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Topic: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc. (Read 846111 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1225 –
Quote from: rosko92 on
You are amazing; I'm not installing 7zip; that is the problem. I appreciate your help.
I absolutely do not know if you now solved your problem or if that is a sarcastic note.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1226 –
Hi there!

Just read the whole debate on this thread about qaac inducing glitches on later versions of the CoreAudioToolbox dll.

I also saw nu774 say that afconvert doesn't produce the same issues. I just wanted to confirm that using afconvert via a macOS command line would not cause any glitching when using CBR like qaac would?

Thank you very much!

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1227 –
Quote from: Madikan on
I also saw nu774 say that afconvert doesn't produce the same issues. I just wanted to confirm that using afconvert via a macOS command line would not cause any glitching when using CBR like qaac would?
I don't understand what do you mean by "confirm". If you have access to the macOS, why don't you try it yourself? Otherwise, it has nothing to do with you.
Anyway, CBR is the least interesting mode that offers literary zero advantage over others.
It's somewhat surprising that this issue attracts so much interest of someone like you.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1228 –
Quote from: nu774 on
Anyway, CBR is the least interesting mode that offers literary zero advantage over others.
True, but there are still cases out there where hardware decoders struggle with VBR/ABR, which was the reason it eventually led me to finding this bug.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1229 –
I believe everyone would like to know what device(s) claim to support AAC but fail to do so. People have the right to know what products and companies to avoid.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1230 –
Quote from: Klimis on
True, but there are still cases out there where hardware decoders struggle with VBR/ABR, which was the reason it eventually led me to finding this bug.
Aren't you just mixing up AAC and MP3? I get what you're saying iff it's MP3.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1231 –
Quote from: nu774 on
Quote from: Klimis on
True, but there are still cases out there where hardware decoders struggle with VBR/ABR, which was the reason it eventually led me to finding this bug.
Aren't you just mixing up AAC and MP3? I get what you're saying iff it's MP3.
No! Not that one! It's kinda random but I have 2 devices that generally like nothing VBR. One just takes forever to start playing the track and won't seek, and the other one will say error reading the file at the exact end of the track (also takes quite longer to start the track). But it's nobody's problem here that there are hardware implementations that are garbage. The only thing that I'm thinking about CBR and being buggy is that since the option is there, you would assume nothing is particularly broken about it, yet it is. More of an uncomfortable "woopsie" from Apple's side than anything related to QAAC as a project. Atleast I'm glad I ran across it. Atleast people now know. Still just out of curiosity I'd want to make an ABX test with the last version that didn't have that issue.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1232 –
Quote from: Klimis on
No! Not that one! It's kinda random but I have 2 devices that generally like nothing VBR. One just takes forever to start playing the track and won't seek, and the other one will say error reading the file at the exact end of the track (also takes quite longer to start the track).
Have you tried ABR on that devices?
There are only 15 allowed frame sizes (byte lengths) in MP3, and CBR in MP3 will pick only one of them.
The meaning of CBR is simple and very strict in MP3. To improve compression efficiency under such limitation, MP3 has a bit-reservoir mechanism that allows bits in one frame to be borrowed or used by other frames.
Also, MP3 is a format without container. Player should naturally struggles handling non-CBR MP3 in some way.
Nothing like that applies to AAC.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1233 –
I didn't realize it immediately—the possible explanation seemed too far-fetched—but I this is what I guessed .

Those broken players likely don't use the MP4 sample access/seek structures (stts/stsz/stco) at all. Instead, it reads the necessary AAC codec startup data from the esds section, and then just moves to the mdat section to sequentially read and decode frames, almost as if it were just a WAV file. Although it's not using the container's features, and thus wouldn't know the frame boundaries, decoding should still be possible—provided there aren't any other tracks in the MP4 file.

When seeking, they just calculate the byte offset from the seek point as if it were a WAV file again, and just jumps there. Of course, this only works if time and byte length are linear—that is, in the case of constant bitrate (CBR). After seeking, it would need to re-synchronize to align with the start of an AAC raw frame.

In this scenario, it doesn't need to be as strictly CBR as MP3. Apple's AAC doesn't have exactly fixed frame sizes even on CBR, but as long as the bit reservoir is used to maintain a constant bitrate over slightly longer time spans than a single frame, there shouldn't be an issue.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1234 –
Quote from: Squeller on
Quote from: rosko92 on
You are amazing; I'm not installing 7zip; that is the problem. I appreciate your help.
I absolutely do not know if you now solved your problem or if that is a sarcastic note.

You may be surprised how many new generation of so called "Tech" people on Github or other places suggest 7zip or WinRAR files as virus. No and I am not joking.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1235 –
Updated makeportable2 just now.
Now it tries to use tar.exe first, which should be present in recent Windows OS by default.
This libarchive based tar.exe supports many formats as is written here:
https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1236 –
Quote from: nu774 on
Updated makeportable2 just now.
Nu, can't you add a link to an Apple Installer that can be used? I was surprised there is none in your FAQ. I mean, if you'd just write "download file here: xyz and then use files x,y,z out of it", as a newb I'd be done in seconds.

Quote from: iwod on
You may be surprised how many new generation of so called "Tech" people on Github or other places suggest 7zip or WinRAR files as virus. No and I am not joking.
I worked in IT (IT security, plus some Perl related projects), define as an IT guy and don't work in IT any more. And no, nothing can surprise me. Not even the incredible lack of self-awareness of many people. So many totally dumb and uneducated people out there thinking they are Einstein.

Yesterday there was a Reddit expert teaching me that the choice of codec is important! -> "Vorbis sounds bad and Opus sounds great". What am I supposed to answer? Exactly. Nothing, it's ridiculous. Let them do their thing. I'd guess 95% of all people would state "FLAC of course, no need to discuss, sounds so much better on your APT-X BT speakers than <whatever lossy codec at whatever quality>". Youtubers always say such things.
Time is crucial, I meanwhile became hesitant helping other people especially if I already know beforehand, how stupid and time consuming things will go.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1237 –
Quote from: Squeller on
Nu, can't you add a link to an Apple Installer that can be used? I was surprised there is none in your FAQ. I mean, if you'd just write "download file here: xyz and then use files x,y,z out of it", as a newb I'd be done in seconds.
Anybody who has github account can edit the qaac wiki pages (it's open).
I personally find it troublesome to keep track of changes to the URLs caused by their whims, so I don't want to handle it myself.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1238 –
Quote from: nu774 on
Quote from: Squeller on
Nu, can't you add a link to an Apple Installer that can be used? I was surprised there is none in your FAQ. I mean, if you'd just write "download file here: xyz and then use files x,y,z out of it", as a newb I'd be done in seconds.
Anybody who has github account can edit the qaac wiki pages (it's open).
I personally find it troublesome to keep track of changes to the URLs caused by their whims, so I don't want to handle it myself.
I've edited the wiki to add the url to the iTunes installer. I would hope, given the url name, that it will be a long lasting active link.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1239 –
Thank you. The issue lies in the fact that the download page includes several sections with download links, and when viewed on a Windows browser, a section called "show-on-microsoft-store" will be shown, which directs users to download from the Microsoft Store. However, if you install the app from the Store, it cannot be used with qaac.
There is a small "Looking for other versions?" link on the bottom of the page, and by selecting "Windows" through that link, the "show-on-microsoft-store" section is hidden, and the "show-on-windows" section appears instead. This alternative section allows you to download the traditional version of the installer (64-bit/32-bit).
This is the behavior at present so far, but explaining this process every time has been inconvenient, which is why I have been avoiding it.

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1240 –
These
iTunesSetup.exe
iTunes64Setup.exe
work currently, but no guarantee the links won't change.
korth

Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.

Reply #1241 –
@nu774 - I had seen that, but failed to realise I need to more a bit more explicit. I've added the following:
NOTE: do not download the Microsoft Store versions as they will not work with qaac. Use 'other versions' linked on that page.

Thanks @korth I had seen them in that location but wanted just one url. Hopefully the note will be enough to aid people.