Import M4A file

thetreehunter · 10-18-2019, 01:14 AM

Hi, Most probs a thread previous but cannot find it.So, please can someone guide me on how to import an M4A file. I have already renamed .M4V but still does not seem to work, all I get is OFFLINE message in workspace. v5.979 Reaper/x64 TIA, Rob

Vasily · 10-18-2019, 03:14 AM

m4a is a container (mpeg4 audio). what's inside, ALAC?

try converting it to FLAC. on Mac I've used MediaHuman audio converter for this, on Windows I prefer foobar2000, on Linux you can use ffmpeg or any GUI wrapper around it.

Trensharo · 10-29-2019, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vasily

m4a is a container (mpeg4 audio). what's inside, ALAC?

try converting it to FLAC. on Mac I've used MediaHuman audio converter for this, on Windows I prefer foobar2000, on Linux you can use ffmpeg or any GUI wrapper around it.

M4A is usually AAC. It's basically what you get when you buy music off iTunes.

Most DAWs will open AAC and auto-convert to WAV. That seems to be a widely accepted way to handle that.

AaronG · 03-04-2020, 07:38 AM

Long story short... all of the Reaper editing station that i have in my home and office are able to import .m4a file format strait in to the timeline...

however, I just installed Reaper on a friends laptop... and for some reason it will not import m4a/s... this was a super embarrassment as you can imagine i have really been talking up this program :-/

please let me know what i can to :-/ if i find the answere i will post...
Thank you in advance :-/

Things to note:
m4a/s are working on all my other computers. (Mac and PC)
Friends laptop is PC by Dell
also... i already know how to convert from m4a to mp3 and other formats...

domzy · 03-04-2020, 08:38 AM

have you got VLC or ffmpeg installed?

Charango · 03-04-2020, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AaronG

Long story short... all of the Reaper editing station that i have in my home and office are able to import .m4a file format strait in to the timeline...

however, I just installed Reaper on a friends laptop... and for some reason it will not import m4a/s... this was a super embarrassment as you can imagine i have really been talking up this program :-/

I had a similar problem and got the "file is offline" message. I fixed it by downloading vlc BUT please make sure you download the correct version 64bit or 32 bit because by default it downloads the 32bit version and that is why I got that error message because my system is 64bit!

BigFella · 06-14-2020, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vasily

m4a is a container (mpeg4 audio). what's inside, ALAC?

try converting it to FLAC. on Mac I've used MediaHuman audio converter for this, on Windows I prefer foobar2000, on Linux you can use ffmpeg or any GUI wrapper around it.

I was sent a few files to mix and a couple were m4a. I assured them it wouldn't be a problem but found it surprisingly complicated to actually do.

This suggestion covered it. Open m4a file in Foobar2000, right click on the file name in player and do:

Convert,
Quick covert (or ... to choose settings)

...and Bob's your Auntie Anne.

Thanks Vasily.

Toby_Prin · 07-16-2021, 04:48 AM

Just installed 64 bit VLC and ALACs are opening right away agaiin!

SonicAxiom · 07-17-2021, 11:34 AM

be aware that there seems to be a bug in Reaper concerning AAC and M4A files (M4A container probably containing AAC audio): when zooming in on the waveforms of AAC/M4A files, that waveform can "jump" around, rendering precise editing virtually impossible. To get around this issue, you should convert AAC and M4A files to Wave before importing them into Reaper.

If you don't wanna mess with opening a dedicated conversion app for the conversion task and also don't wanna mess with the conversion settings, you should try my free context-menu media conversion utility AVConvert (Windows-only). Just right-click any media file or multiple files of the same file format in Windows Explorer and choose your desired target format. Converted files will be created in the same folder.

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