Playing .ogg, .mp3 and .wav files.

[MadLadDesigns]

I'm creating an app which has a section in which the user can load and play up to 8 overlapping audio files. At the moment I'm using the Windows Media Player .dll and everything works perfectly.



Unfortunately, this can't play .ogg files (and I think the WMP dll is depreciated?)

How can I get the same functionality as the WMP but be able to play all 3 audio formats?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[sapator]

Probably not supported but I haven't every played an ogg file.
Check:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...ogg-mp4-in-net

[.paul.]

http://www.scproject.biz/Playing%20M...ia%20Files.php

[MadLadDesigns]

Thank you. I'll take a look at these later when I get the chance.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

theTrick has some very usable code for handling and playing MP3 files.

WMP is deprecated but should work for some time yet, however, it is developing issues playing some existing formats that used to work well on XP/Win 7 &c, now have problems on Win 10/11. Time to dump it. Sad but true.

[sapator]

I have a complete sample on the codebank taking advantage of the windows API but I won;t post it because it may be obsolete (i think it's over 8 years sample).

[-Franky-]

Starting with Windows 10, I would use Media Foundation. Especially with the IMFMediaEngine and IMFMediaEngineEx interfaces, you can quickly create a media player. However, Media Foundation cannot play OGG files. There are "Web Media Extensions" in the Microsoft Store that can also decode OGG. I haven't tested whether Media Foundation can play OGG with the extension installed. I also wouldn't use mixed media files (WAV, MP3, OGG, etc.) in one program. The easiest way is to use a media format that is natively supported in Windows, without having to install additional codecs.

[SwampeastMike]

I can confirm that the "Web Media Extensions" package in the Microsoft Store does in fact include .OGG/Vorbis playback ability.

It's a very quick and simply install.

https://xiph.org/vorbis/ has numerous tools (all simple .exe files to run from a command line) to encode and decode .OGG/Vorbis files. If you don't want to go the binary (MUCH FASTER) they also offer command line tools to add/modify metadata. The section with the metadata is near the beginning, easy to find/decode/encode.

[MadLadDesigns]

duplicate

[MadLadDesigns]

The app I'm creating is not a music player per-say, it plays audio files for atmosphere. I have many .ogg, .wav & .mp3 files I've bought as Humble Bundles.

So, it's not possible to play all 3 formats easily?

Starting with Windows 10, I would use Media Foundation. Especially with the IMFMediaEngine and IMFMediaEngineEx interfaces, you can quickly create a media player. However, Media Foundation cannot play OGG files. There are "Web Media Extensions" in the Microsoft Store that can also decode OGG. I haven't tested whether Media Foundation can play OGG with the extension installed. I also wouldn't use mixed media files (WAV, MP3, OGG, etc.) in one program. The easiest way is to use a media format that is natively supported in Windows, without having to install additional codecs.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

This isn't really a VB.NET language problem, it is a problem with operating systems and the tools it uses to recognise and play media formats. You are stepping into a world of problems by just dipping your toe into the water.

[-Franky-]

So, it's not possible to play all 3 formats easily?

It's possible to play all three audio formats. The prerequisite is that you have the appropriate codecs installed on your PC, or the audio interface you're using (WMP, DirectSound, MediaFoundation, VLC, etc.) already includes suitable codecs. I haven't tried it. If you install the "Web Media Extensions" from the Microsoft Store, WMP might be able to play OGG files. It might also work if you install the codec from xiph.org. -> https://downloads.xiph.org/releases/...7220-win32.exe