Music distortion with M4A files after latest windows 11 update

[shezz150]

MusicBee was working fine before these windows updates. My m4a music files play fine in VLC, and youTube plays fine. I put on my sony wireless headphones, and i got the exact same distortion through MusicBee, so it's not my speakers. I'm at a loss.

MusicBee V 3.5.8698

I haven't tried re-installing MusicBee yet as I couldn't find an answer to whether uninstalling it removes my current library, etc? I have backed it up, but just want to check as dealing with library can just be a pain sometimes.

While we're here, perhaps someone can tell me why m4a files seem to play quieter then others?

[frankz]

https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=40805.0

https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=23454.0

[eobet]

I just had this in Windows 10. I followed the instructions and noticed that no files were overwritten. Why isn't the missing .dll included with MusicBee so people don't have to experience the problem and ask about this here, if it happens so often?

EDIT: No wait, either 44.1khz sounds terrible or 96khz sounds terrible and I have M4A files using both. I downloaded bass_alac.dll from that site's main releases too (again didn't overwrite anything) and the speed is all wrong...

EDIT: Had to completely delete the files of the portable MusicBee I had installed and start over. I wonder if there was an issue with the version the developer gave me which was supposed to patch an issue I had. Well, that issue was minor compared to not being able to listen to all my files!

[sveakul]

MusicBee does not package bass_aac.dll by default due to legal concerns.

A forum search for bassalac.dll using the Google method recently posted by phred and myself (https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=40805.0) would have produced the post here:  https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=34864.msg190739#msg190739 .

[mraz2]

I just had this in Windows 10. I followed the instructions and noticed that no files were overwritten. Why isn't the missing .dll included with MusicBee so people don't have to experience the problem and ask about this here, if it happens so often?

EDIT: No wait, either 44.1khz sounds terrible or 96khz sounds terrible and I have M4A files using both. I downloaded bass_alac.dll from that site's main releases too (again didn't overwrite anything) and the speed is all wrong...

EDIT: Had to completely delete the files of the portable MusicBee I had installed and start over. I wonder if there was an issue with the version the developer gave me which was supposed to patch an issue I had. Well, that issue was minor compared to not being able to listen to all my files!

Wouldn't it be better for the developer to ensure all required dependencies are bundled with the main MusicBee application to avoid these kinds of troubleshooting steps for users?

[hiccup]

Wouldn't it be better for the developer to ensure all required dependencies are bundled with the main MusicBee application to avoid these kinds of troubleshooting steps for users?

Do you mean you haven't read the very first sentence in the post right before yours?

[golgothagecko]

While his question was answered technically accurately, it doesn't address in spirit what the OP is trying to ask.

  The dev teams know there is a requirement but cannot fulfill it due to legal reasons.  The end user can fulfill the requirement.  However, the missing piece is that the product fails to instruct the user and give them the necessary steps to satisfy the requirement.   I have seen other products address this in product UI help that says, "OH BTW, you need to install this (here is the link).  We can't because the lawyers say so."

[phred]

Reference to needing to install  bass_aac.dll in the FAQ.
https://musicbee.fandom.com/wiki/FAQ?so=search#How_do_I_play_AAC_files_in_MusicBee?

When someone downloads new software, one of the first things they should do is read the FAQ.

[golgothagecko]

Using a FAQ in place of UX is product design failure

[hiccup]

Using a FAQ in place of UX is product design failure

That's quite a simplistic statement that doesn't do justice to this matter.

You would have been right if MusicBee was not able to play apple formats out of the box.
But MuscBee does play them out of the box without the need for any additional  tweaks or downloads.

So, how are you suggesting that the UX should pop-up some explanation, only for users that use apple formats, and experience audio issues?
It's a normal expectation that a user that experiences issues (of any kind) performs some forum and/or FAQ searches.
And users that are reporting issues regarding playback of apple formats clearly have failed to do so.

(PS many MusicBee users (such as me) will avoid apple formats like the plague to begin with, but that's a different topic)

[MotleyG]

While his question was answered technically accurately, it doesn't address in spirit what the OP is trying to ask.
... the missing piece is that the product fails to instruct the user and give them the necessary steps to satisfy the requirement...

Not really IMO. With a current OS (win10/win11) this is typically not an issue using the native dll package for playing aac files. There are some outdated OS versions that did not have this support that need to add this. And there are some versions of aac files that are not compatible with the MS drivers and need to be updated to work properly. These are outside of the design scope of MusicBee where the OS dependencies should work for the majority. The provided forum/Wiki details with the link are certainly sufficient to address this for those that need it.

(PS many MusicBee users (such as me) will avoid apple formats like the plague to begin with, but that's a different topic)

(PPS many other MusicBee users (such as me) have been using Apple media formats (lossy AAC and lossless ALAC) for years without any issues, but that's also a different topic)