Short MP3 files will not play

[IBJoe]

Ref VLC 3.0.18 64bit on Windows 11 Pro.
I have two PCs with this setup.
VLC works with short MP3 files on one, but not the other.
Short (~1 or 2 seconds) MP3 files will not play correctly,
just sometimes make a quick blip noise, like they are playing way too fast.
All my longer files play fine, just not these short ones.
I recall (not sure) that short files used to work on "bad" VLC/PC before Windows 11 update.
For the "bad" VLC/PC setup,
I set VLC Message window to 1 (error) and find
wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008)
I set VLC Message window to 2 (debug) and find about WASAPI
Only that one wasapi error for short files on "bad" VLC/PC
For longer files, and for all files (short and long) on the PC where these files work
I find
(no errors)
wasapi debug: modified format
wasapi debug: buffer size : 96000 frames
wasapi debug: maximum latency: 000 ns
wasapi debug: default period : 10000000 ns
wasapi debug: minimum period : 3000000 ns
main debug: using aout stream module "wasapi"
Side note: both these PCs have Audacity installed with WASAPI record mode enabled.
Changing Audacity WASAPI configuration does not affect symptom.
Any ideas, what next?
I tired complete uninstall, reboot, reinstall VLC, no effect
For now I am using an alternate player for short MP3 files

[Lotesdelere]

Please open Tools -> Messages (set Verbosity to 2) before you start the playback, and then paste the full resulting log here or on Pastebin.com or on Justpaste.it if it's too long.

Also upload a short sample of your original problematic file to WeTransfer.com or Disroot.org and then post the link to the file here.
https://wetransfer.com
https://upload.disroot.org

[IBJoe]

Thank you!
Example file is
File: Zero.mp3
About 1 second long
6.79 KB (6,960 bytes)
wetransfer link:
https://we.tl/t-ngOusiwOF2
Debug is over 7999 character post limit, so is
https://justpaste.it/8rojw
or file: Zero.log
11.0 KB (11,331 bytes)
wetransfer link:
https://we.tl/t-BHClYtj2KU

[Gruko]

No problem with VLC 3.0.19
https://artifacts.videolan.org/vlc-3.0/ ... 0812-0226/

[Lotesdelere]

Using WASAPI fails, maybe because it's a mono file or maybe because it's 24 kHz so it falls back to DirectSound:

Code: Select all

wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008) directsound debug: Windows speaker config: Stereo and stream has 1 channels, using 1 channels main debug: using aout stream module "directsound" main debug: output 'f32l' 24000 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes

You can try another audio output module:
http://wiki.videolan.org/WindowsFAQ-2.0 ... _anomalies

Or use a nightly build as suggested by Gruko.

[IBJoe]

You can try another audio output module:

This worked. I tried the available options, and found that changing Audio output module (Tools - Preferences - Audio - Output - Output module:) from "Automatic" to "WaveOut audio output" fixed the problem.
I observed that changes to this parameter did not have effect until after saving, closing, and restarting VLC.
Thank you!

Technical debug details

Bad case (Audio output module: Automatic):
main debug: Stream buffering done (1008 ms in 1 ms)
wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008)
directsound debug: Windows speaker config: Stereo and stream has 1 channels, using 1 channels
main debug: using aout stream module "directsound"
main debug: output 'f32l' 24000 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes

Good case (Audio output module: WaveOut audio output)
main debug: Stream buffering done (1008 ms in 5 ms)
waveout debug: Drivername: Microsoft Sound Mapper
waveout debug: Driver Version: 5.0
waveout debug: Manufacturer identifier: 0x1
waveout debug: Product identifier: 0x2
waveout debug: Trying 1 channels
waveout debug: OpenWaveDevice-ID: 4294967295
waveout debug: waveformat.Format.cbSize = 0
waveout debug: waveformat.Format.wFormatTag = 3
waveout debug: waveformat.Format.nChannels = 1
waveout debug: waveformat.Format.nSamplesPerSec = 24000
waveout debug: waveformat.Format.nAvgBytesPerSec = 96000
waveout debug: waveformat.Format.nBlockAlign = 4
waveout debug: waveformat.Format.wBitsPerSample = 32
waveout debug: waveformat.Samples.wValidBitsPerSample = 32
waveout debug: waveformat.Samples.wSamplesPerBlock = 32
waveout debug: waveformat.dwChannelMask = 4
main debug: output 'f32l' 24000 Hz Mono frame=1 samples/4 bytes

Term "WASAPI" is not in "good" case debug text.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

TBH, this looks like a bug in your audio device drivers.

[IBJoe]

Hmm, maybe a bug in an audio device driver, but VLC is the only program affected.
VLC is a great media player, but sometimes it seems fragile.
-
I have a NEW problem with this solution.
VLC audio is too quiet.
Windows 11 has a volume mixer for apps.
It only shows VLC app when VLC is open.
The default Widows 11 volume mixer level for VLC is 50%.
I can reset it to 100%, but as soon as I play a file it goes back to 50%.
Actually, it goes to exactly half of whatever VLC is set to, for example if VLC volume is set to 50%, Windows 11 volume mixer will set Windows VLC app mixer volume to 25%.
Other apps can be set to, and will stay at 100%.
I verified on two VLC / PC setups, this half volume behavior always happens when Audio output module is set to "WaveOut audio output", it doesn't happen when it is set to "Automatic".
I found a workaround to be set the VLC Audio gain to 2 (Tools, preferences, All, Audio, Audio gain).
But that doesn't work if Normalize volume is enabled (Tools, Audio, Effects, Normalize volume, any value).
Windows 11 volume mixer still sets VLC to 50%, but with the VLC Audio gain set to 2, the subjective volume level seems 100%.
Any way to have VLC not set its Window 11 volume mixer at exactly half of what VLC volume is set to?
-
A better solution would be to continue using Audio output module set to Automatic, but that still doesn't work with short MP3 files. Else if I continue to use VLC for my short MP3 files, I'll have to continue to use both these workaround kludges..
-
Ideas?