Hi forum,

I recently found a sweet .mp3 music file for my game, but SDL_mixer is unable to load and play it...I've checked the docs for SDL_mixer and it states that: "It also supports OGG, MP3, MOD and MIDI" (this is for sound because the Mix_LoadMUS part is down atm, but I searched the net and found it to support the format as well). I double-checked my syntax and other common errors with no luck.

Then I found this: http://www.dengine.net/blog/?p=106

Can anyone confirm and should I consider switching to SDL_sound instead?

- NordCoder

Well, looking at the links you posted, seems that SDL_mixer is unable to read mp3 files with ID3v2 tags. Unless you are doing any audio player or something like, i guess the fastest solution would be rip off the tags of the file and test again.

Good luck.

Yeah, prolly, though I have no idea how to rip stuff like that. I only posted this to confirm if this was true or not.

However, using media-convert.com I converted from .mp3 to .mp3 and the generated file did not contain the ID3v2 tag. Also converted to .ogg which worked like a charm.

Thanks for the reply

Oh I'm glad you figured out. If you are using *nix there are a ton of tools you can use to strip tags, look for "id3" in your package manager.

Anyway, it seems that you confirmed that SDL_mixer cannot load id3v2 tags
Thanks for the info, it will be useful.

Dunno what *nix is, but I'll be sure to check it out

No problem I'll email the creator(s) of SDL_mixer (whoever they are) about this so it can get changed in future versions.

*nix means a Linux distribution (like Ubuntu, Fedora, etc...). Regarding the creator, that would be mister Sam Langtinga himself, and 2 other guys. I doubt they have time, but you can surely let them know.

Regarding MP3s, you can also try out a different audio library like OpenAL (http://connect.creativelabs.com/openal/default.aspx) or FMOD (http://www.fmod.org/).

Here's something to ponder: Since you are using open-source code, I assume you are an open-source kind of person. If so, why are you using a closed source, license required, audio format like an mp3? I would use ogg.

I am definitely pro open-source, so I'll stick with .ogg (or similar open-source formats). I'll have to check the other libraries out and maybe redo my engine after the contest (going to do it with SDL+OpenGL anyway, so might as well), even though SDL_mixer covers my needs so far Thanks for the links and info!