Why can't I hear any soundtrack?

Question

Hallo,
I am using now PrE 7. I have imported music from itunes (mp4). Everything seems to be perfect, but after reopening the project I can't hear anymore the soundtrack. What can I do?
Please answer very simple, because I am really a beginner.
Thanks a lot.
Greetings
- verybeginner

Answer 1

Your reply is just fine.
Now, with iTunes, the music is in m4a format, natively. This is a proprietary format for iTunes.Normally, what one needs to do with iTunes music, downloaded from the iTunes Store is to use the iTunes program to create a Playlist, including the music that is required, and then, still in iTunes, burn this to a CD. The music will be written in CDA format. One would then use an audio editor, like the free Audacity, to rip the CDA files to PCM/WAV and then Save that with a setting of 48KHz 16-bit WAV. The music files will be 44.1 KHz 16-bit by design, and PrE can convert those, but Audacity will allow direct conversion to 48KHz 16-bit, the sample rate and bit-depth of DVD Audio. This would be the file that is Imported into PrE.
PrE can handle the WAV files perfectly, and easily. It will only take moments for the program to Conform the file to 32-bit floating point (for editing) and then generate the .PEK (Waveform Display) file. Once done (blue progress bat at the lower-right of the PrE screen), the file will play and can be used and edited in PrE.
I am wondering how the music files got to MP4 format. Maybe iTunes has changed some things, but I do not upgrade my iTunes to the latest, so long as everything continues to work with my older version. The MP4 format is a variation of MPEG Audio, and MPEG Audio can cause problems in PrE.
Above, is the method that most people use, when Importing iTunes material into PrE. It has been fail-safe for almost all. I would try it, and see if things are different in PrE.
One more question: do other Audio sources play fine in PrE? There could be other settings in the program, that need to be adjusted. As a test, just find a .WAV file on your computer. There are a bunch of these in the Windows folder. Most are short SFX (Sound Effects), but a few are short music pieces, like the one that plays, when Windows starts. You can use the My Computer>Search to find the WAV files in the Windows folders. Import one of those into PrE and test it in both the Source Monitor in the Project Panel (Dbl-click on it in the Project Panel to play it), and then drag it down to the Soundtrack Audio Track (in Timeline View Mode), and test it there too. Does it play when you hit the Spacebar?
If so, then the settings in PrE are fine. If not, we can address those settings - basically in two places, but I won't get into those, until after the test with a "known good" WAV Audio file.
Good luck, and let us know how the tests go.
Hunt