exporting to ape with Audacity

**Yellow Pasque** · August 14th, 2020

Originally Posted by shantiq

PS now posted same on Audacity Forum

A link would be nice. Oh, look at that!: https://forum.audacityteam.org/viewt...?f=48&t=112565

**shantiq** · August 14th, 2020

yep the reason why i had not linked YP was that it takes time for post to be moderated so NO link at first; anyway someone also posted a reply which does not work ...

#backtothedrawingboard

**Yellow Pasque** · August 14th, 2020

Originally Posted by shantiq

yep the reason why i had not linked YP was that it takes time for post to be moderated so NO link at first

Ah, I see.
Anyway, the Audacity dev gave you the same command I did, so that makes me feel more confident that I read the directions correctly and I didn't suggest anything nonsensical.

**shantiq** · August 14th, 2020

No YP nothing nonsensical; just a difficult puzzle. Thanx for input

==================

EDIT: Ha ok seems the encoder only handles 16-bit QED . After judicious questions from Steve on the audacity forum ; this is what seems to transpire:

I ran a 24-bit alac to wav then to mac and again the dreaded ERROR: 1002 reared its head again

And since Audacity works from 32-bit that right there might indeed be the fly in the ointment

see below:

Code:

shan@shan-Aspire-XC-780:~/Desktop/trial$ mediainfo Rubycon\ Part\ 1.m4a 
General
Complete name                            : Rubycon Part 1.m4a
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Apple audio with iTunes info
Codec ID                                 : M4A  (M4A /isom/iso2)
File size                                : 185 MiB
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 1 494 kb/s
Album                                    : Rubycon
Track name/Position                      : 1
Performer                                : Tangerine Dream
Genre                                    : Berlin School, Krautrock, Kosmische Rock, Cosmic Rock, Electronic, Electronica,
Recorded date                            : 1975
Writing application                      : Lavf58.49.100
Cover                                    : Yes
COMMENT                                  : 1975 UK Cassette


Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : ALAC
Codec ID                                 : alac
Codec ID/Info                            : Apple Lossless Audio Codec
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Duration_LastFrame                       : -4 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 1 472 kb/s
Nominal bit rate                         : 2 304 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Stream size                              : 182 MiB (98%)
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1


shan@shan-Aspire-XC-780:~/Desktop/trial$ ffmpeg -i Rubycon\ Part\ 1.m4a -c:a pcm_s24le Rubycon\ Part\ 1.WAV
ffmpeg version N-98601-g134a48a Copyright (c) 2000-2020 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 9 (Ubuntu 9.3.0-10ubuntu2)
  configuration: --prefix=/home/shan/ffmpeg_build --pkg-config-flags=--static --extra-cflags=-I/home/shan/ffmpeg_build/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/shan/ffmpeg_build/lib --extra-libs='-lpthread -lm' --bindir=/home/shan/bin --enable-gpl --enable-gnutls --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libfreetype --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-nonfree
  libavutil      56. 57.100 / 56. 57.100
  libavcodec     58. 98.100 / 58. 98.100
  libavformat    58. 49.100 / 58. 49.100
  libavdevice    58. 11.101 / 58. 11.101
  libavfilter     7. 87.100 /  7. 87.100
  libswscale      5.  8.100 /  5.  8.100
  libswresample   3.  8.100 /  3.  8.100
  libpostproc    55.  8.100 / 55.  8.100
[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x562aa7618380] stream 0, timescale not set
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'Rubycon Part 1.m4a':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : M4A 
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: M4A isomiso2
    artist          : Tangerine Dream
    album           : Rubycon
    genre           : Berlin School, Krautrock, Kosmische Rock, Cosmic Rock, Electronic, Electronica,
    track           : 1
    date            : 1975
    encoder         : Lavf58.49.100
    COMMENT         : 1975 UK Cassette
  Duration: 00:17:15.77, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1494 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(und): Audio: alac (alac / 0x63616C61), 48000 Hz, stereo, s32p (24 bit), 1471 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : SoundHandler
    Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg (Baseline), yuvj444p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 1540x2492 [SAR 72:72 DAR 55:89], 90k tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc (attached pic)
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (alac (native) -> pcm_s24le (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
Output #0, wav, to 'Rubycon Part 1.WAV':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : M4A 
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: M4A isomiso2
    IART            : Tangerine Dream
    IPRD            : Rubycon
    IGNR            : Berlin School, Krautrock, Kosmische Rock, Cosmic Rock, Electronic, Electronica,
    IPRT            : 1
    ICRD            : 1975
    ICMT            : 1975 UK Cassette
    ISFT            : Lavf58.49.100
    Stream #0:0(und): Audio: pcm_s24le ([1][0][0][0] / 0x0001), 48000 Hz, stereo, s32 (24 bit), 2304 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : SoundHandler
      encoder         : Lavc58.98.100 pcm_s24le
size=  291311kB time=00:17:15.77 bitrate=2304.0kbits/s speed= 506x    
video:0kB audio:291311kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.000094%
shan@shan-Aspire-XC-780:~/Desktop/trial$ mediainfo Rubycon\ Part\ 1.WAV 
General
Complete name                            : Rubycon Part 1.WAV
Format                                   : Wave
File size                                : 284 MiB
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Constant
Overall bit rate                         : 2 304 kb/s
Part/Position                            : 1
Director                                 : Tangerine Dream
Genre                                    : Berlin School, Krautrock, Kosmische Rock, Cosmic Rock, Electronic, Electronica,
Recorded date                            : 1975
Writing application                      : Lavf58.49.100
Original source form/Name                : Rubycon
Comment                                  : 1975 UK Cassette


Audio
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Little / Signed
Codec ID                                 : 00000001-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 2 304 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Stream size                              : 284 MiB (100%)




shan@shan-Aspire-XC-780:~/Desktop/trial$ mac Rubycon\ Part\ 1.WAV Rubycon\ Part\ 1.ape -C5000
--- Monkey's Audio Console Front End (v 4.11) (c) Matthew T. Ashland ---
Compressing (insane)...


Error: 1002

======

further corroborated by the fact that I got nowhere fast with ttaenc either [I know I can get a tta through ffmpeg in audacity]

the message I get from Audacity and ttaenc is this:

Code:

ttaenc -e Rubycon\ Part\ 1.wav 
TTA1 lossless audio encoder/decoder, release 3.4.1
Copyright (c) 2007 Aleksander Djuric. All rights reserved.
For more information see http://tta.sourceforge.net
------------------------------------------------------------
File:    [Rubycon Part 1.wav]
Error:  not compatible file format
Total:    [0/1, 0.0/0.0 Mb], ratio: 0.000, time: 0'00
------------------------------------------------------------




FROM THIS 32-Bit FILE


shan@shan-Aspire-XC-780:~/Desktop/trial$ mediainfo Rubycon\ Part\ 1.wav 
General
Complete name                            : Rubycon Part 1.wav
Format                                   : Wave
File size                                : 379 MiB
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Constant
Overall bit rate                         : 3 072 kb/s
Part/Position                            : 1
Director                                 : Tangerine Dream
Genre                                    : Berlin School, Krautrock, Kosmische Rock, Cosmic Rock, Electronic, Electronica,
Recorded date                            : 1975
Writing application                      : Lavf58.49.100
Original source form/Name                : Rubycon
Comment                                  : 1975 UK Cassette


Audio
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Little / Signed
Codec ID                                 : 00000001-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 3 072 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 32 bits
Stream size                              : 379 MiB (100%)

AND YET ffmpeg CAN encode to 24-bit from a 32-bit when ttaenc cannot so there must be a way to do likewise in Audacity maybe with mac and ttaenc if you catch my roundabout logic

or maybe not ...

see:

Code:

ffmpeg -i Rubycon\ Part\ 1.wav -c:a tta Rubycon\ Part\ 1.tta
ffmpeg version N-98601-g134a48a Copyright (c) 2000-2020 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 9 (Ubuntu 9.3.0-10ubuntu2)
  configuration: --prefix=/home/shan/ffmpeg_build --pkg-config-flags=--static --extra-cflags=-I/home/shan/ffmpeg_build/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/shan/ffmpeg_build/lib --extra-libs='-lpthread -lm' --bindir=/home/shan/bin --enable-gpl --enable-gnutls --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libfreetype --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-nonfree
  libavutil      56. 57.100 / 56. 57.100
  libavcodec     58. 98.100 / 58. 98.100
  libavformat    58. 49.100 / 58. 49.100
  libavdevice    58. 11.101 / 58. 11.101
  libavfilter     7. 87.100 /  7. 87.100
  libswscale      5.  8.100 /  5.  8.100
  libswresample   3.  8.100 /  3.  8.100
  libpostproc    55.  8.100 / 55.  8.100
Input #0, wav, from 'Rubycon Part 1.wav':
  Metadata:
    artist          : Tangerine Dream
    comment         : 1975 UK Cassette
    date            : 1975
    genre           : Berlin School, Krautrock, Kosmische Rock, Cosmic Rock, Electronic, Electronica,
    album           : Rubycon
    track           : 1
    encoder         : Lavf58.49.100
  Duration: 00:17:15.77, bitrate: 3072 kb/s
    Stream #0:0: Audio: pcm_s32le ([1][0][0][0] / 0x0001), 48000 Hz, stereo, s32, 3072 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (pcm_s32le (native) -> tta (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[tta @ 0x55ebbc8c05c0] encoding as 24 bits-per-sample
Output #0, tta, to 'Rubycon Part 1.tta':

PS: all these I have tested and work

Code:

ffmpeg -i - -c:a alac -sample_fmt s32p "%f" [24-bit]
ffmpeg -i - -acodec alac "%f"   [16-bit]
ffmpeg -i -  -c:a wavpack  "%f" [16-bit]
ffmpeg -i -  -c:a wavpack -sample_fmt s32p "%f" [24-bit]
ffmpeg -i - -c:a tta "%f" [16-bit]
shorten - "%f"   [16-bit]

**andrew.46** · August 18th, 2020

I am wondering if some of these issues are due to some of the slightly odd versions of mac for Linux that are circulating? I achieved success with Audacity and mac by using a version of mac that is apparently a port of the original work and can be seen here... I do not claim to understand all of the different versions circulating, some from Debian Multimedia, some from SuperMMX (yes Slackware I am looking at you!!).

If you want to take it for a spin the following should get it going, you should remove your installed version first:

Code:

cd $HOME/Desktop
wget https://github.com/fernandotcl/monkeys-audio/archive/release-3.99.6.tar.gz
tar xvf release-3.99.6.tar.gz && cd monkeys-audio-release-3.99.6
cmake .
make
install -D -s -m 0755 mac $HOME/bin

This certainly worked in well with Audacity and I simply used the command line:

Code:

mac - "%f" -c3000

in the 'Format Options --> Command:' box. The filename is not automatically changed by Audacity based on this, if you look at the box at the top of that window, next to "Name" I simply trimmed the suffix off and added filename.ape and all was well. I add a screenshot here that hopefully makes that clear:

**shantiq** · August 18th, 2020

Thanx Andrew this works
I had finally worked out my mac version was limited but had stopped there

Now i know ape can now produce 24-bit files since 2004 which is what I am after here. This here produced a 16-bit from a 32-bit wav
Any way to do that you can think of?

Again much appreciated

**andrew.46** · August 19th, 2020

Originally Posted by shantiq

Now i know ape can now produce 24-bit files since 2004 which is what I am after here. This here produced a 16-bit from a 32-bit wav
Any way to do that you can think of?

I suspect that you are actually the expert in this area rather than myself

. What is missing here is an active developer for the Linux port, I see the Windows version is being developed quite actively with a recent release of version 5.49....

Edit: Actually I just installed the latest Monkey's Audio on my Win 10 VM and it is a very nice application! And as you might expect it took a 24bit wav file and created a 24bit ape file with no fuss

Edit again! And the latest Windows Monkey's Audio works perfectly from Wine. Not much use for adding to various Linux applications but even so...

**shantiq** · August 19th, 2020

yea i have done this easy too Andrew with dbpoweramp free version to try and Monkey's exe 5.49

but yes i suppose at this point there are no Linux version of mac advanced enuff to do that .... we will be patient then

Code:

mediainfo Rubycon\ Part\ 1.ape General
Complete name                            : Rubycon Part 1.ape
Format                                   : Monkey's Audio
File size                                : 175 MiB
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Overall bit rate                         : 1 418 kb/s


Audio
Format                                   : Monkey's Audio
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Bit rate                                 : 1 418 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Compression ratio                        : 1.624
Stream size                              : 175 MiB (100%)
Encoding settings                        : Insane

AND it does not seem possible to use wine to bring an exe as an external encoder tried with flac.exe then MAC.exe and no good so far

used:

Code:

wine "/home/shan/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Monkey's Audio/MAC.exe" - "%f"  -C5000

and again gave me error 1002

when I tried the flac.exe to see it was wine it gave me yikes >>

So I take it audacity does not want to put a wine exe through ...

--===========

so the cumbersome route from a 24-bit wav

Code:

wine "/home/shan/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Monkey's Audio/MAC.exe" '/home/shan/Desktop/trial/Rubycon Part 24.wav' '/home/shan/Desktop/trial/Rubycon Part 24.ape' -C5000--- Monkey's Audio Console Front End (v 5.49) (c) Matthew T. Ashland ---
Compressing (insane)...
Progress: 100.0% (0.0 seconds remaining, 44.0 seconds total)          
Success...
016d:fixme:ver:GetCurrentPackageId (0x32fe94 (nil)): stub
shan@shan-Aspire-XC-780:~$ mediainfo '/home/shan/Desktop/trial/Rubycon Part 24.ape'
General
Complete name                            : /home/shan/Desktop/trial/Rubycon Part 24.ape
Format                                   : Monkey's Audio
File size                                : 175 MiB
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Overall bit rate                         : 1 418 kb/s


Audio
Format                                   : Monkey's Audio
Duration                                 : 17 min 15 s
Bit rate                                 : 1 418 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Compression ratio                        : 1.624
Stream size                              : 175 MiB (100%)
Encoding settings                        : Insane