Winamp not playing MP3 files!

[Phreak Hacker]

I don't really know why but Winamp (v5.33 as well as previous versions that I've tried) aren't able to play certain MP3 file types. It is able to play MOST MP3s but just not certain ones. I thought initially that the problem might be caused by an errant MP3 decoder but I've had no luck in trying other 3rd party decoders.

Strange thing is though, Windows Media Player is able to play the same files while Winamp isn't.

Anyone have a possible cause and solution?

[germain47]

I am assuming [1]that the file extension is listed .mp3
and [2]the file is actually an mp3 file, not a wma / ogg / aac mislabeled as mp3. Then might these files be downloaded from a certain Russian music site. I experienced similar difficulties when I downloaded files encoded by their freeform encoder at 384kbs. If not, refer back to #'s 1 & 2

[DJ Egg]

Yeah, to be able to reproduce it (assuming it's a possible bug) then we'd need a link to a sample file. If you don't have your own webspace then upload to sendspace.com or mediafire.com and post the link here.

[Phreak Hacker]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/e02hyo

That's one of the MP3s I can't play.

Thanks a lot for the help fellas.

[DJ Egg]

Please post a List of Plugins

The sample file plays fine for me (is a 320 kbps, 48KHz, mpeg-1 layer3 / mp3)

Things which could potentially prevent it from playing:
You're using some dodgy 3rd-party replacement mp3 plugin instead of Nullsoft in_mp3.
You're using some 3rd-party DSP/Effects plugin which doesn't support 48KHz input.
You're using some other 3rd-party plugin which doesn't support 48KHz input.
There's a problem with your sound drivers.

[Phreak Hacker]

Well, here's the list of plugins:

Installed Winamp plugin list
Generated by 'One for Nunz v2.83' on 4/7/2007 at 11:35:32 AM

<< Winamp Information >>

Winamp.ini path is: C:\Program Files\Winamp\Winamp.ini
Plugin directory is: C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins
Visualisation directory is: C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins
DSP directory is: C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins
Skin directory is: C:\Program Files\Winamp\skins

Using Winamp version: 5.33 (Build 1100)
Current skin: mmd3.wal (Modern skin)
Sonic Burning Engine is installed
Pro registered version

<< OS Information >>

Running on: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
Memory available: 915632 KB


<< Input plugins >>

Nullsoft CD plug-in (CDDB2) v3.31 [in_cdda.dll]
Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder v1.01 [in_dshow.dll]
Nullsoft FLAC Decoder v1.1.2e [in_flac.dll]
Nullsoft LineIn plug-in v3.11 [in_linein.dll]
Nullsoft MIDI player 3.13 [in_midi.dll]
Nullsoft Module Decoder v2.2.3 (x86) [in_mod.dll]
Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder 4.04 [in_mp3.dll]
THOMSON mp3PRO Decoder v1.0 (x86) [in_mp3PRO.dll]
Nullsoft MPEG-4 Audio Decoder v1.2 [in_mp4.dll]
Nullsoft NSV Decoder v1.07 [in_nsv.dll]
Nullsoft Vorbis Decoder v1.48 [in_vorbis.dll]
Nullsoft Waveform Decoder 3.11 [in_wave.dll]
Nullsoft Windows Media Decoder 3.24 [in_wm.dll]

<< Output plugins >>

Nullsoft Disk Writer plug-in v2.11 [out_disk.dll]
DirectSound output v2.46 (d) [out_ds.dll]
Gapless audio output v0.7.2 [out_nogap.dll] [active]
waveOut output v2.1 (d) [out_wave.dll]

<< Visualisation plugins >>

Advanced Visualization Studio v2.81d [vis_avs.dll] [active]
MilkDrop 1.04d [vis_milk.dll]
Nullsoft Tiny Fullscreen (v2.08) [vis_nsfs.dll]

<< DSP plugins >>

DFX [dsp_dfx.dll] [active]
Nullsoft Signal Processing Studio DSP v0.37 [dsp_sps.dll]

<< General Purpose plugins >>

Nullsoft Modern Skins Support v1.25 [gen_ff.dll]
Nullsoft Global Hotkeys v1.31 [gen_hotkeys.dll]
Jump To File Extra v0.97.11 (Build 109) [gen_jumpex.dll]
Nullsoft Winamp Library v3.1 [gen_ml.dll]
MSN Messenger Music Plugin (by TheBlasphemer) [gen_MSN.dll]
One for Nunz v2.83 [gen_nunzio.dll]
Tips v0.61 [gen_tips.dll]
Toaster for Winamp Classic v0.7.6 [gen_toaster.dll]
Nullsoft Tray Control v2.0 [gen_tray.dll]

<< Media Library plugins >>

Nullsoft Dashboard v1.0 [ml_dash.dll]
Nullsoft Now Playing v2.01 [ml_nowplaying.dll]
Nullsoft Bookmarks v1.02 [ml_bookmarks.dll]
Nullsoft History v1.02 [ml_history.dll]
Nullsoft Local Media v1.5 [ml_local.dll]
Nullsoft Playlists v1.07 [ml_playlists.dll]
Nullsoft Rip & Burn v1.12 [ml_disc.dll]
Nullsoft Online Services v1.31 [ml_online.dll]
Nullsoft Portable Music Player Support v1.13 [ml_pmp.dll]
Nullsoft Replay Gain Analyzer v1.02 [ml_rg.dll]
Nullsoft Format Converter v2.1 [ml_transcode.dll]
Wombat Share v0.67 (Protocol v0.943) [ml_wbtshare.dll]
Nullsoft SHOUTcast Wire v1.08 [ml_wire.dll]
ml_xpdxs v1.0.4 [ml_xpdxs.dll]

<< Portable Media Player plugins >>

Nullsoft iPod Plug-in v0.55 [pmp_ipod.dll]
Nullsoft Creative NJB Plug-in v0.51 [pmp_njb.dll]
Nullsoft PlaysForSure Plug-in v0.6 [pmp_p4s.dll]
Nullsoft USB Device Plug-in v0.53 [pmp_usb.dll]

<< Encoder plugins >>

[enc_aacplus.dll]
aacPlus (HE-AAC) Encoder v1.24
aacPlus (HE-AAC) High Bitrate Encoder v1.24
LC-AAC Encoder v1.24
MP4/aacPlus (HE-AAC) Encoder v1.24
MP4/aacPlus (HE-AAC) High Bitrate Encoder v1.24
MP4/LC-AAC Encoder v1.24
[enc_flac.dll]
FLAC Encoder (Flake SVN r117)
[enc_lame.dll]
MP3 Encoder v1.32
[enc_wma.dll]
WMA Encoder v1.2

<< Summary of system components (*.w5s) >>
(These are not included in the plugin counts below)
aacPlusDecoder.w5s (355kb)
db.w5s (232kb)
filereader.w5s (11kb)
jnetlib.w5s (23kb)
jpeg.w5s (27kb)
playlist.w5s (30kb)
png.w5s (67kb)
tagz.w5s (21kb)
watcher.w5s (26kb)
xml.w5s (88kb)

<< Summary of all dlls in the root winamp folder (*.dll) >>
(These are not included in the plugin counts below)
burnlib.dll (82kb) [not loaded]
id3lib.dll (560kb) [not loaded]
libmp4v2.dll (163kb) [not loaded]
libsndfile.dll (222kb) [loaded]
nde.dll (77kb) [loaded]
nscrt.dll (344kb) [loaded]
primosdk.DLL (174kb) [loaded]

<< Summary of installed plugins >>

13 Input plugins installed
4 Output plugins installed
3 Visualisation plugins installed
2 DSP plugins installed
9 General Purpose plugins installed
14 Media Library plugins installed
4 Portable Media Player plugins installed
4 Encoder plugins installed

Total: 53 plugins installed

As for the sound drivers, I haven't really updated them on my laptop since I got it this year. But if it's a case of the sound drivers, how come WMP plays the MP3s without a problem?

[germain47]

Try removing the mp3 PRO plug-in from your input plug-in folder. This is an unsupported 3rd party plug-in. The Nullsoft MPEG decoder will be all you need to play mp3 files.

[Phreak Hacker]

Well, I didn't have the mp3pro decoder when this problem started. I'd actually installed it thinking the songs I had a problem with were actually encoded in the mp3pro format.

UPDATE:
I uninstalled the plugin but the problem still occurs.
By the way, it occurred to me just now that I haven't mentioned the error message that appears when Winamp can't play the files. It says "The sample format is not supported".

I did notice one thing too - most if not all of the mp3 files giving me problems are 48khz samples while the ones I can play without a problem are mostly 44khz samples.

Possible problem with my in_mp3 codec?

[DJ Egg]

Go to: Winamp > Prefs > Plugins > DSP/Effects
and select 'None'

At a guess, DFX doesn't support 48KHz input (only 44.1)

And yes, make sure that evil mp3pro plugin is gone.

[Phreak Hacker]

Nope... still not happening fellas. =/

[DJ Egg]

Have you tried switching to DirectSound Output instead of the Gapless Output thing?
(out_ds does gapless playback, so there's no need for any 3rd-party gapless output plugin)

If the problem persists, post an updated List of Plugins (use the "Post A Reply" button this time, so you can Attach the .txt file instead of posting all the text).

[Phreak Hacker]

Hey! It works now...

Only problem is though the DirectSound plugin isn't as good as the gapless playback plugin that I'm using at the moment. It still seems to pause a little during the transition taking away its smoothness. Any suggestions?

[DJ Egg]

Go to DirectSound Output config

Buffering tab:
Increase "Buffer-ahead on track change" value
Default should be 500ms, but try 750ms or higher

Other tab:
Checkmark "remove silence at beginning/end of track"
The default value I think is -35dB (or -40, can't remember which)
You don't want to go any higher than that, eg. at around -25dB you'll notice songs cutting out when they're just into the fadeout, or songs with quiet intros starting well into the track.
I've got mine set at -65dB (though the default should suffice in most cases).

[Phreak Hacker]

Yup; I changed the settings accordingly and it seems to be doing a pretty good job of it so far. Thanks a lot for all the help DJ Egg and germain...

Winamp is my friend again... =D