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Playback Issues with iTunes M4A Podcasts with Poweramp

JoshDi

Playback issues with M4A files with Chaptering  

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  1. 1. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?


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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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I use iSyncr to sync my iTunes library daily with my phone. The process works perfectly with Poweramp and I have no problem with Poweramp getting the new playlists and files once they are synced. 
 
Recently iTunes has moved to the M4A format for many of the podcasts I subscribe to. Unfortuantely these files are only able to be played by Poweramp from the beginning. Once I try to fast forward, rewind, or pause the song, the file cannot be restarted by Poweramp. The application then goes to the next track in the playlist or tries to play the file from the beginning. If I right click the Podcast in iTunes and use the "Convert to AAC Format" feature, which still leaves the M4A extension, I am able to play/pause/fast forward/rewind the file without a problem in Poweramp. I believe the only difference between these two files is that the newly converted M4A does not have the "Chaptering" features that the original file has. 
 
Does Poweramp support M4A chaptering? Will this be fixed in the future? 
 
Sample files: 

 
Thank you for your help.

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andrewilley Advanced Member

andrewilley

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Poweramp doesn't support any sort of chaptering within audio files as far as I am aware (apart from when using CUE files). It would indeed be handy though, index points within long podcasts would be a real plus.

In the meantime, although not ideal for regularly downloaded new material, why not convert the files to regular MP3 audio rather than being forced into the Apple-dictated world? Or do what I do, which is to download all my podcasts from their source RSS feeds - I won't let iTunes anywhere near my computers.

Andre

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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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Poweramp doesn't support any sort of chaptering within audio files as far as I am aware (apart from when using CUE files). It would indeed be handy though, index points within long podcasts would be a real plus.

In the meantime, although not ideal for regularly downloaded new material, why not convert the files to regular MP3 audio rather than being forced into the Apple-dictated world? Or do what I do, which is to download all my podcasts from their source RSS feeds - I won't let iTunes anywhere near my computers.

Andre

 

What application do you use to download podcasts and sync them with your android device? 

 

I currently do have to convert the automatically downloaded and synced podcasts from iTunes in order to correct this problem with Poweramp. However, this is frustrating as I have to manually perform this process. 

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andrewilley Advanced Member

andrewilley

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What application do you use to download podcasts and sync them with your android device?

I use an RSS feed downloader on my Synology home NAS, which fetches directly from the xml feed whenever a new show is released. I've set it to email me to tell me each time a new show is downloaded, and although I do have an automated sync program on the PC which can do all the copying for me, I usually find it simpler to just run ES File Explorer on the phone and copy'n'paste directly from the NAS via Wi-Fi - it takes a few seconds per show while I'm anywhere in the house, and is quicker than bothering with the PC.

If I've got a lot to copy, I use AllwaySync on the PC which can be programed to sync pretty much any files/folders I want, anywhere on my network (I run Samba Filesharing on the phone, which makes my phone a networked drive on my home network, so it can always be accessed via Wi-Fi)

Andre

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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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I use an RSS feed downloader on my Synology home NAS, which fetches directly from the xml feed whenever a new show is released. I've set it to email me to tell me each time a new show is downloaded, and although I do have an automated sync program on the PC which can do all the copying for me, I usually find it simpler to just run ES File Explorer on the phone and copy'n'paste directly from the NAS via Wi-Fi - it takes a few seconds per show while I'm anywhere in the house, and is quicker than bothering with the PC.

If I've got a lot to copy, I use AllwaySync on the PC which can be programed to sync pretty much any files/folders I want, anywhere on my network (I run Samba Filesharing on the phone, which makes my phone a networked drive on my home network, so it can always be accessed via Wi-Fi)

Andre

Any podcast apps that you know of on Android that also sync podcasts into a playlist? 

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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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I use an RSS feed downloader on my Synology home NAS, which fetches directly from the xml feed whenever a new show is released. I've set it to email me to tell me each time a new show is downloaded, and although I do have an automated sync program on the PC which can do all the copying for me, I usually find it simpler to just run ES File Explorer on the phone and copy'n'paste directly from the NAS via Wi-Fi - it takes a few seconds per show while I'm anywhere in the house, and is quicker than bothering with the PC.

If I've got a lot to copy, I use AllwaySync on the PC which can be programed to sync pretty much any files/folders I want, anywhere on my network (I run Samba Filesharing on the phone, which makes my phone a networked drive on my home network, so it can always be accessed via Wi-Fi)

Andre

Also, can you do me a favor and try to play this file on your Poweramp app: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2020630/%23080%20Group%20Therapy%20Radio%20with%20Above-Original.m4a

 

It should play fine from the beginning if you do not play/pause/rewind/fast forward the song. If you do, it will freeze and skip to the next track. 

 

That is the major issue that I am trying to report here now via this thread. 

 

The song above was downloaded via the following XML Podcast feed: http://static.aboveandbeyond.nu/grouptherapy/podcast.xml

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andrewilley Advanced Member

andrewilley

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I get the same problem as you with the sample file you uploaded (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2020630/%23080 Group Therapy Radio with Above-Original.m4a). It will play OK from the start, but I cannot navigate within the track at all (fast-forward, rewind or resume playback later don't work). I can pause/unpause it, but that's it. The stock music player on my phone handles it OK.

Max, could you have a look at this file see if anything can be done? Thanks.

Andre

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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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I get the same problem as you with the sample file you uploaded (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2020630/%23080 Group Therapy Radio with Above-Original.m4a). It will play OK from the start, but I cannot navigate within the track at all (fast-forward, rewind or resume playback later don't work). I can pause/unpause it, but that's it. The stock music player on my phone handles it OK.

Max, could you have a look at this file see if anything can be done? Thanks.

Andre

Thank you for trying, Andre. Can you please change your vote to the correct response? 

 

Max, in my post above I showed the media analysis of the two files. The original file was downloaded using the podcast feed directly from Above and Beyond (http://static.aboveandbeyond.nu/grouptherapy/podcast.xml).

The fixed file was created after converting the file to AAC format using the "Create AAC Version" on the right click menu in iTunes. 

 

Only new episodes, #80 and above are in the new M4A format that causes an issue. The old episodes, #79 and lower, are in MP3 format.

Another podcast feed I listed to, Eric Prydz Epic Radio (http://ericprydz.podtree.com/feed/podcast/) is also now in the new M4A format and is also causing playback issues with Poweramp. 

 

I would really appreciate it if you could look into the issue and resolve it so I don't have to manually convert these files before syncing them with my device. 

 

Thank you again!

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BigFoig Newbie

BigFoig

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Another fellow ABGT listener here. I'm also having trouble playing the m4A podcasts with Poweramp. I tried playing the same file in playerpro and it works fine (I'm able to seek to different times in the podcast). Hope this gets fixed soon because I cant stand playerpro!

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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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MaxMP got back to me via email and provided us with this response:

 

 

Thanks for the details.

When we first chosen Poweramp decoders, back in 2011, we had 2 options:
- use Android decoders
- use ffmpeg decoders.

We had like 128gb of various "test" music and we run tests. We found, that while ffmpeg can have some corner cases issues, like seeking in large mp4 (with actually non-conforming seek tables),
stock Android decoders fails to play up to 25% of "usual" music tracks, that was unacceptable for us. This is why we chosen ffmpeg.
Never the less, we soon update Poweramp decoders with the new audio engine, and ffmpeg envolved a lot (we still need to port our changes back to new ffmpeg code, as ffmpeg also is not ideal
or ready for Poweramp level of quality).

This is expected to be released in this Summer.

Thanks!

 

 

Thank you, MaxMP! Keep up the good work!

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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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Does anyone know if version 558 fixes these problems? 

 

I noticed in the Change Log for this version MaxMP lists:

 

- improved duration recognition for some mp3s

 

I will provide an update of this issue later when I am home. 

 

 

The issue still exists in build 558  :angry:

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nstone97 Newbie

nstone97

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The issue is related to the jpeg video codec (embedded album art) as I am able to get the files to play if I strip the album art from the files.

 

I used avconv to create new m4a's which only contain the audio track and chapter information via the following:

 

avconv -i INFILE -map 0:1 -c:a copy OUTFILE

 

I tried copying only the audio track and one of the album art tracks and Poweramp exhibited the same behavior which is why I am certain the issue stems from the album art track.

 

Avconv can be downloaded from https://libav.org/download.html

 

Nick

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andrewilley Advanced Member

andrewilley

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It might not be the art per se, it could be the original packing format which is being cleaned up slightly when rewritten without the art. One way to tell would be to strip out the art to make a new file, then add a JPG image back into the file and see what happens.

Andre

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JoshDi Member

JoshDi

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It might not be the art per se, it could be the original packing format which is being cleaned up slightly when rewritten without the art. One way to tell would be to strip out the art to make a new file, then add a JPG image back into the file and see what happens.

Andre

 

Andre

 

I can confirm that stripping out the album art and then re-applying it via iTunes, or any other music application, resolves the problem. 

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