PlexAmp crashes on playback with some music files

Plex Labs
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1

Server Version#: 1.41.4.9463
Player Version#: 4.11.5

Device: Samsung Galaxy S23FE

I am encountering an issue with playing back some music files on Plexamp. The play/pause button will spin for a few seconds, and will switch to the PAUSE icon before the player crashes. Attempting to reopen the app will sometimes allow me to skip tracks, but will usually crash again, requiring me to clear cache. I have reinstalled the app with no success.

This has been recreated using both Wi-Fi and 5G, and is only present in Plexamp, not the standard Plex Android app. Music files were primarily ripped from TIDAL at MAX quality, and this appears with some M4A files, but not others.

For searching in the log, the M4A track this was recreated with was Godsmack - IV - Livin in Sin.
The M4A file that I was able to play back was Black Sabbath - Forbidden - 02 - Get a Grip.
Plex Media Server.log (6.5 MB)

EDIT - Link to screen recording of the issue: Screen Recording 20250302 154040 Plexamp - Gifyu

2

logs and screencasts don’t help here. post a link to a file which recreates the issue.

3

Hi, thanks for waiting.

Here is the link to the two music files.

Please let me know if there is any issues with downloading the files.

EDIT - Playback from Google Drive seems exactly the same as PlexAmp. Godsmack encounters an error, while Sabbath plays correctly.

4

Pulled Media Info from Godsmack file:

Complete name                            : /Volumes/Downloads/Godsmack - IV - 01 - Livin in Sin.m4a
Format                                   : iso8
Codec ID                                 : iso8 (mp41/dash)
File size                                : 85.5 MiB
Duration                                 : 4 min 39 s
Overall bit rate                         : 2 563 kb/s
Album                                    : IV (2024 Remaster)
Album/Performer                          : Godsmack
Part/Position                            : 1
Part/Total                               : 1
Track name                               : Livin In Sin (2024 Remaster)
Track name/Position                      : 1
Track name/Total                         : 11
Performer                                : Godsmack
Recorded date                            : 2006-04-25
Copyright                                : ℗ 2006 Universal Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Cover                                    : Yes
REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_GAIN                    : -7.69
REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_GAIN                    : -7.85
REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_PEAK                    : 0.966009
REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK                    : 0.966012
isrc                                     : USUM70601413

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : fLaC
Codec ID                                 : fLaC
Duration                                 : 4 min 39 s
Bit rate                                 : 2 559 kb/s
Stream size                              : 85.4 MiB (100%)

So the file has an mp4 extension but the format and codec in the metadata shows iso8.

My best guess would be that this might be the problem. It also shows audio at the bottom format is fLaC. So maybe this was a bad rip? Or maybe a bad setting when you ripped? You might need to re-rip this music with a different file format or convert it to a different file format.

5

What program did you use to pull this data? I’ll use it to try and confirm your theory with some other files.

6

Its called Meadiainfo I compiled the app per the instructions.

Alternatively, the github page has a link to this webpage. Mediaarea.net where you can download an already compiled version.

7

I just pulled the data for the Black Sabbath track as well. Looks the same as the godsmack file.

General
Complete name                            : /Volumes/Downloads/Black Sabbath - Forbidden - 02 - Get a Grip (2024 Tony Iommi remix).m4a
Format                                   : iso8
Codec ID                                 : iso8 (mp41/dash)
File size                                : 50.8 MiB
Duration                                 : 4 min 1 s
Overall bit rate                         : 1 764 kb/s
Album                                    : Forbidden (2024 Tony Iommi Remix)
Album/Performer                          : Black Sabbath
Part/Position                            : 1
Part/Total                               : 1
Track name                               : Get a Grip (2024 Tony Iommi Remix)
Track name/Position                      : 2
Track name/Total                         : 11
Performer                                : Black Sabbath
Recorded date                            : 1995-06-05
Copyright                                : ℗ 2024 Bluefame Limited under exclusive license to BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited
Cover                                    : Yes
REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_GAIN                    : -8.7
REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_GAIN                    : -9.58
REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_PEAK                    : 0.977124
REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_PEAK                    : 0.977124
isrc                                     : USRH12303096

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : fLaC
Codec ID                                 : fLaC
Duration                                 : 4 min 1 s
Bit rate                                 : 1 760 kb/s
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 kHz
Stream size                              : 50.7 MiB (100%)

My best guess is that you have a file format / codec issue with the files. Media info says its an iso8 format, as far as I know that’s a disc image format. Plex doesn’t read ISO files. So my best guess is that is why it doesn’t play and or crashes.

8

Thanks for checking this. I ripped another FLAC of the same track from tidal-dl-ng, not at max quality, and it had no issues with playback. Looking further into my library, it seems like any that were imported into Lidarr with a quality labeled as AAC-VBR all encountered this issue. Case in point, the track from Godsmack was showing as a .m4a file in Lidarr, with AAC-V4A set as the quality label.