Big problems with M4A after updating to Windows 11 22H2

Anonymous
2023-05-16T09:52:13+00:00

Dear colleagues, after updating Windows 11 to 22H2, there were significant problems with playing files purchased from iTunes in .m4a (AAC, ALAC) format. This problem has been fixed by a lot of people all over the world and is especially evident on the DJ forums. Problems are observed with the quality of playback, and with the volume and with a number of other parameters. This problem is detected on software that uses the built-in Windows 11 22H2 codecs (on earlier versions, the problem is not observed), Windows Media Player, RekordBox, Serato DJ Pro, etc. On players that use their own codecs (VLC, iTunes, JetAudio HD, etc.) there is no problem. When converting m4a to mp3, there are no problems. What it looks like: https://youtu.be/WqAA12pfWjg and https://youtu.be/um3QSTuLg6s Software vendors fix this issue after the 22H2 update as well, label it as a Microsoft issue and offer a workaround, such as converting the entire m4a database to other formats, which of course is completely unacceptable advice with a database of several thousand files. https://forums.pioneerdj.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/12212808237337-RekordBox-5-8-7-m4a-problems Does Microsoft acknowledge the existence of this problem and when is it planned to release an urgent fix, since. the problem has been observed for a very long time and prevents normal operation?

Thanks in advance!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2024-03-27T00:42:35+00:00

I installed KB5035942 and unless I'm severely mistaken, the issue seems to be resolved.

Can anyone else confirm?

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-12-10T02:17:24+00:00

    Realized I forgot to say *how* to send me the FB hub link.

    pete dot brown at microsoft dot com

    Thanks.

    Pete

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-12-26T18:19:41+00:00

    Hey, mate. Thanks for posting about how to submit feedback and bug reports so that Microsoft can see them.

    I just wanted to mention that most people will not know how to report this issue as a problem with the m4a codec.

    The problem shows up in every YouTube Music or normal YouTube video, as those use mp4 for the audio stream.

    I figured it out because I'm technical, but I bet that:

    a) there are a lot of frustrated people who experience this issue, but don't know that it is related to m4a (or what that is), or

    b) there are probably any reports all over forums like this one, but describing the problem as audio skipping on YouTube, and

    c) people in general don't really report these things, but rather use a search engine to find information, which would lead them to forum threads like this one, and not to the Feedback Hub

    Maybe Microsoft should make more of an effort to tell Windows 11 users about the feedback and bug reporting process, especially considering that W11 isn't even finished yet.

    There can always be more help, but if you do a web search of "how to report a bug in Windows", the feedback hub instructions are right at the top of the search results. Unfortunately, our in-Windows search doesn't bring up the same.

    My comments were about folks assuming that we knew about the bug. For the people in this thread, the first reply from the peer assistance here was also to file a Feedback Hub entry. So for certain, awareness was not the problem, at least for the folks landing on or participating in this thread.

    On the format: Pretty sure this issue does not affect YouTube videos. If it does, that's a new twist, and I would want to see some logs of it doing it so we can investigate. MP4 is a container, as is m4a, so it depends on the codec being used for the audio component. From what I understand, this issue has only shown up with Apple Music, which uses AAC or ALAC as the audio format.

    As to Windows not being finished: snarky comment aside, software is never finished. :)

    Pete

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