Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files

Subject: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 12:13 AM

I'm currently getting errors that my PC sound playback system can't read certain audio files because I don't have the correct codecs installed.

I do have an old link to www.fourcc.org/indexcod.htm , but it seems not to exist any more.

Can anyone guide me to where I can find codecs of differing types, or any useful info on codecs, including any utilities that help you identify what is the codec one is looking for?

Robin

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 12:20 AM

No, sorry, i don't know anything about it.john

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: mack/misophist
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 01:00 AM

This place has some. Of course, it depends on what codecs you need, what os you have, and so on. Windows Media should have everything except ogg and Mac codecs, shouldn't it? Google for 'audio codecs'.

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: mack/misophist
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 01:01 AM

Or you could run linux and struggle to get .wma to play.

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From:
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 05:15 PM

Foolestroupe
It would help if you identified which ones you need. What Audio files are giving you the error messages?

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 08:43 PM

Hard (or to me impossible) to say what you need but this MS page may work for you.

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 09:38 PM

Thanks for the links - any more different ones will be appreciated. I currently run Windoze, but am looking to set up a Linux box eventually.

One of the files that spat the dummy is a wav file - I have no way to know WHAT codec it wants - I get no specific error message, just a general one - no matter what sound tool I use - I did a recent reload of Win98.

I did ask if anyone can advise of any utils or the secret techie ways of finding out what codec is needed - the info must be embedded in some 'magic' in the music file somewhere! Also any easy way - including any util to tell what codecs I already have loaded. Also an easy way (including any known utils) to back the buggers up for when things crash and burn, as often happens with MS!

The latest specific one was the
Cooking_Breakfast_For_The_One_I_Love_(Maria Muldaur).wav mentioned in another thread here recently.

The "_(Maria Muldaur)" bit was added by me to the original filename! and it was not specifically mentioned here by filename, just a link to the site.

Robin

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Sep 04 - 10:59 AM

Ok, A great Cook's Tour, didn't find exactly what I wanted, but found other useful things and sorted out what the real problem was... :-)

1) No simple easy place found with ALL the codecs listed - a few places including MS that promised you bundles of "all of them" !!!! that would self install...

2) No Utils found that did exactly what I wanted - but I did find some progs that would play the file mentioned above, but they would not identify what the codec was... BUT the GNU project Media Player would play the damn thing!

3) Finally found Filealyzer - same guy as Spybot - it identified the file with the .wav extension (I didn't change the extension! that's the way the dnld went!) as a MP3 file!!! Changed the extension and all the various media players on my system worked ok!

Filealyzer won't play a preview of midi files, or wav files, or mp3 files as yet, but it will read the 'magic' and tell you the RIFF details of wav files (the encoding stuff which lets you get the right codec) - it also works on the Video 'magic' stuff too - but it doesn't directly say 'needs XXXX codec'.

The GNU media player ignores the extension and looks for the 'magic' in the file, which is why it works.

Robin

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: mack/misophist
Date: 15 Sep 04 - 11:05 AM

The Unix command (which may or may not have a DOS equivalent) "strings filename" will print all the strings embedded in a binary. Is there an equivalent?

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Sep 04 - 11:21 AM

Well, Funnily enough Filealyzer - mentioned above will find them all for you on the spot.... in the 'Hex Dump Section - but I don't see any way to print them out - but at least you see them quickly!

You can get various packs of assorted 'Unix Tools' which will run under Windows - not all of them are freeware - one of them may have something useful.


~~~~~~~~
BTW, I acquired Audacity in my search as well, which was very helpful to look at various music files too, but it also was totally confused by my target, as it apparently only looks at the extension too.

Robin

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: treewind
Date: 15 Sep 04 - 12:05 PM

Audacity is a great tool but it doesn't help much with decoding assorted conpressed audio formats. It relies on external libraries for MP3, Ogg etc.

Was foobar listed on those sites?

Anahata

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: s6k
Date: 15 Sep 04 - 12:11 PM

AC3 codec will allow playback on almost every format. i got it, and my life is peachy

google AC3 codec, its free

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From:
Date: 15 Sep 04 - 04:42 PM

I wonder, Robin, if it was one of the "WAV compressed files". I've encountered some WAV files which were EXTREMELY small for the length of them. I found out there is a method for compressing them with MP3 compression but still naming them WAV and playing them as normal. I've not found the program which does this yet, but I have found these really small WAV files and they have the MP3 string near the beginning of the file.

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Sep 04 - 09:42 PM

I got the GNU 'Media Player Classic' from sourceforg.net - it played it with the wav extension.

I have had other recent wav files that would not play - deleted them cause I thought they were 'broken'. They won't play on my box, that's why I asked if there was some new codec. Wonder if it's part of the new 'version 9' stuff MS was spouting about for XP?

One could ask the owner of the file mentioned above - search for the thread - I'm busty at the moment.

TYPO!   that should be BUSY... hmmmm... Now you know how teh Foolestroupe got it original creative inspirations ....

Filealyzer was the best thing so far. It read the 'magic'.

Will check out foobar. That is of course a mispelling homynom of the original acronym 'fubar' which I am sure most people can work out... :-) Not sure if I would trust a program with such a name... :-)

Robin

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Sep 04 - 10:45 AM

the ability to read the 'magic' is important...I first ran into this with image viewers. Some would be confused by incorrect extensions--a couple would 'read' the introductory code and say, "oh this is just a --- file...and one would ASK if I wanted it renamed correctly!

I am very happy so far with the media player from SourceForge, but if you'd like a neat program which will play or preview 'almost' all image and media files, take a look at TrackerV3 ....It is a file manager with a viewer pane to play and view media files by just tabbing thru them, but whose main purpose is to do a FAST search for any file or content on your PC!

Neat product...and free...

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: mack/misophist
Date: 16 Sep 04 - 10:58 AM

The terms 'foo' and 'fubar' are much loved and used in the Unix world. Dammed if I know why.

Subject: RE: Tech: Audio Codecs - Wav & other Files
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 16 Sep 04 - 07:45 PM

Well, Foo was a little character invented by either the Aussies or British around about WWII - hence the saying that often appeared on walls - "Foo was here" - usually accompanied by a little drawing of a fence line with a head peeping over it.

'fubar' is widely used as a variable in higher Mathematics - '****edup beyond all recognition' - apparently a Military Term from at least WWII which described the normal level of organisation and planning once the enemy is engaged, or the way that a normal AJ carries out a carefully planned task - in peace time...

foobar
does seem to take a long time to open the first file - probably wouldn't want to make it the embedded default player. It does though have a useful addition - a Screen Reader Compatilbity Mode option (which may make the screen flicker, but probably not a worry to those who really need it!) (Hello Teresa!)

The 'cooking' file referred to above -
MP3 24kbps 11025Hz stereo
Noticeable Sibilants
error on wav ext
'Missing ACM codec' error message generated by foobar when it reads this file with the wav extension instead of the mp3 extension. Some utils WILL play this!

others - I am currently using the Roll & Go samples as a benchmark - they sound good!
MP3 64kbps 22050Hz stereo