Matroska + 24bit Flac

[BingoBongo]

I have a problem with mkvtoolnix. I'm trying to mux a 24bit flac file into a mkv container but it doesnt work. The flac file itself plays fine under foobar etc. But when I try to put the flac file into a mkv file then I get the message:


+-> Parsing the FLAC file. This can take a LONG time.
+-> Pre-parsing FLAC file: 0%
+-> Pre-parsing FLAC file: 100%


It only adds the first 1-2seconds of the flac file into the container. If I downsample the flacfile to 16bit then it works fine. Its just that I cannot get a 24bit flac file into a mkv container cause mkvmerge doesnt want to parse the flac file.

I tried it on 3 different computer now. Under Vista 64bit, under windows server 2003 and on a notebook with xp pro. (32bit). So I'm pretty sure its not a computer related problem and as I said the 24bit flac file plays fine.

[nautilus7]

How did you make the flac file and what is the mkvtoolnix version you use?

[BingoBongo]

I'm using mkvtoolnix 2.1.0.

I tried different tools so far: eac3to, flac.exe, foobar2000. The source files are 2.0 wav files (songs) and nothing works. If I downsample them to 16bit it works fine. 24bit no chance.

I noticed that if I try to play the flac file with foobar then it works fine, if I try to open them with audacity then I get only trash.

[BingoBongo]

Hmmm I think I found a solution. I didnt really expect it to work, but well who knows. So I downloaded a older version of flac. (1.2.0) and encoded the file with it.

Now mkvmerge can parse the files without a problem.

So looks like I found a bug in flac 1.2.1.

*edit: I tried to play the mka file now and it doesnt really work with 1.2.0 aswell. The flac files have a huge seektable (metaflac --list) and as soon as the songs are a bit bigger - the seektable is pages long and it takes hours to open the mka file afterwards. 1.2.1 doesnt even create a seektable.

Looks like flac and 24bit is a no-go :(

[nautilus7]

1.2.1 flac files (i guess 24bit only) are not accepted by mkvtoolnix. It's a bug discussed in the eac3to thread.

Try the madflac decoder for playing flac files into mka/mkv container.

Seeking problems are also common with flac files.

[BingoBongo]

its not that I couldnt play the flac files. Its that it takes ages for the mka file to open, cause of the screwed up seektable with flac 1.2.0 and with flac 1.2.1 I have a clean seektable but I cannot parse the file.

I tried a older version of mkvtoolnix aswell now (2.0.2) and still not able to mux a flac file into a mka. 16bit works fine but 24 bit is totally screwed up.

Also the 24bit files (neither the ones I create with flac 1.1.4, nor with 1.2.0 nor with 1.2.1) are not working in audacity. The 16 bit files again working like charm. 24 bit not a chance.

I really begin to think that flac doesnt really support 24 bit at all right now. It may work in a few cases (like foobar has absolutly no problem to play the 24 bit flac file or eac3to), but any other software I tried. mkvtoolnix, audacity doesnt work with 24 bit files. Even if I try to reencode the flac file with flac.exe itself I get an error.

[lexor]

I really begin to think that flac doesnt really support 24 bit at all right now. It may work in a few cases (like foobar has absolutly no problem to play the 24 bit flac file or eac3to), but any other software I tried. mkvtoolnix, audacity doesnt work with 24 bit files. Even if I try to reencode the flac file with flac.exe itself I get an error.

Well, that sounds like flac supports 24bit just fine, since you seem to indicate that fb2k can playback .flac files. Other tools don't seem to include a fully featured parser/decoder, I think they were coded with expectation of CD/DVD audio (i.e. 16/44.1 or 16/48) and they go bunkers when you feed them something else. It would appear mkvtoolnix and co. need updating, you might want to mention it in the "mkvtoolnix 2.0.0 released" thread as a possible bug.