Hi,
are there any plans to enable playback of MP3Pro in full quality in Foobar2000? I converted some years ago some of my CDs to MP3Pro. If I play these files in foobar2000, only the MP3 compatible part (without SBC) is used. I heard Thomson/RCA released an MP3Pro SDK for free, so it might be possible to use. Vlada

There is already available.
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~cse/foobar2000/foo_nero.zip
Please use carefully.
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....ndpost&p=151799

Found another problem Doesn't work with unicode paths. Plugin fails to initialize.

NFO (CORE) : startup time: 62 ms
ERROR (foo_nero) : Nero decoder plugin initialization failed
INFO (CORE) : opening file for playback :
INFO (CORE) : location: "file://F:\My Music\Audio\Anime\るろうに剣心\るろうに剣心 - Baka Oro.mp3" (0)
ERROR (foo_nero) : Nero decoder plugin initialization failed
INFO (foo_output_std) : attempting to create DirectSound buffer : 44100Hz 16bps 2ch fixed-point
INFO (foo_output_std) : DirectSound initialized successfully, using software mixing
INFO (CORE) : Clipping detected.

And to make it worse, sometimes it'll crash. I think on the 2nd file..not exactly sure yet.

INFO (CORE) : startup time: 62 ms
ERROR (foo_nero) : Nero decoder plugin initialization failed
INFO (CORE) : opening file for playback :
INFO (CORE) : location: "file://F:\My Music\Audio\Anime\るろうに剣心\るろうに剣心 - Baka Oro.mp3" (0)
ERROR (foo_nero) : Nero decoder plugin initialization failed
INFO (foo_output_std) : attempting to create DirectSound buffer : 44100Hz 16bps 2ch fixed-point
INFO (foo_output_std) : DirectSound initialized successfully, using software mixing
INFO (CORE) : Clipping detected.
ERROR (foo_nero) : Nero decoder plugin initialization failed

From the log you can see it doesn't even get to opening the 2nd file.

I get the error in module foo_nero.dll at offset 00003e8d. If thats of any use to anyone.

Have you read the thread you got a link to???


Your files don't seem to be renamed. (You should change mp3pro files' extension from mp3 to mp3pro)

OK I have also mp3pro files. Why foobar dosen't support mp3pro automaticlly?? I still don't understand why people didn't move to mp3pro (half size and no quality loss!).
Well bottom line in that .zip that witt gave is one file and link to thread below dosen't work. When I try to use it it says there are missing some files so someone please give me something to get it working. I wouldn't like to stay on Winamp but it's plugin for mp3pro works perfectly.

Because

1) The format is COMPLETELY CLOSED. There is no way to get it to play back except with buggy third party libraries that cannot support the features foobar does. There is no way for anyone to make an encoder or decoder for it.

2) MP3Pro does *not* get "half the size with no quality loss" as has been demonstrated in listening tests.

3) It has been completely superseded by High Efficiency AAC which uses an improved version of the technology, is an open standard, gets significantly better quality, and for which opensource decoders are available.

MP3Pro is completely dead as a format, in no case worth the hassle it is to support it.

The foo_nero plugin needs Nero installed on your computer. (You know, the cd-burner app). As foo_nero uses Nero's mp3pro plugin (and the VQF plugin too, I guess, and maybe others too).

And the link to the thread works fine for me.

Well damn, what do they think they'll acomplish with non open-source format?? Now I'm sorry I converted everything to mp3pro (like 6k files, lol).

As the quality part I compared 10 songs myself and didn't hear the difference between mp3 and mp3pro. Anybody has links to that listening test?

If the link witt gave works for you something must be wrong with me (use popupcop). It opens a blank page.

Tnx

--
Kova

Transcoding from one lossy format (ie. MP3, MPC, Vorbis) to another (or even the same one at a different bitrate) is not recommended at all anyway. Since this will only lead to quality loss in the first place.

As soon as a file is encoded lossy it is best left alone

I guess MP3Pro was a way to get their technology known and earn money from selling encoders/decoders. After they discovered a closed technology has no future, they submitted it as a candidate for HE-AAC...and won. So now they get the money from their patents on the technology.

The site appears to be down. But you can find discussiong about those test results here, use the search function and dig a bit.

I've got a different problem here:

I put the foo_nero.dll on the components folder and I get this messages in the console

INFO (CORE) : opening file for playback :
INFO (CORE) : location: "file://D:\Temp Shit\New Downloads\41_30secMP3pro-64.mp3pro" (0)
ERROR (foo_nero) : Couldn't find Nero plugin directory
ERROR (foo_nero) : Couldn't find Nero plugin directory
ERROR (foo_nero) : Couldn't find Nero plugin directory


What the hell is going on Any ideas?


Cheers guys (great forum this one )


PS: I haven't installed nero. Does that have anything to do with it?

Hello?
Let's sum up what's been said in this thread so far:
- MP3 Pro support have been possible in foobar2000 for a long time already through foo_nero. It's probably the only form of support this format will ever get in foobar2000.
- foo_nero needs Nero installed on your system to work.
- MP3 Pro is a closed, horrible and completely dead format, originally intended for low bitrates, which is now completely superseded by HE-AAC in this respect. (Personally I think it's also superseded by newer versions of Vorbis.) Just stay away from this format if possible.

Thanks for the info and about the mp3pro... Sure it's horrible (in the fact that is closed and all that stuff) but the thing is that one of my favourite online radios works with that format :/

Thanks again mate! It's all I wanted to know

Let me know if you get mp3pro streaming working. I've never had any luck. Even with foo_nero installed and configured properly for what few local mp3pros I have, foo_http_reader still seems to process the stream as a mp3, reading only the 22.05kHz mp3 compatibility layer.

I agree MP3 Pro is dead.
However, since using AudioIdentifer, I have found a number (say, a couple of hundred or so) of old files that I ripped into mp3 Pro, using MusicMatch. This was a long time ago. Silly, I know now.
So what do I do?? I no longer have the original CDs, and I rather like the tracks.
Do I leave them as they are, or convert them back from MP3 Pro to MP3 vbr - you can do this using MMJB.... Or what

link

Message received loud and clear. Thank You picmixer

I'm not sure about this, but:
I think you must rename the files from *.mp3 to *.mp3pro in order for the files to be processed by foo_nero. If theire named *.mp3 or it's a stream mountpoint I guess theire just processed as regular mp3 by foo_input_std and foo_http_reader and such, so that only the mp3 compatibility layer are read.....

Yeah, I'm aware of the renaming requirements. I've never found a way to "rename" a stream mount point though.

I was perhaps hoping that someone with more interest in obsessing over a solution may have stumbled on a way to get it to work. Mp3pro, despite its extensive list of faults, still sounds better than the 22.05kHz compatibility layer.

The best solution I've found in the interim is to bother or boycott the offending station until either they relent and switch to AAC or I forget why I wanted to listen to the station in the first place.

Would be very surprised if that was ever possible.....


Yupp! Unless you wanna use some other player than fb2k that supports mp3pro streams... Don't know what does though....