SB2 So great! But, won't play AAC tracks.

[vessenes]

I love my new SB2; I compared with the Roku, and despite having to run something on the server side, I'm much happier with the sound quality and overall feature set. One thing that is bugging me, though, is that I can't play any AAC tracks I purchased at allofmp3.com.

This isn't my _whole_ collection, but it's a substantial part of my audio collection. These tracks play fine in iTunes, and on my ipod, but the SB2 just sort of sits there for a second on the track, and then skips it.

The tracks all have the .m4a extension. How can I troubleshoot this? I'll happily provide a file for tech support if it will help.

[Robin Bowes]

vessenes wrote:
> I love my new SB2; I compared with the Roku, and despite having to run
> something on the server side, I'm much happier with the sound quality
> and overall feature set. One thing that is bugging me, though, is that
> I can't play any AAC tracks I purchased at allofmp3.com.
>
> This isn't my _whole_ collection, but it's a substantial part of my
> audio collection. These tracks play fine in iTunes, and on my ipod, but
> the SB2 just sort of sits there for a second on the track, and then
> skips it.
>
> The tracks all have the .m4a extension. How can I troubleshoot this?
> I'll happily provide a file for tech support if it will help.

Two possible problems:

1. Slimserver won't play any files with encoded with DRM

2. What platform is your server on? I had trouble getting m4a files to
play on my linux box. Article here [1].

[1] http://robinbowes.com/article.php/2004080319394853

R.

--
http://robinbowes.com

If a man speaks in a forest,
and his wife's not there,
is he still wrong?

[vessenes]

From Robin:

>Two possible problems:
>
>1. Slimserver won't play any files with encoded with DRM
>
>2. What platform is your server on? I had trouble getting m4a files to
play on my linux box. Article here [1].
>
>[1] http://robinbowes.com/article.php/2004080319394853
>
>R.

-----

Thanks Robin, The link is helpful. I didn't give quite enough detail, I guess.

These files aren't DRM'ed, since they're from allofmp3.com. I'm running the server on OS X Tiger, which I would guess has the same need for faad that your linux box did.

I'll check out compiling a newer version of faad from source, and post back here when I know if that helps.

Best, Peter

[mikerob]

You shouldn't need faad to play AAC files on OSX.

I think you do need LAME installed to convert AAC files to MP3 - there is more info on this on the FAQ on this website and the Slimserver help section.

[seanadams]

Mike,

As a test, can you try ripping an AAC file from CD using iTunes, and see if that works?

I'm wondering if there's some issue specific to the AAC files from allofmp3.

[vessenes]

An upgrade to 6.2b1 fixed this for me.

It's possible that this wasn't really a problem for me, since I had un-checked aac -> mp3 encoding (lame) on the file settings.

6.2b1 seems to get where flac is located or has installed mov123 (which I couldn't previously find.)

Either way, I'm happy and have my high-quality AACs floating around my house as we speak. Thanks!!