The VideoLAN Forums

I have some files I recorded that are 24 bit/48Ks flac files. When I try to play them with VLC, the volume is extremely low. The same files encoded as 16 bit/48Ks play fine. Is there a problem with VLC's decoding of 24 bit files or do I have another problem somewhere?

If you have another media player that plays FLAC files could you test them out there? I too have noticed the low volume with 48kh/24bit but I've never tested it with another player. This should show whether it's a problem with the encoding of the audio or VLC's handling of it.

I tried Windows Media player which doesn't seem to like any kind of flac files. Same for Real Player and iTunes unless I am doing something wrong with these programs. I don't use them much.

I first noticed this problem when I was playing these files through SlimServer over my network to a SlimDevices SqeezeBox. They were playing fine until recently. Now they just make noise. That's when I tried playing them in VLC and discovered the low volume problem.

Other than SlimServer, which used to play them just fine, I don't seem to have any other software that will play flac files.

Other than SlimServer, which used to play them just fine, I don't seem to have any other software that will play flac files.

This might help: WMP\MCE Lossless Guide

try foobar2000

Yes, I just downloaded and installed foobar2000 and the 24 bit/48Ks files played great. Normal volume and sounded fine. So, I guess VLC does have a problem with these files. They were encoded in Audacity. I carried out some listening experiments earlier and decided that for recording my LPs, I could get closer to the original LP analog sound by using 24/48K. Then all of a sudden SlimServer stopped playing them. Now that I know the files are still OK, I have to figure out why they no longer work in SlimServer. I also hope that this bug in VLC gets fixed since that used to be my favorite player on the computer. Maybe now foobar2000 will become my preferred choice.

I had a response on the SlimDevices forum that pointed to the SoftSqueeze program as having problems with 24 bit files. I tested one of the files on the my SqueezeBox and it worked fine. This problem only cropped up when I was trying to play one of these files locally, with the SoftSqueeze program, and I hadn't realized that that could be the problem. So I am now satisfied that my files are OK, SoftSqueeze and VLC both seem to have problems with 24 bit flac files.