OGG is not Vorbis

[WINAMP]

Why does Reaper expect OGG to contain VORBIS?

Or so it seems.

I have bunch of OGG (actually "OGA") files with FLAC encoded sound.

OK, not the most popular format.

But the container spec (in a way) also specifies
OGA to indicate non-Vorbis codecs.

Can I workaround this issue by copying libavcodec from ffmpeg into UserPlugins?

[chmaha]

Originally Posted by WINAMP

Why does Reaper expect OGG to contain VORBIS?

Or so it seems.

I have bunch of OGG (actually "OGA") files with FLAC encoded sound.

OK, not the most popular format.

But the container spec (in a way) also specifies
OGA to indicate non-Vorbis codecs.

Can I workaround this issue by copying libavcodec from ffmpeg into UserPlugins?

Are you referring to this?: https://xiph.org/flac/ogg_mapping.html

It's an interesting idea. I wonder how relevant this is to anything other than live-streaming radio or streaming files to an ogg player? And why prefer it over a (simpler) higher-quality ogg vorbis or opus file? I've always understood FLAC (native .flac) to be for storage and opus at at reasonable bitrates for excellent or audiophile quality playback.

In your case, do you have a 3rd-party application to convert from your audio-only ogg/oga to FLAC before using in REAPER? For future, best to stick with ogg vorbis, opus and flac native defaults IMHO. I'm pretty sure they cover every possible need.

[vitalker]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

In your case, do you have a 3rd-party application to convert from your audio-only ogg/oga to FLAC before using in REAPER? For future, best to stick with ogg vorbis, opus and flac native defaults IMHO. I'm pretty sure they cover every possible need.

Just renaming the extension should probably work, too.

[chmaha]

Originally Posted by vitalker

Just renaming the extension should probably work, too.

If the .oga is indeed an ogg container of flac-encoded material (i.e. an oggFLAC) not sure if renaming to .ogg or .flac would give the desired results. Wouldn't REAPER assume ogg vorbis or native flac respectively (both of which are wrong in this instance)? I don't know enough about that particular oggFLAC format to know. But, if renaming does indeed work, that's good news!

[vitalker]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

If the .oga is indeed an ogg container of flac-encoded material (i.e. an oggFLAC) not sure if renaming to .ogg or .flac would give the desired results. Wouldn't REAPER assume ogg vorbis or native flac respectively (both of which are wrong in this instance)? I don't know enough about that particular oggFLAC format to know. But, if renaming does indeed work, that's good news!

Well one should check whether it works.

[chmaha]

Originally Posted by vitalker

Well one should check whether it works.

Clearly an exercise for the OP

[WINAMP]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

Clearly an exercise for the OP

Would not ask if renaming worked, but since you don't know what I don't know, also a logical good first troubleshooting step

Because the renaming does not work, I can only conclude that @BethHarmon 's original answer was the "culprit".

However, I was not actually concerned with that article to begin with - it was just a matter of choosing a common container for both lossy and lossless codecs - akin to mpeg4 / mp4, but with more native support on Linux (that's beside the point).

I mean, if FLAC is a codec and not a container, shouldn't it be supported in a supported container, such as OGG?

Although that article raises some interesting points that I was not aware of. Also a bit advancy...

[WINAMP]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

If the .oga is indeed an ogg container of flac-encoded material (i.e. an oggFLAC) not sure if renaming to .ogg or .flac would give the desired results. Wouldn't REAPER assume ogg vorbis or native flac respectively (both of which are wrong in this instance)? I don't know enough about that particular oggFLAC format to know. But, if renaming does indeed work, that's good news!

P.S. OGA is not a container per se, it is a convention extension for OGG that uses something other than Vorbis. There is an official recommendation for this, but I lost the link. (probably on Xiph)

[WINAMP]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

In your case, do you have a 3rd-party application to convert from your audio-only ogg/oga to FLAC before using in REAPER? For future, best to stick with ogg vorbis, opus and flac native defaults IMHO. I'm pretty sure they cover every possible need.

Yes I do. It's called ffmpeg. It does the job.

But wait. What does Reaper use for batch file conversion?

[WINAMP]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

And why prefer it over a (simpler) higher-quality ogg vorbis or opus file? I've always understood FLAC (native .flac) to be for storage and opus at at reasonable bitrates for excellent or audiophile quality playback.

"Wait, what." Because OPUS is lossy. I am assuming this forum is for music production, not streaming?

FLAC is for storage, in that it compresses the data, but not the sound itself.
Also for file transmission. But it is lossless.

As I understand it, all lossy (and lossless compressed) files get converted to uncompressed PCM, which is to say, end up as either WAV or AIFF.

Now, don't get me started on AIFC (.aif) where that fruit company took their own format, reversed the endianness, and designated that as a codec, just so they could... with people.

[Lynx_TWO]

Originally Posted by WINAMP

As I understand it, all lossy (and lossless compressed) files get converted to uncompressed PCM, which is to say, end up as either WAV or AIFF.

Well, yes, but converting a lossy format to a lossless format like WAV or FLAC does not recover the lost data…

[chmaha]

Originally Posted by WINAMP

"Wait, what." Because OPUS is lossy. I am assuming this forum is for music production, not streaming?

FLAC is for storage, in that it compresses the data, but not the sound itself.
Also for file transmission. But it is lossless.

As I understand it, all lossy (and lossless compressed) files get converted to uncompressed PCM, which is to say, end up as either WAV or AIFF.

Now, don't get me started on AIFC (.aif) where that fruit company took their own format, reversed the endianness, and designated that as a codec, just so they could... with people.

I'm struggling to follow your points, I'm afraid. To my mind it seems like much of this is a settled matter in terms of which codecs/containers to use for which purpose:

1) WAV or FLAC (+ optional CUE) for exporting when you know you'll need to generate other formats later or submit for online services such as Bandcamp, Apple Music etc. A storage format meaning all the original data is still present or as guaranteed local audiophile, transparent playback.

2) Lossy such as MP3, Opus etc for general playback and end-user files (which at higher bitrates can also essentially be transparent). You would not want to use these for converting back to lossless (pointless) or other lossy formats (further corruption of original material). Lossy files are a compromise between quality and file size.

These seem to cover all the possible avenues for music production. Streaming is also a compromise between quality and data use with Opus performing particularly well even at lower bitrates both for local playback and streaming.

[WINAMP]

Originally Posted by BethHarmon

I'm struggling to follow your points [...]

It seems I omitted crucial info: I am talking about importing sound into Reaper , not exporting.