playing m4a music files on Rockbox

[jamfreak]

I recently installed the Rockbox Firmware on my iAudio X5 and was under the impression I can play my m4a files with it but what happens is the X5 strats playing them for a couple of seconds and then skips for a couple of seconds and plays again. I have about 4GB from my buddys iPod I would like to play on my X5.
All the info I find in this forum about this problem confuses me. So CAN I play these files at all (maybe after I chase them thru another software) or are they just useless?
Any clarification much appreciated.....  

[wilbertnl]

What happens when you encode a sound file yourself?
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm has an encoder.

[jamfreak]

What happens when you encode a sound file yourself?
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm has an encoder.

Well, that's not really the answer I was hoping for. Like I said I have already 4GB of music encoded to m4a (from my friends iPod) that I just want to transfer. I REALLY don't want to encode it because

• the time it would take to do that
• I don't want to encode one lossy format into another because of the further loss of quality

I'm looking for a way to simply transfer the music on my friends HD. Is that possible?

[Llorean]

You specifically said "maybe after I chase them thru another software" so you shouldn't be surprised when someone suggests transcoding.

The M4A codec is not at full speed for all bitrates yet, so simply put the files won't work until it's improved, or until you change the settings to be using less CPU.

[linuxstb]

Are you running an up-to-date version of Rockbox?  There were some significant optimisations made to the AAC decoder on 24 September which made most AAC files (up to at least 192kbps I think) playable in realtime on the X5.

[jamfreak]

Are you running an up-to-date version of Rockbox?  There were some significant optimisations made to the AAC decoder on 24 September which made most AAC files (up to at least 192kbps I think) playable in realtime on the X5.

Thanks, mine are at 128kbps. So I guess they should play. Do I just have to download the new daily built  (I can't find one for the iAudio X5)  to update or have to reinstall the new firmware again?

[Benway]

Just download the latest CVS build for the X5 and unzip the file to the root of your player. No need to mess with the bootloader.
Good luck

[jamfreak]

Just download the latest CVS build for the X5 and unzip the file to the root of your player. No need to mess with the bootloader.
Good luck

So I just go to http://www.rockbox.org/cvs.shtml and download the latest (on the top) and unzip it into the root of my player? Correct?
So next time I start my X5 it starts with the upgraded firmware?
Sorry guys, just want to make sure I don't overlook anything before I start messing with it......

[jamfreak]

Alright, I've done it. Downloaded the latest CVS and installed it. Now instead of a 3 second gap every 3 seconds I get a 1/2 second break every 18 seconds. Is there anything else I can adjust or do I have to wait until further improvements in the software?

[saratoga]

I think AAC is supposed to be real time on the X5 at lower bitrates, so maybe check to make sure you have EQ and all other features off.

[jamfreak]

I think AAC is supposed to be real time on the X5 at lower bitrates, so maybe check to make sure you have EQ and all other features off.

Could u be a little bit more specific at what 'features' you're talking about?

[Chronon]

EQ.  Peakmeters (in the WPS) have caused problems.  Crossfeed, probably.  Basically you want to disable as much DSP as possible to see if the codec will play in real time by itself.

[Davide-NYC]

JamFreak,

A good way to figure out how much CPU load each codec is reponsible for at a variety or bitrates on your aprticular platform you could perform the tests described in this page:

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CodecPerformanceComparison

If you do these tests please contribute some Codec Performance numbers to the wiki page as it would be of great help. So far I'm the only one that has bothered with this.

Eventually we will have a better test involving a decoder plugin which will spit out a detailed logfile, but until then this is the only information we have.

[jamfreak]

JamFreak,

A good way to figure out how much CPU load each codec is reponsible for at a variety or bitrates on your aprticular platform you could perform the tests described in this page:

http://www.rockbox.org/tw...odecPerformanceComparison

Page not found!

[markun]

try http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CodecPerformanceComparison