m4a compressed audio not readable

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Use a iTunes m4a File or a self compressed one.
2. Set XLD to convert to mp3
3. open the file via menu or drop it on xld. It can not read the format and 
asks for decoding it as PCM raw.

How about the reproducibility (always, sometimes, rarely, ...)?

yes always.

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

Output would be the preferred transcoded file. MP3 is needed for a device not 
supporting aac.

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?

XLD Version 20130127 (142.3). 10.8.2 and 10.7.5 on different devices

Please provide any additional information below.

tried different files. All open up in standard m4a compatible tools like 
Amadeus, Fission, Audacity 2.
All files play flawlessly in iTunes, VLC, Quicktime. Enclosed an example 
recording. But it was an issue with all m4a files with standard compression.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by stargato...@gmail.com on 15 Feb 2013 at 3:17

Attachments:

• HelloThisIsATest.m4a

[GoogleCodeExporter]

AAC decoding is not supported in XLD.

Original comment by tmkkmac on 15 Feb 2013 at 3:20

• Changed state: Invalid

[GoogleCodeExporter]

OK I have not realized that. May be because of licensing issues? So I have to 
use terminal:

if quality is an issue (I know then you should not convert at all)

   afconvert  input.m4a output.wav -d LEI24 -f WAVE

or if place is an issue for the intermediate file

   afconvert input.m4a output.wav -d LEI16 -f WAVE

then drop the resulting wave file to xld and it is converted to the format I 
wish. Thought that when AAC is a native OS X format it should not be an issue 
to call the OS to read it in.

Original comment by stargato...@gmail.com on 15 Feb 2013 at 4:38

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I don't want to support decoding lossy codecs in XLD. Transcoding lossy formats 
is almost useless.

Original comment by tmkkmac on 15 Feb 2013 at 4:41

[GoogleCodeExporter]

> Transcoding lossy formats is almost useless.
Sometimes it's useful: i'd wish to take my playlist from iTunes to USB-stick 
and take it to gym where there's a player that supports only mp3.

Original comment by pa...@gubarev.ru on 4 Apr 2015 at 11:34

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I agree, there are many times converting lossy formats is quite useful.  Max 
rate MP3 or AAC are pretty much the same as FLAC unless you have golden ears, 
so down converting those is completely valid.  Lowering nitrate or converting 
file types for portable players is another use, of course.

Original comment by radel...@gmail.com on 18 Apr 2015 at 11:58

[GoogleCodeExporter]

See issue 201.

Original comment by tmkkmac on 19 Apr 2015 at 2:32