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Rivergoat · Posted - Tue Apr 24, 2001 6:05 am

Hi:

I'm new here, and have been using CE2K for awhile, and now starting to use CEP.

One question that I hope to find help on...

If an mp3 file shows as "raw headerless data," how do I successfully open it? Even with tests where I encode an mp3 in a know format, but do not save the extra data, forcing it to become a raw headerless file, all I get is noise when I try to reopen it. This is even when I specify the sample and bit rate when trying to convert.

Is there a way to restore the file, or is a headerless file lost to further editing?

Thanks.

Frosty · Posted - Tue Apr 24, 2001 7:44 am

Howdy RG,
If I understand you correctly, this might help you.

Try "saving as" to the directory of your choice, then add the file extension ".mp3" to the file name.
I occasionally get Mp3's sent to me that are encoded with hardware or software that is incompatible with my own, such as someone sending me a file they encoded on a Mac. I get the file that's identified with a generic Windows icon and has no file extension after the file name. By adding ".mp3" my system can then read it.

This may not be your particular problem, as I may be misunderstanding you, but I hope this helps.

Rivergoat · Posted - Tue Apr 24, 2001 11:56 pm

fhaber · Posted - Wed Apr 25, 2001 8:18 am

I'm also interested in a way to bypass mangled MP3 headers. Raw PCM is of no use, since the files are, well, MP3s, which by definition use advance predictive lossy compression.

Anyone know of an external analysis/repair tool.

Syntrillium M.D. · Location: USA

Actually, in response to Rivergoat's comment about the 'Save Extra Non Audio' checkbox...

Not checking this box will not make your file headerless; it just won't retain the MP3 tag info (artist, title, copyright) that you can insert under View>Info. If it is saved as MP3 with the .mp3 extension, it will still open in CE whether or not you have that box checked.

My first thought is that you may have a corrupt mp3 filter. If you are using the filter you purchased for CEP, I would recommend contacting sales and requesting that they send you a new one.

If you are using CE2K, I would recommend uninstalling and reinstalling the application.

Also, what Kbps are you encoding to??

---Syntrillium, M.D.

Deborah A Holm · Posted - Sun Jul 29, 2001 1:45 pm

I have been using ce2 for a few months now and have not been able to come up with a solution to the "Unknown headerless RAW data" problem. I don't know what to do. I have tried several options with no success. My mp player plays the music but I can't open it in CE2. Any solution yet?

Rod · Location: USA

Yes, well since doing any editing in Cool Edit would require the mp3 to be uncompressed anyway, what I would do is use WINAMP and change the "OUTPUT" option to "DISK WRITER" then hit the play button. This creates an UNcompressed WAV file that will surely open in COOL EDIT for editing. Remember to switch the OUTPUT back to WAVE after your done for winamp to play normally. Good Luck.

Hans Greuver · Posted - Wed Aug 01, 2001 7:31 am

I've run into this problem with certain mp3's as well. Not sure why, perhaps certain parameters of a particular codec when the file was created? Anyway, the only workaround I've found is to first decode the mp3 to a wav using any of the multitude of freeware tools that will do this (I use something called sMP3m Simple MP3 maker, see simple.audiogalaxy.com, also does ripping, etc). Once the file is in wav format it can be of course opened with CE, edited as necessary, and saved back as an mp3 again.

JANK · Posted - Thu Aug 23, 2001 6:56 am

This has been a frustration for me as well. To Clarify: these MP3s have the *.MP3 ext, play fine in media player etc etc BUT DO NOT OPEN IN CEP no matter which option are tried. It has only been lately that I tried Nero 5.5 wave editor and THAT was able to open the MP3 (and then I could convert it to WAV) without any hitches. So - these MP3s are not hopeless like I thought but incompatible with CEP. Anybody know whats up? 90% of other MP3s are fine with CEP.

Syntrillium M.D. · Location: USA

Hello. This question has gone around many times, and the answer lies within this thread...

Basically, the Fraunhofer codec that CE uses conforms to rather strict MP3 header standards. With the multitude of mp3 encoders out there, and third-party codecs, it's safe to say that many (if not most) are less-strict, and thus do not write their header info in such a standard way.

Some apps, like WinAmp, are more forgiving when it comes to this (because, after all, they're players, not editors) and thus, typically will play ANYTHING.

---Syntrillium, M.D.

2Bdecided · Posted - Fri Aug 24, 2001 5:22 am

The FhG decoder within you mp3-me plug-in may be sourced from FhG (it's bit identical to the FhG one that sufaced in Winamp 2.22), but your implementation can have some problems with (format compliant) VBR files.

See
http://www.mp3decoders.org/
for details.

And just use Winamp to decode to .wav. Make sure you disable any EQ settings first, and the results will be perfect.

Cheers,
David.

nhaukap · Location: USA

I had (past tense) this same problem, and the solution I found: change mp3 encoders.

I experienced this exact same "headerless" mp3 headache when I tried to open mp3s that I had created with RealJukeBox. I switched to MusicMatch Jukebox, and voila - problem solved. CEPro now recognizes, auto-plays, and opens the mp3 files perfectly.

regger6 · Posted - Sat Sep 01, 2001 3:29 pm

another way is to go to monkeysaudio.com and get the free download. it'll convert mp3, ogg, ape and others to waves. the plus is when you're done, you can convert it down to an ape file without losing any quality; since ape files use lossless compression thats about half the size of the wave. it also comes with a winamp plugin. it would be nice if cep could use this type of compression.