.m4a playback and tags on sansa

[NaFIann]

Hi,

When playing my .m4a songs on the sansa, it sometimes stops for about half a second or somewhat longer. Also, browsing becomes very slow. is this supposed to happen, because it takes a lot of processing power to decode? (or something like that, I don't think I fully understand how it works)
Or is there a way to undo that?

Also, I've noticed .m4a files apparently can contain tag information, which I thought it couldn't. Does anyone know how to edit that?

NaFiann

[Lear]

When playing my .m4a songs on the sansa, it sometimes stops for about half a second or somewhat longer. Also, browsing becomes very slow. is this supposed to happen, because it takes a lot of processing power to decode?

That is likely the case, yes. If you go to the "View audio thread" debug screen you can check the boost ratio there (while playing an m4a file). If it is stuck at 100%, or close to it, then it is the case. Choice of WPS (avoid peak meters) and the amount of sound processing done (equalizer, crossfeed, etc) also affects this.

Also, I've noticed .m4a files apparently can contain tag information, which I thought it couldn't. Does anyone know how to edit that?

There are several programs that can do that. iTunes, Foobar2000 and MP3Tag are some I'm aware of.

[NaFIann]

Thanks,

well, Ive looked at it, and boost ratio is constantly 100%. I don't have peak meters and disabling the equalizer didn't help much (crossfeed is off as well).
If I try to lower the bitrate, would it play better? And if so, how do I accomplish this?

NaFian

[Lear]

Lowering the bitrate could help, but I'm not sure how much.

Best way is to re-rip the track with a lower bitrate. You could also try recompressing it with something like Foobar2000, but remember that you loose quality by doing so (perfectly fine for testing purposes though).

[the_winch]

The boost ratio on sansa is always 100% because the cpu frequency is not yet adjustable.
Look at the pcm bar instead. If it keeps tempting then it can't decode fast enough.