Codec wma pro

[Bouda]

I did the stupid thing of encoding my music (15 GB) in wma pro. Poweramp does not read it. Can it be done or should I ask for a new feature before I buy it ? :!: :cry: :oops: (I own a Dell Streak, android 2.2)

[admin]

PowerAMP depends on ffmpeg here, so if it's not played for you (for example, it happens if format optionally uses float samples, not 16 bit samples), then there is nothing that can be done at the moment. It will be improved overtime (both ffmpeg improves and PowerAMP's fork of ffmpeg).

Thanks!

[Bouda]

Thanks for your answer. I coded with Windows Media Player on my PC (W7 32bits). What should I have done ?

Sorry but i'm not smart enough to understand what ffmpeg is. You bet I did'nt get the end !

In a nutshell, can I do anything other than wait or transcode to WMA high bit rate ? Merci !

[stand]

I'm not sure what all the different WMA file formats are. I've seen references to Lossless, Professional, Standard, Variable-Bit Rate, Constant-Bit Rate, etc. It seems to be based on which version of Windows Media you are using. The file format that you are using can be set via the rip or copy music options dialog.

In general, the most widely supported file format is MPEG3 (.mp3), as just about every app includes a codec that can translate MPEG3 files. Unfortunately, since MPEG3 uses constant-bit rate sampling, and everyone tends err on the higher-quality side when selecting a bit rate, you end up with rather large files (e.g. 6 MB per song).

The Windows Media 9 Variable Bit Rate (.wma) file format is backward-compatible with older codecs, so most apps that support .wma files can translate these (including the codec in Poweramp). The nice thing about VBR files is they are much smaller (e.g. 1-2 MB per song) without giving up on sound quality. This might be a good choice for you, however it is not as universally supported as MPEG3. For example, I have tried other apps that could play the VBR WMA files, but could not calculate the track time correctly for these songs.

As with anything, the newer, more advanced technologies will not be as widely supported as the older ones. You need to choose your own least-common denominator for balancing functionality and support. Using the latest file-format option in the latest Windows Media Pro version is probably only a good idea if you are only ever going to use Windows Media to play your music.

HTH!

[admin]

Stand, thanks for you description.

Next PowerAMP update will include better support for wma pro encoded files (on NEON enabled devices only) and special optimized wma v1/v2 codecs for non-NEON devices (like htc hero/wildfire).