Workaround for broken(?) m4a files from ffmpeg, was Re: [PATCH] Output AAC as M4A for iTunes with metadata tags

[richard]

On Sun Apr 10 02 Simon Nash wrote:

>
> I would be interested in trying these on my Linn DS.

I will send you three m4a files off list of Bells on Sunday (2.8Mb each)
downloaded with get_iplayer for you to try. The 3 files are:

Bells1_noscript.m4a
This file does not use Jon's script. The file does not play.

Bells1_noscript_mp4creator.m4a 
This file does not use Jon's script, but has been optimized with
mp4creator using:
mp4creator -optimize Bells1_noscript_mp4creator.m4a
The file does not play.

Bells1_script.m4a 
This file uses Jon's script. The file plays OK.

I also ran the files with AtomicParsley. The results were:

:~/audio$ AtomicParsley Bells1_noscript.m4a -t + 
free atom space: 2056
padding available: 2048 bytes
user data space: 5700
media data space: 2880808

:~/audio$ AtomicParsley Bells1_noscript_mp4creator.m4a -t +
free atom space: 0
padding available: 0 bytes
user data space: 5700
media data space: 2880808

:~/audio$ AtomicParsley Bells1_script.m4a -t +
free atom space: 0
padding available: 0 bytes
user data space: 5700
media data space: 2880808

I'd be interested to know how you managed to get a m4a file to play on
my Marantz using only mp4creator. I cannot replicate that. It seems to
need mp4tags to rewrite the metadata atoms to make the file playable.
Unless you know otherwise.