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Topic: Transcoding difficulty (Read 9117 times) previous topic - next topic
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Transcoding difficulty

Unfortunately I'm having a little more difficulty though this time it's when I'm attempting to transcode .wv's to .mp3's. Here's some background. Hopefully not TMI but .....

I recently decided to reinstall WinXP and re-rip my audio CD's using Easy CD-DA Extractor with the WavPack 4.40 codecs. After ripping, I validated all the .wv files using gl.tter's CheckWavpackFiles.exe utility and everything went smooth as silk. I wanted to create one good archive of my CD's so I took my time ripping all of the disks at 8X and I also scanned most of the covers using my Epson 4490 scanner to the usual 300x300 format. I saved each image as folder.jpg to the corresponding directory and then used either the AudioShell Tag Editor or Tag & Rename, both from softpointer.com, to add the scans as album-art to each .wv file. When all was done, I happily burnt the files to DVD+R's to be archived in a dark closet on the first floor of my home thinking (hoping ?) all was done.

Today my son asked if I could put a couple of albums on his computer and so I decided to transcode them to MP3. He's only 5 and the system has only a 40GB hard drive so space is limited. Unfortunately when I went to transcode them using Easy CD-DA I received a little box popping up stating "WavPack Player" in the title bar and then "can't open file" with an OK button below . The status says "Error decoding file.". I revalidated the files using the CheckWavpackFiles.exe utility and no errors were detected. I checked Poikosofts forum and sure enough I'm not the only person having this error so I figure it's a bug in his software. This was reinforced when I used FB2K to transcode the files to mp3's with no problems at all but .... (ya knew this was coming, right ?) I then attempted to use both dBpoweramp Music Converter R12 and Multi-Frontend and both utilities produce files that play only as static. Any ideas what I might be running into ?

Thanks for your time and advice,

JD

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #1 –
Did you transcode on your son's system or on yours ? are the results the same ?

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #2 –
Quote from: shadowking on
Did you transcode on your son's system or on yours ? are the results the same ?

All done on my system. His system is a 900mhz Duron with 256MB RAM and Win2KPro. I wouldn't call it a speed demon. Mine on the other hand is 4600+ AMD 64 x2 with 2GB RAM.

Also, as noted, I'm not the only person having this difficulty so I doubt if I have a difficulty with my system.

EDIT/UPDATE : I used FB2K to transcode the .wv's to.wv and now have no problem converting them to mp3 with Multi-Frontend and playing them. I suppose this means I should transcode the 3800 .wv's that I just encoded. 

In case someone has the time and inclination to compare the files, I've uploaded them in a .zip (90MB) to :

http://www.legacy-photo.com/conv_error.zip

There was an error screen displayed by LAME when attempting to convert the .wv file. I put the before and after screens of that in as well.

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #3 –
Never seen these errors before. Did you use --optimize-mono switch ?
Maybe Easy CD somehow using the 4.31 decoder..

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #4 –
Quote from: shadowking on
Never seen these errors before. Did you use --optimize-mono switch ?
Maybe Easy CD somehow using the 4.31 decoder..

Unfortunately the settings are "dumbed down". All it says is "Lossless" and "Normal Compression". He just updated the codecs to 4.40 after I noticed that the one being used were out of date.

EDIT : Do you think transcoding (rewriting them really) using Foobar2000 is a good idea ? It seems to be working.

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #5 –
I have figured out what the problem is here and will post in a few minutes... 

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #6 –
Quote from: bryant on
I have figured out what the problem is here and will post in a few minutes... 

I figgered you figgered it out  It's probably just another simple mistake by the author of that software. Evidently he's got his hands full trying to cope with Vista issues.

Might you have a simple script or somesuch that could circumvent the need for me to have FB2K to rewrite each file ?

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #7 –
Thanks for posting the files; I think I know what the problem is.

When I use wvunpack to examine the file's properties (using -ss) I see these differences between your good and bad files:

Quote
good:
channels:          2 (stereo)
file wrapper:      44 byte RIFF header

bad:
channels:          2 (undefined speakers)
file wrapper:      68 byte RIFF header

The most likely reason this is happening is that Easy CD-DA Extractor is not setting the channel_mask field in the configuration structure to 3 (which is required for stereo):

Quote
Set configuration for writing WavPack files. This must be done before sending
any actual samples, however it is okay to send wrapper or other metadata before
calling this. The "config" structure contains the following *required*
information:

config->bytes_per_sample    see WavpackGetBytesPerSample() for info
config->bits_per_sample      see WavpackGetBitsPerSample() for info
config->channel_mask        Microsoft standard (mono = 4, stereo = 3)
config->num_channels        self evident
config->sample_rate          self evident

The result of this is that your files are 2 channels, but the channels are for "undefined" speakers rather than left and right. This cannot be represented in a normal WAV file and so an extended format WAV file is created (which is why the RIFF header is bigger). It seems that LAME is having trouble with that extended header and reverts to some "raw" mode where it misinterprets the audio data (resulting in white noise).

The bottom line is that PokioSoft should be made aware of this issue so that they can create more conforming WavPack files. However, it would also be nice if LAME would accept these files because there's really nothing wrong with them. I verified that LAME has trouble with the extended header (not the undefined channel format) and even WMP plays them fine (and it's known for being a little picky about WAV formats).

As for re-encoding the files to fix this issue, that's for you to decide. There's no easy way to do it, so I would suggest just using foobar2000 like you did (although maybe not using "fast" mode because then they'll all get a little bigger). If you are willing to use foobar2000 for your transcoding to MP3, then you can certainly leave the files like they are. You may run into trouble from time to time with them, but at least you'll know why and won't have to worry that there's something really wrong with your files.

But when you copy your archive to fresh discs (which I imagine you'll do every few years) then that would be a good time to re-encode them (especially if LAME hasn't been updated to accept them by then).

Sorry for the trouble, but at least it's not too serious... 
 

Transcoding difficulty

Reply #8 –
Quote from: bryant on
Sorry for the trouble, but at least it's not too serious... 


LOL ! I think I'll just wait until you get done with the next encoder and try that one out ! Fb2k is having it's own issues as is my motorcycle. I think I can fix the bike but the rest is a little out of my league ! 

I did post a note for Jukka to refer to your post for the source of the problem. I'm sure it's quite a challenge to deal with the Vista debacle.

Thanks again for your time Mr. Bryant !

JD