03 Rose.m4a' to 'X:\Uncompressed Music\03 Rose.flac'
Error opening file. [ALACDEC::Open]
Unable to decode m4a file (is corrupt or not supported audio type).

Error converting to FLAC, 'Z:\Uncompressed Music\A Perfect Circle\Mer De Noms\02 Magdalena.m4a' to 'X:\Uncompressed Music\02 Magdalena.flac'
Error opening file. [ALACDEC::Open]
Unable to decode m4a file (is corrupt or not supported audio type).

Error converting to FLAC, 'Z:\Uncompressed Music\A Perfect Circle\Mer De Noms\04 Judith.m4a' to 'X:\Uncompressed Music\04 Judith.flac'
Error opening file. [ALACDEC::Open]
Unable to decode m4a file (is corrupt or not supported audio type).

etcetera

[Spoon]

Please send one such Apple Lossless file (the smallest please) to:

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/email.htm

--------
@lump 2 pass can not work on the stdio method, it has to use temp files.
--------

>and off and it does not make a difference. Hopefully the file I emailed to you >might help diagnose the issues.

@deano thanks for the file, checked it out - dbpoweramp is happy with it, itunes is happy reading the tags, only the fb people can debug that one...

>b) Now the Nero encoder, after finishing a conversion from FLAC >successfully, is coming up with a "Windows has encountered an error" box

Try converting to apple lossless, it uses the same tagging, it could be that, that is crashing.

>c) When I try and run the "Optimize m4a Utility" you posted (simply because I> wanted to help partcipate in the testing, not because I really need it)

Copy one file to the root of c, rename to 'a.m4a' and copy from dbpoweramps encoder\mp4 utility\ folder the mp4creator

Then from a command prompt type:

c:
cd \
mp4creator -optimize c:\a.m4a

what is shown please and does it hang?

[lump1]

2 pass can not work on the stdio method, it has to use temp files.

That's what I suspected. But all the same, it's one of my favorite features of the Nero AAC encoder. I noticed that the Windows Media plugin is able to do 2-pass, where it creates its own temp file. I presume when it's not set on 2-pass, it skips the temp file and encodes with stdio. So something like this should be feasible for the Nero AAC encoder as well, right? Eventually? I don't really need it for my own use, since I'm happy to use the CLI plugin instead, but I do think it would improve your official plugin for the people who don't want to mess with the CLI.

[lump1]

Hi, this is not really a great breakthrough, but people like me who wanted to choose between 1-pass and 2-pass vbr encoding, now can. If you replace your encoders.txt in the Nero subfolder with the one below, you will be able to select 2-pass ABR and then choose the bitrate. This will force the creation of a temporary WAV file, though all other (single-pass) settings will still use the faster stdio method as before. In my last post I asked Spoon to add this option, but then I realized that he made dMC flexible enough for me to do it myself. If anybody makes further improvements to this file, I'd be happy if you posted them in this thread.

[codec]
.m4a
neroAacEnc.exe

[msgifnoencoder]
Before using this encoder a seperate component must first be installed from www.nerodigital.com, press Red [?] help button on encoder settings page for details. Modifications to this GUI (including the 2-pass ABR option) were made by lump1.

[image]
250
56
Nero.bmp
no


[clistring]
-ignorelength

[combo]
60
66
80
1
(no forced profile)

Force LC AAC
 -lc  
Force HE AAC
 -he  
Force HE v2
 -hev2  


[checkbox]
160
67
0
Create RTP Hint
 -hinttrack


[label]
4
2
Method:


[radio&slider]
4
24
292
1
35
0
Quality (VBR)

5
Quality .05   (estimated bit rate: 16 Kbps)
 -q .05 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .1   (estimated bit rate: 24 Kbps)
 -q .1 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .15   (estimated bit rate: 32 Kbps)
 -q .15 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .2   (estimated bit rate: 48 Kbps)
 -q .2 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .23   (estimated bit rate: 56 Kbps)
 -q .22 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .25   (estimated bit rate: 64 Kbps)
 -q .25 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .3   (estimated bit rate: 80 Kbps)
 -q .3 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .35   (estimated bit rate: 100 Kbps)
 -q .35 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .4   (estimated bit rate: 125 Kbps)
 -q .4 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .45   (estimated bit rate: 150 Kbps)
 -q .45 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .5    (estimated bit rate: 170 Kbps)
 -q .5 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .55   (estimated bit rate: 200 Kbps)
 -q .55 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .65   (estimated bit rate: 250 Kbps)
 -q .65 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .75   (estimated bit rate: 300 Kbps)
 -q .75 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .85   (estimated bit rate: 350 Kbps)
 -q .85 -if - -of [outfile]
Quality .95   (estimated bit rate: 400 Kbps)
 -q .95 -if - -of [outfile]
[/sliderend]
95
0
1-pass ABR

9
Average Bit Rate: 16 Kbps
 -br 16000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 24 Kbps
 -br 24000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 32 Kbps
 -br 32000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 48 Kbps
 -br 48000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 56 Kbps
 -br 56000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 64 Kbps
 -br 64000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 80 Kbps
 -br 80000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 96 Kbps
 -br 96000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 128 Kbps
 -br 128000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 144 Kbps
 -br 144000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 160 Kbps
 -br 160000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 192 Kbps
 -br 192000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 224 Kbps
 -br 224000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 256 Kbps
 -br 256000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 320 Kbps
 -br 320000 -if - -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 400 Kbps
 -br 400000 -if - -of [outfile]
[/sliderend]
153
0
2-pass ABR

37
Average Bit Rate: 16 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 16000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 17 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 17000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 18 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 18000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 19 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 19000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 20 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 20000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 21 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 21000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 22 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 22000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 23 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 23000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 24 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 24000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 25 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 25000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 26 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 26000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 27 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 27000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 28 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 28000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 29 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 29000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 30 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 30000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 31 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 31000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 32 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 32000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 33 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 33000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 35 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 35000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 37 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 37000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 40 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 40000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 44 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 42000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 45 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 45000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 48 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 48000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 50 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 50000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 55 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 55000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 60 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 60000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 64 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 64000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 68 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 68000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 72 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 72000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 80 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 80000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 90 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 90000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 96 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 96000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 100 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 100000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 112 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 112000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 120 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 120000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 128 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 128000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 135 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 135000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 148 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 148000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 160 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 160000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 175 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 175000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 192 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 192000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 210 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 210000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 224 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 224000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 240 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 240000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 256 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 256000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 270 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 270000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 285 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 285000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 300 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 300000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 320 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 320000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 350 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 350000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 375 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 357000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
Average Bit Rate: 400 Kbps [Two-pass encoding Will create a temporary WAV file]
 -br 400000 -2pass -2passperiod 0 -if [infile] -of [outfile]
[/sliderend]
210
0
Bit Rate (CBR)

9
Constant Bit Rate: 16 Kbps
 -cbr 16000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 24 Kbps
 -cbr 24000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 32 Kbps
 -cbr 32000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 48 Kbps
 -cbr 48000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 56 Kbps
 -cbr 56000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 64 Kbps
 -cbr 64000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 80 Kbps
 -cbr 80000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 96 Kbps
 -cbr 96000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 128 Kbps
 -cbr 128000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 144 Kbps
 -cbr 144000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 160 Kbps
 -cbr 160000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 192 Kbps
 -cbr 192000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 224 Kbps
 -cbr 224000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 256 Kbps
 -cbr 256000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 320 Kbps
 -cbr 320000 -if - -of [outfile]
Constant Bit Rate: 400 Kbps
 -cbr 400000 -if - -of [outfile]
[/sliderend]



[label]
10
44
low quality (smaller file)
808080

[label]
216
44
high quality (larger file)
808080


[minfreq]
8000

[maxfreq]
96000

[maxchannels]
6

[helpbutton]
283
0
Help\Codec\mp4\Help.htm

[estimatesize]
-q .95
400000
-q .85
350000
-q .75
300000
-q .65
250000
-q .55
200000
-q .5
170000
-q .45
150000
-q .35
100000
-q .25
64000
-q .15
32000
-q .05
16000
-br 400000
400000
-br 320000
320000
-br 256000
256000
-br 224000
224000
-br 192000
192000
-br 160000
160000
-br 144000
144000
-br 128000
128000
-br 96000
96000
-br 80000
80000
-br 64000
64000
-br 56000
56000
-br 48000
48000
-br 32000
32000
-br 24000
24000
-br 16000
16000
-cbr 400000
400000
-cbr 320000
320000
-cbr 256000
256000
-cbr 224000
224000
-cbr 192000
192000
-cbr 160000
160000
-cbr 144000
144000
-cbr 128000
128000
-cbr 96000
96000
-cbr 80000
80000
-cbr 64000
64000
-cbr 56000
56000
-cbr 48000
48000
-cbr 32000
32000
-cbr 24000
24000
-cbr 16000
16000

[LtData]

lump1: Can you also not do VBR as 2-pass, or is it just ABR?

[thommason]

The utility to add faststart and hinting seems not to work for me (Vista). When I run it it doesn't show an error but nearly instantly processes the files (350X) and does not change the m4a file - modification time isn't updated and files don't stream?

does it need -H=1 instead of -H on the command line?

[lump1]

Can you also not do VBR as 2-pass, or is it just ABR?

Well, this initially had me confused. It seems the 2-pass option is really designed for ABR, not VBR. My earlier post had a typo. VBR is purely quality-based, so it really doesn't need a "preview" of the original file to allocate bits. ABR, however, needs to decide the most effective way to encode a file within the constraints of a specified bitrate, so it first examines the file to see which portions are difficult, and it portions out the bits in a way that assures a consistent quality throughout the file.

If you add the -2pass tag to a quality-based VBR encoding, the Nero's encoder just crashes.

On the GUI I made, the gaps between the selectable bitrates are very narrow because Nero's 2 pass ABR doesn't exactly hit the requested bitrate in all cases.

BTW, thanks for the advice earlier about where to find working encoder.txt files. I'm finally getting the hang of it (though now I realize that the files I posted are needlessly kludgy).

[Spoon]

>The utility to add faststart and hinting seems not to work for me (Vista). When I
> run...does it need -H=1 instead of -H on the command line?

Sorry where are you getting -H=1 or -H from?

[thommason]

If I run mp4creator -optimize -H filename.m4a to add the hints it doesn't work. If I use the -H=1 parameter then the command works fine from the command line. May be totally unrelated to why optimizing with hints isn't working with dbpoweramp.

[Deano]

Well, this initially had me confused. It seems the 2-pass option is really designed for ABR, not VBR.

See this link.

As far as my understanding of VBR goes, it doesn't make sense for use in anything other than ABR.

[Spoon]

>mp4creator -optimize -H filename.m4a to

our commandline is

mp4creator -optimize -Hint=1 filename.m4a

[remivv]

I get "Error whilst running 'C:\Program Files\Illustr..\dBpoweramp\dBConfig.exe" when I want to install both codecs (m4a and aac).

I've just installed the latest version of dBpoweramp Music Converter on my Windows XP SP2 PC.

When I try to convert an m4a file I get "Support for the audio type .m4a might be obtained at codec central..."

I want to convert my m4a files to mp3.

The corresponding codec dll files seem to be in the proper directories. What's going wrong with the installation of these codecs?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[LtData]

You are running dMC r12, correct? You installed the codecs to the same location as the converter?
Check dBpoweramp Configuration to see if it shows the codec as installed. This can be found at Start --> Programs --> dBpoweramp Music Converter --> Configuration --> dBpoweramp Configuration.

[mattler]

Hi - First off, great job with this codec! Don't know if this issue has been addressed yet, but I've noticed that when playing albums on my iPod consisting of files that were converted between FLAC and Apple Lossless, the first song in the album is skipped, as is every second song thereafter (ie. tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. all play fine). The 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc, load up, as in I can see the title, track information and so on, but just as it's about to play it skips to the next. I know the files are working fine because I have several albums and they all have this problem. Also, if I hit the previous track button while on track 2 (for example), track 1 will then play fine.

This problem is only relegated to my iPod, as the tracks play just fine in iTunes.

Any ideas? Will I have to reconvert the files? Thanks again for the great utility!