netstream with aac 48 kbits

FMOD Engine
1

Hey there,

I am trying to start the netstream example from an AAC stream.

I found an old FMODEx Thread where it was stated that it is needed to set the type by

FMOD_CREATESOUNDEXINFO exinfo;
memset(&exinfo, 0x0, sizeof(FMOD_CREATESOUNDEXINFO));
exinfo.cbsize = sizeof(FMOD_CREATESOUNDEXINFO);
exinfo.suggestedsoundtype = FMOD_SOUND_TYPE_MPEG;

This works with an MP3 very well.

With AAC I tried to do this:
FMOD_CREATESOUNDEXINFO exinfo;
memset(&exinfo, 0x0, sizeof(FMOD_CREATESOUNDEXINFO));
exinfo.cbsize = sizeof(FMOD_CREATESOUNDEXINFO);
exinfo.suggestedsoundtype = FMOD_SOUND_TYPE_AUDIOQUEUE;

Unfortuantely, I am still getting an error: “Couldn’t perform seek operation. This is a limitation of the medium (ie netstreams) or the file format.”

What can I do to prevent this?

regards
Martin

2

to make it clear, I don’t use MP3 or AAC files. I am trying to play back a radio stream :slight_smile:

3

anyone?

4

AAC is only supported on Android and iOS and only as a file on disk, you cannot netstream AAC with FMOD.

5

Hey Mathew,

thanks for your fast answer. I do understand it since I already build my own AVFoundation stack to decode on iOS and MacOSX. What I do not understand is, that you support it but not for netstreams? Back in time I build a aac decoder codec for fmod that uses faad. I could port it. Well, I am not sure anymore wheter this codec is used in the streaming part of FMOD or not.
I don’t want to code senseless stuff :slight_smile:

regards

6

Let me ask this question a bit different :slight_smile:

Assuming, I have a custom fmodex codec. Is this used by your netstream backend or shall I stream it on my self?

7

Is a custom codec used while streaming or not?

8

Hi Mathew,

Here we are in 2023 and wanted to check in on FMOD aac stream decoding.

Has there been any change in the outlook of aac decoding support? Will FMOD ever consider adding support in the foreseeable future? Would it make any difference that said support we be an ala carte paid item?

We’re looking at audio engines for our next flagship title (<$1mm) and it matters for us to support aac audio streams.

Thanks,
Drew

9

The biggest hurdle to supporting AAC is licensing, if we were to write a software decoder and ship it with FMOD we’d need to pay licensing. We aren’t prepared to do that considering our main focus for codecs is on FSB and Studio Banks for which we already have great compression options.

We do support AAC in situations where the platform offers a decoder, in that case licensing is paid by the platform and not us.

We do have an open plugin format for codecs which you can see here. If you build your own decoder, or wrapper for an existing one you can interface it with FMOD.

Through a paid support contract we’d consider developing an adapter to allow an existing decoder such as faad2 or fdk-aac to operate with FMOD, distributed in source form. This would leave you to navigate any required licensing for the use of the technology.

But to answer your question directly, we have no plans to offer AAC as a built-in FMOD developed and licensed decoder.

1 Like
10

Thank you for a thorough answer Mathew!

I suspect we’d opt for a contract route and will be evaluating this in the months to come.

Thanks,
Drew