Foobar's FLAC encoder seems to have a bug

2010-02-24 05:25:18

I recently converted some 24-bit mono WAVs to FLAC, using Foobar's built-in converter set to 8. Foobar itself can play the resulting FLACs, but some other programs can't, including two that I need in addition to Foobar -- SoundForge Pro 10.0 and Praat (praat.org). Praat throws an error when trying to load Foobar's FLACs, and SoundForge opens them but shows only a blank screen with no waveform, and can't play the file.

I've uploaded 4 files so you can see what's happening -- the original WAV, plus three FLAC files (made by Foobar, SoundForge 10, and the FLAC encoder on SourceForge).

http://ifile.it/0g3io6f/24bit-extract.wav
http://ifile.it/ymne7jp/24bit-extract_FLAC-1.2.1.flac
http://ifile.it/zna4c05/24bit-extract_Foobar2000.flac
http://ifile.it/8ibc5o4/24bit-extract_SoundForge.flac

I'm using Foobar 1.0. The troubleshooter shows no problems. Here are my components:

Code: [Select]

Core (2010-01-09 08:47:00)
    foobar2000 core 1.0
foo_abx.dll (2009-06-07 14:25:26)
    ABX Comparator 1.3.4
foo_ac3.dll (2010-01-11 11:18:40)
    AC3 decoder 0.9.4
foo_albumlist.dll (2010-01-09 08:44:46)
    Album List 4.4
foo_bitcompare.dll (2008-12-05 15:08:02)
    Binary Comparator 1.2
foo_cdda.dll (2010-01-09 08:44:42)
    CD Audio Decoder 3.0
foo_converter.dll (2010-01-09 08:44:32)
    Converter 1.4
foo_dsp_std.dll (2010-01-09 08:44:48)
    Standard DSP Array 1.0
foo_fileops.dll (2010-01-09 08:43:32)
    File Operations 2.1.2
foo_infospect.dll (2008-02-01 21:02:58)
    Infospect 1.0.3
foo_input_alac.dll (2010-02-11 00:01:44)
    ALAC Decoder 1.0.5
foo_input_dts.dll (2010-01-11 11:28:30)
    DTS decoder 0.2.8
foo_input_monkey.dll (2009-05-01 14:40:52)
    Monkey's Audio Decoder 2.1.4
foo_input_shorten.dll (2009-11-15 21:46:36)
    Shorten decoder 0.4.2.2
foo_input_std.dll (2010-01-09 08:44:24)
    Standard Input Array 1.0
foo_masstag.dll (2009-09-18 10:01:36)
    Masstagger 1.8.4
foo_osd.dll (2010-01-11 11:37:28)
    On-Screen Display GDI+ 1.6
foo_out_wasapi.dll (2009-05-19 22:45:18)
    WASAPI output support 2.1
foo_quicktag.dll (2009-12-23 21:36:24)
    Quick Tagger 1.0.2
foo_rgscan.dll (2010-01-09 08:44:24)
    ReplayGain Scanner 2.0.9
foo_texttools.dll (2009-12-23 21:00:22)
    Text Tools 1.0.4
foo_ui_columns.dll (2010-01-09 11:40:28)
    Columns UI 0.3.8.3
foo_ui_minilyrics.dll (2010-01-13 10:06:40)
    MiniLyrics 1.0
foo_ui_std.dll (2010-01-09 08:44:52)
    Default User Interface 0.9.5
foo_uie_console.dll (2009-08-29 13:06:24)
    Console panel 0.4
foo_uie_lyrics2.dll (2010-02-03 00:35:08)
    Lyric Show Panel 2 0.4.6.12
foo_uie_quicksearch.dll (2007-05-18 13:31:10)
    Quick Search Toolbar 2.8l
foo_verifier.dll (2009-10-05 11:39:20)
    File Integrity Verifier 1.1

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Using Vista x64 here.

Foobar's FLAC encoder seems to have a bug

Reply #1 – 2010-02-24 06:40:17

It seems the header of the file generated by foobar2000 is not correct. I compared it with the FLAC1.2.1 result (via some Hex Editor) and after changing the header, the file became playable. Furthermore the metadata like length, audiodata md5 etc. became visible in foobar2000. FLAC1.2.1 also appends some further data (up to that the files are identical). Perhaps this helps someone to analyze the problem.

I manually removed the parameter "--ignore-chunk-sizes" from the command, at least then we get a sane file:

Manually edited file: http://ifile.it/7av5njo/24bit-extract_Foobar2000-edited.flac
Result of eac3to: http://ifile.it/evgo130/24bit-extract_eac3to.flac

Foobar's FLAC encoder seems to have a bug

Reply #2 – 2010-02-24 08:55:17

foobar2000 does not create FLAC files by itself; it uses an external FLAC encoder present on your system, using documented commandline switches only. You're barking up the wrong tree here, please complain to the FLAC developer instead.

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