I am using Photostory Deluxe on a Windows 10 HP laptop. I am having a problem with playing .m4a audio files. Some .m4a audio files will play audibly but other .m4a files will not. Please help.
Two things to consider: m4a files use an Apple codec and certain ones may be designed to only play via iTunes. Also, check that the sample rate and bit depth are both set to what PhotoStory expects.
Thanks for the reply. I know that some of the .m4a files are sent as voice recordings from android devices, so I'm not sure if iTunes only is the issue. I am wondering what the sample rate and bit depth expectations are for PhotoStory. Will you please post them for me?
I am also noticing that the bitrate of the files that are playing is above sixty and the ones that are not are in the twenties. The program I am using is VLC media player. Do you know if I can change bit rate, bit depth or sample rate using the program. Someone recommended that I should just convert all of my files to another format such as mp3. What do you think? Please help.
Audio files with a bit rate in the twenties will be of an extremely low quality indeed. So low that I would not even consider trying to use them for any project where even reasonable quality audio was demanded! That low rate may well be the reason that PhotoStory refuses to play them! For all practical purposes, the lowest bit rate for mono (single channel) speech is 48kbps; for stereo music at least twice, and, preferably, four times that, i.e. 96kbps, up to 192kbps or even higher.
I don't think PhotoStory includes any means to upscale or convert your files; you will need to find a "specialist" audio editing program. I think the free Audacity should be able to do this.