Re: XMMS Distorted MP3 Sound

Ray Olszewski
2005-01-27T18:24:15Z

At 03:57 PM 1/27/2005 +0800, Peter H. wrote:

>Hi,
>
>In slackware10 for some time trying to play mp3 files I get a very distorted
>sound with xmms-1.2.10. Whereas in Fedora2 mp3 files do not play at all with
>xmms-1.2.10 in fact they don't enter the play list. In both the plugin for
>mpeg is enabled. Playing from MusicCDs is no problem.
>
>As far as I can remember xmms used to play mp3 files or am I deceived, and I
>cannot tell when it exactly started
>
>Anyhow what could be the reason? Xine, gxine, totem, mpg321 and snack all
>play
>mp3 files.

First, I can confirm that my (Debian-Sid) version of xmms ("Version:
1.2.10-1") plays stereo MP3s just fine. I do see a problem with a mono MP3
I made -- it plays at double speed -- but I don't imagine that's what you
mean by "very distorted". (Anyway, I have the same problem with mono oggs,
so it is not an MP3-specific problem, more likely a mistake in the way I'm
recording them with gramofile.)

For the distro that doesn't play them at all, or even show them in the
playlist (if they don't "enter the playlist", how do you even *attempt*
actually to play them?), my first guess would be that you are mistaken in
assuming that the mp3 plugin is properly installed. Or possibly the
filenames use an extension that xmms does not recognise as MP3 (see if you
have "Detect files by content (instead of file extension)" enabled in
Preferences ->Audio I/O Plugins ->MPEG ... ->Configure).

For the distro that does play them, I'd suspect a mismatch between xmms and
the sound driver; double check what "output" driver xmms is using (in
Preferences-> Audio I/O Plugins) and if it is compatible with your kernel's
sound drivers (if you are using ALSA, you might need to add some of the
OSS-compatibility modules). You might see if other file types (ogg, even
wav) play properly from the hard disk (not from a CD; that normally uses a
direct connection between the CD drive and the sound card and is irrelevent
to this diagnosis because it bypasses the kernel's sound stuff). Also
confirm that the other playback apps, like mpg321 and xine, work on that
distro, if you haven't already done this (I can't be sure from what you
wrote if you did those tests with both distros or just Fedora).

If you need more help, the possibilities I've suggested should indicate the
sort of additional information you should supply, along with a more
descriptive characterization of the Slackware version of the symptom.

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