Subject:Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Posted by: Rednroll

Date:8/2/2004 7:15:25 PM

Ok, I've found this problem when Vegas 4.0 was first released reported the issue, sent in a CDrom with a sample .MP3 file. I've now sat back quiet , through a release of Sound Forge 7.0, and Vegas 5.0 and have heard the same response prior for each of those releases. "We're tarketing the fix for the release of Sound Forge 7.0.".....Sorry, didn't make that one, "We're targeting the fix for the release of Vegas 5.0"....oops, missed that target too. Now how about Acid 5.0, is that the new target? I say, f**k the release targets, let's nudge the .MP3 plugin guru over there at Sony and have an .MP3 plugin patch fix, so that I can open all .MP3 files.......especially the ones that I can open in Windows Media player and Nero, yet can't open in Sound Forge, Vegas, Acid, or CD Architect. I'm sick of having to use Nero to do a job that is more suited to do in Vegas or CD Architect, but I can't because, I can't even open the file in any of the Sony apps. Have your .MP3 guru give Microsoft a call, and talk to one of the Windows media player programmers so he can figure out what he's doing wrong in the Sony .MP3 plugin, which get's used for ALL YOUR APPS. You think a bug which effected all your apps would be considered critical and get addressed in a timely manor. What is up!?

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: RikTheRik

Date:8/3/2004 11:45:31 AM

I'll add to this request the possibilty to encode higher than 128 kbps. This was possible with SF6 but since SF7 I can't do it anymore.

Erik.

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: kbruff

Date:8/3/2004 8:43:58 PM

I am sorry but I cant help but express my annoyance, with this same issue.

Lately I have become rather quiet with my complaints (OOPPS I have been using WAVELAB), but I still use SF7.0a, and I would like to stick to SF7, but I cant be bothered by this mp3 issue, cd text issue, spectral meter issue, vst issue, batch processing issue, bla bla.

Previously I would burn an Audio CD of the files that SF7 could not open, and then import the tracks, save them using the MP3 encoding in SF7, and poof I could now open audio files that I would require NERO, Windows Media player, or Wavelab 5.0.

This is an annoying issue. I am hopeful that the next update will have sweeping improvements.

Kevin
***

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:8/4/2004 4:37:49 AM

"Previously I would burn an Audio CD of the files that SF7 could not open, and then import the tracks, save them using the MP3 encoding in SF7, and poof I could now open audio files that I would require NERO, Windows Media player, or Wavelab 5.0."

Exactly what I have to do now, and yes highly annoying. To show further proof this is a Sony issue I can open the files in Wavelab and Nuendo.

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:8/4/2004 8:10:03 PM

Odd. I can encode all the way up to 320 Kbps in SF 7.0a. My MP3 plug-in is version 2.0 Build 1892. What's yours? (Click the "About" button when saving as MP3.)

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page
Guitars 4 Kids

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:8/5/2004 6:14:12 AM

MD, you're totally missing the boat on this one. Encoding is not the problem. The problem is opening .MP3 files. The Sony apps have no problem opening .MP3's that where encoded from SF. The problem is that there is another app out there that will extract an entire CD into an .MP3 file. This app is doing something to the header information that won't allow the Sony apps to open the file. The file can be opened in other apps like Windows Media Player, Nero, Wavelab, and Nuendo without a problem, but none of the Sony apps due to they all use the same MP3 plugin, and that is what needs to be fixed. I don't know what app it is that created the files, because the files where downloaded over a file sharing network.

If anyone knows of an app that extracts an entire CD to a single .MP3 file and usually names the file in a format of "Your typed CD Title_ALBW.mp3", then please post it here. The majority of these files end with the "ALBW" in the last part of their name, and the files have come from different sources, so I'm thinking there must be an app that uses the ALBW autonaming when you extract an entire CD.

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: MyST

Date:8/5/2004 6:18:46 AM

A quick search with the letters ALBW got me this site as a hit.
ALBW stands for albumwrap.

http://www.cyberkameleon.com/lui/informatique/mp3/albw/

Help you any??

Mario

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: farss

Date:8/5/2004 6:37:48 AM

So basically whatever it is that does this will encode an entire CD but puts a header that maybe defines the entire album?

I'm thinking I can see a reason (but probably not a valid one) why Sony wouldn't be in a hurry to support such functionality, something to do with having a parrot on the shoulder and a patch on the eye.

I've run into the same thing over importing .ac3 files in Vegas, of course now Sony sell a camera that records the audio as ac3 but still they cannot offer a way to handle the audio that it records.

Bob.

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:8/5/2004 12:38:01 PM

I know; I was just responding to SonicErik's problem with being able to encode up to only 128 Kbps. He should be able to encode higher.

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page
Guitars 4 Kids

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:8/5/2004 2:58:34 PM

My Bad. Myst found the culprit program. "Album Wrap" from Infamus Software: www.infamus.com

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: Ted_H

Date:8/11/2004 11:44:01 AM

Regarding the inability to encode to a higher bitrate than 128kbps, are you dealing with mono files perhaps? You won't be able to encode to higher than 128kbps if you're encoding mono.

Ted

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: manduss

Date:8/17/2004 10:30:20 AM

Hi.

I have dealt with mp3s created by Sound Forge as well as numerous conversions to mp3 with the Batch Converter. These files have been played on countless systems with just about any player or editor. I have had only had one problem with the files, and that dealt with Variable Bit Rate encoding not being read by a specialized playback system.
I haven't had any trouble opening mp3 files either.


I do not mean to belittle the problem. Perhaps there is something else going on with your system that is contributing to your problem?

Subject:RE: Fix The MP3 plugin!?

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:8/17/2004 4:54:47 PM

Not to belittle your post, but the problem is not system specific.

As I previously mentioned I sent in a file and Sony/Sonic Foundry confirmed the problem. At that time I didn't have any details where the .MP3 was created. Alls I knew is that it could properly be played back in Windows Media Player and Nero. In further investigation I found it would also playback in Wavelab and Nuendo. Myst found the program that creates these .MP3 files that are unopenable by any of the Sony apps. It is called Album Wrap, which takes multiple .MP3 files and combines them into a single .MP3 file. With Album Wraps extraction program, you can later go back and disassemble the individual .MP3 files from the created .MP3 file with no loss in quality or recompression. The benefit to using this program is so you can download an entire .MP3 compilation and be able to preview the file while it is downloadingm since it has the .MP3 file extention. When the program creates the combination .MP3 file it writes information in the header which the Sony apps doesn't recognize and therefore does not recognize the file as an .MP3.

Hopefully, now that Sony has some problem files, and now know the app that created them and can further investigate what that app is doing, then hopefully this problem will get fixed.