iTunes 6.0.4 (#5): Problems playing some QuickTime-encoded MP4 files

Users have reported issues playing back some MP4 that are encoded using QuickTime with high quality in iTunes 6.0.4.

One reader writes:

"I have discovered since 'upgrading' to iTunes v6.0.4 that about 30 songs in my library won't play anymore. Specifically they are songs that I used Quicktime to reencode from a quicktime-associated .mov file to an AAC formatted .m4a file. I used Quicktime because it has more elaborate (read better) quality controls than the more rudimentary settings deployed by iTunes. Unfortunately now, my higher-quality recompressed files will not play in iTunes because something changed in this last release that breaks compatibility.

"To prove my suspicions to myself, I was able to reproduce the same problem on both a G4 and G5 iMac, so it's not a hardware related issue.. it is software-related. Further, I didn't any longer have iTunes v6.0.3 because I let Apple's Software Update install v6.0.4, so I dug around and found a copy of iTunes v4.8.. Not to my surprise, iTunes v4.8 played both the original Quicktime .mov files and the AAC recompressed .m4a files fine -- so then just be sure I ran the same files again through iTunes v6.0.4.. no dice.

"The original Quicktime .mov files will play (however, since iTunes uses Quicktime layers to decode and playback the files, it loses the ability to support sound EQ, visualizers, and 3rd party sound EQ software. The very reason I wanted to reencode the files to a non-Quicktime format in the first place).

If you are experiencing a similar issue, please let us know.

Previous coverage:

• iTunes 6.0.4 (#4): Frequent rebuffering of streaming audio -- fixes
• iTunes 6.0.4 (#3): Multi-pass not working for some; Frequent re-buffering of streaming audio
• iTunes 6.0.4 (#2): Problems with shared playlists
• Apple releases iTunes 6.0.4

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