wav and m4a audio files not playing correctly

john-brown wrote on 10/4/2021, 4:54 PM

Hi,

I hope that this is not what you wanted to contact Support about.

DRM - you cannot rip iTunes files and your CDs may also have DRM protection thus giving you the results that you obtained. Nothing to do with Vegas; everything to do with pirating.

Gregory-Hastings wrote on 10/4/2021, 5:46 PM

Hi john-brown.

Nope...that's not the problem.

The m4a files aren't tracks purchased from Apple/iTunes. They are tracks previously ripped from CD's into iTunes.

The CD doesn't have DRM protection. The same wav file ripped into Vegas from a CD, plays just fine on other software like Windows Media Player. Even other Magix products like Sound Forge Audio Studio 15 and Sound Forge Audio Cleaning Lab play the file just fine.

Conversely, I can rip a track from a CD into Sound Forge Audio Studio 15, which will play just fine in that software. But when added to the timeline in Vegas, it has that same on..off..on..off.

Tracks ripped to wav files using Sound Forge Cleaning Lab have an even stranger problem when imported into Vegas. It's very hard to discribe, but it sounds like the Left and Right channels are chopped into 2 second clips, and then are cross mixed in an alternating pattern.

This is some problem within Vegas causing the problem.

Gregory-Hastings wrote on 10/4/2021, 6:36 PM

Here is another video where I rip a CD track using Vegas...then open and play that file using Windows Media Player...then put that track on the Vegas timeline and it has the on...off...on...off problem.

Then I load another Magix product, Sound Forge Audio Studio 15, load that same track, and it plays fine.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/749k30u5l088cvr/CD%20ripped%20wav.mp4?dl=0

Musicvid wrote on 10/4/2021, 9:16 PM

Instead of uploading videos of your experiences to Dropbox, upload the original .wav and .m4a files to Dropbox; that way we can test them on our own systems with Vegas Pro 19 and see if we are able to reproduce your issues, or if they are system-specific. Welcome to the forum.

Gregory-Hastings wrote on 10/4/2021, 10:04 PM

Hi Musicvid,

That's a good idea!

Here are 3 versions of the same track ripped from a CD 3 different ways. All three play just fine with Windows Media Player, and Sound Forge Audio Studio 15. None of them play properly in Vegas.

Wave file ripped using Vegas

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7ud9cyg891zt2ez/Ripped%20with%20Vegas.wav?dl=0

Wave file ripped using Audio Studio

https://www.dropbox.com/s/us4cwhb92vyvwlh/Ripped%20with%20Audio%20Studio.wav?dl=0

m4a file ripped using iTunes.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qx4zx1qkirg3u5z/Ripped%20with%20iTunes.m4a?dl=0

Thanks,

Greg

ChristoC wrote on 10/4/2021, 10:34 PM

Nothing wrong with any of those files.

Don't know about Vegas19 though; I have not bothered to upgrade yet.

Espadon wrote on 10/5/2021, 4:04 AM

On my system (see signature) the Vegas and the Audio Studio ripped files play perfectly in Vegas 19.

The iTunes ripped file does not. Just a flat waveform static sound. I opened the m4a file in Goldwave and it played. I converted it to wav and it then played in Vegas.

As a start I would look in Preferences - Audio Device and try some of the driver options there.

If you post your audio driver info, someone else with audio driver knowledge maybe able to help or, search the Forum for your particular drivers.

(BTW liked the music!)

john-brown wrote on 10/5/2021, 7:32 AM

@Gregory-Hastings

Do you have an older version of Vegas to test?

The m4a file worked fine in Vegas Pro 15 and Vegas Movie Studio 16.

It worked in Sound Forge Audio Cleaning Lab 1, but was rejected by Magix Video Pro X12 and Pinnacle Studio 23.

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite immediately opened the file convertor to wave, so I think that this file is dodgy at best.

John CB

wjauch wrote on 10/5/2021, 7:48 AM

I had issues in the past with audio files located on a USB drive, they worked fine on C drive. Any chance the files are on a USB drive?

rraud wrote on 10/5/2021, 10:00 AM

I did not try the other file types, but the AAC file <.m4a>, loads and plays back normally for me in Sound Forge Pro (10 and 15) and Vegas Pro (9 and 16).

Gregory-Hastings wrote on 10/5/2021, 1:33 PM

All,

Thanks for all your help, and tests. Pretty weird mix of results huh?

What's funny is how this all started for me. For about the last 5 years I have been working around a problem where Vegas and Audio Studio would not recognize my LG Blu-ray burner. Every other piece of software has had no problem with that drive...even another Magix product had no problems.

Tech support couldn't resolve the problem, so I have just worked around it for years.

About a month go I started upgrading my computer. One thing led to another, and I ended up with not one thing in the computer that was originally there, not even the case,...except that LG optical drive.

Now I have a really fast computer, so I can edit video and audio in almost real time. Time to upgrade to Vegas 19. Maybe by now they have fixed the problem with the optical drive. And, since everything else in my computer is 100% different, except the optical drive, any other conflicts should be gone.

Nope...still doesn't work in Vegas 19 !

So...what the heck, I don't really need a new optical drive, and don't use it so much anymore. I hate things that don't work properly, so I bought a new LG M-Disc drive.

HURRAY!

I now have an optical drive that even Vegas recognizes!

I need to give this a test run by ripping an audio track from a CD and see how nice it is to not have to work around that old problem.

And then this happens ☺️

Using my skills in Six Sigma quality engineering root cause analysis, I have narrowed it down to one of 2 causes..

1) My computer is demon possessed (probably in the mouse or keyboard which are still the originals), or

2) God is punishing me for wasting more money on my hobby.

I have a tech support case in progress (no response yet other than case number). I'll let everyone know what I find out.

Thanks,

Greg

Gregory-Hastings wrote on 10/6/2021, 3:17 PM

All,

I have done some extensive testing, and the results are WEIRD.

The problem only exists when a wave file is ripped to a specific SSD on my computer...

Crucial P2 500GB NVMe PCIe M.2 CT500P2SSD8

It doesn't matter what software rips the track to that Crucial SSD, Vegas will not play it correctly.

But all other software WILL play it correctly.

And...

If that same file is MOVED from the Crucial SSD to another physical drive (either another SSD or an HDD), Vegas WILL play it correctly.

So, Vegas has a problem playing a file in which BOTH of these conditions are TRUE.

1) The file was ORIGINALLY ripped to the Crucial P2 SSD, and...

2) The file is currently ON the Crucial P2 SSD

There is nothing about that Crucial drive that is unusual that I am aware of. No other problems with it have occurred.

It is the drive in which I have placed all of my Windows Libraries (music, documents, videos, photos) because it is very fast, and software can load the files very quickly.

If I use Vegas to rip a CD track to any other drive, it has no problem with it.

And, again, Vegas is the only media program on my system that has any problem with a track that was ripped to that Crucial drive.

I can work around this problem. I have no idea what could be causing it.

-Greg

Espadon wrote on 10/6/2021, 4:37 PM

Your drive may need a Firmware update. Download and install Crucial Storage Executive.

https://uk.crucial.com/support/storage-executive

Your optical drive Firmware may need an update too from LG.

My Crucial SSD needed a Firmware update when it was new.

Gregory-Hastings wrote on 10/6/2021, 6:17 PM

Hi Espadon,

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already confirmed the latest firmware for both. And no diagnostic tool finds anything wrong with either one.