won't play aac files

Question

won't play aac files

hi there,
i've looked through the discussion forums but i can't seem to find the answer to address my specific problem. i'm running the latest version of itunes (9.0.2) and i recently converted my entire music collection to aac files in order to save space. i used the program max to encode these new files. i then created a new itunes library and was trying to add the new aac files to this library except none of them are recognized - they don't play, they don't get added to the library. i've played these files fine on quicktime with no issues whatsoever.
i hope someone will tell me that there's a solution and that i didn't convert 80+gigs of music in vain...ultimate goal is to fit this on my ipod.
thanks in advance

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Feb 2, 2010 6:23 PM

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Answer 1

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Feb 2, 2010 6:28 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

i recently converted my entire music collection to aac files in order to save space.

Converted from what?

i used the program max to encode these new files.

Why didn't you use iTunes?

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Answer 2

Feb 2, 2010 6:31 PM in response to Chris CA

Most of my collection was in mp3 format. I didn't use iTunes because a) I actually didn't think of it and b) it just seemed easier with Max. I didn't have to worry about the converted files being in the same library, since I wanted to have a new library with just the AAC files. At the same time, I didn't want to replace all the mp3 files since they are more versatile.

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Answer 3

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Feb 2, 2010 6:36 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

i recently converted my entire music collection to aac files in order to save space.

MP3 and AAC at the same bitrate are almost identical in file size (within a few bytes) so converting will simply reduce the quality of the resulting file. 128 kbps files are ~1MB per minute.
Converting from MP3 to AAC will result in a lower quality AAC unless you convert to a much higher bitrate then you will simply have larger files with no gain (or loss) in quality.

Sounds like you have something in Max set incorretly.

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Answer 4

ta

Level 4

1,210 points

Feb 2, 2010 6:35 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

Do the files have an aac or m4a extension? I think only m4a AAC files will play in itunes.

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Answer 5

ta

Level 4

1,210 points

Feb 2, 2010 7:00 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

Chris is right. You generally never want to convert a lossy format file to any other format, especially another lossy format. You've essentially thrown out data twice.

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Answer 6

Feb 2, 2010 7:04 PM in response to Chris CA

Yeah, the bitrate was at 64.

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Answer 7

Feb 2, 2010 7:05 PM in response to ta

Ah well..I should have known better then. But then, in theory, if I converted FLAC files into an AAC file with a 64 bitrate, I'd be preserving some sort of quality. But even then, why isn't it playing/being recognized in my iTunes?

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Answer 8

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Feb 2, 2010 7:05 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

64 kbps sounds like a cheap AM radio (to me).

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Answer 9

Limnos

Level 10

410,989 points

Feb 2, 2010 7:05 PM in response to ta

Try changing the extension to .m4a

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Answer 10

Feb 2, 2010 8:04 PM in response to Limnos

Chris CA - Well, I guess cheap AM radio or not, still not playing...

limnos - I tried that, no go. but thanks for the suggestion

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Answer 11

ta

Level 4

1,210 points

Feb 2, 2010 8:19 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

If it's not m4a it's not gonna play. (Dot) m4a and (Dot) aac are not the same format. Itunes AAC files are (Dot) m4a.

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Answer 12

Feb 2, 2010 8:22 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

Well, since I was curious about what you meant by AM quality sound, I went back to MAX and tried encoding in another format, MPEG 4 Low Delay AAC at a bitrate of 64...and yes, it's quite crappy. But the files I encoded were using AAC ADTS, which really doesn't produce as terrible a quality as the one when I used the MPEG 4 Low Delay AAC, and it's an even smaller file size.
Original MP3 at bitrate of 320 - 8.7 MB
MPEG 4 Low Delay AAC at 64 - 2.1 MB
AAC ADTS at 64 - 1.8 MB
I really don't know much about audio, but the AAC ADTS doesn't sound too bad...

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Answer 13

Feb 2, 2010 8:23 PM in response to ta

Hrm...well when I encoded with MPEG 4 Low Delay AAC, the file format was m4a, but it still wouldn't play in my itunes.
I thought that if it played in quicktime, it should play in itunes and both formats can be played in quicktime.

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Answer 14

Limnos

Level 10

410,989 points

Feb 2, 2010 8:28 PM in response to pisceanjanelane

Max actually has 3 different AAC versions. The first is AAC ADTS which I believe is more of a Windows flavor. Two are listed under "MPEG4 Audio". In my version of Max the second of the two MPEG4 Audio encodes to .MP4 extension. The first of the two (there isn't any difference in the name so it is confusing) opens in the preferences to let you select Apple Lossless or .m4a (iTunes preferred) AAC.

I got hints from:
http://forums.sbooth.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=611

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Answer 15

Feb 2, 2010 8:39 PM in response to Limnos

Limnos - thanks for that info. So I'm guessing ultimately, it's just that this type of AAC file that's unsupported for itunes. It's really unfortunate, because I don't think the quality suffers as much as with the MPEG 4 (itunes version) encoding, plus the file size is much smaller.
Now I have to figure out what to do with all my converted files. I'd hate for all that effort to go to waste.

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