How do I encode a WAV so it will play in HTML5 instead of QuickTime?

[Bruce Wayne]

Every time I try to encode a WAV to play in HTML5, I open it in Firefox and it starts playing through the QuickTime plugin. If I turn off the QuickTime plugin, it tries to open through the VLC Web Plugin. If I turn off the VLC Web Plugin, Firefox downloads the file automatically. I thought WAV was supposed to be one of the three audio formats that can open in HTML5. So why can't I get a WAV to open that way?

[El Heggunte]

Possibly /probably because your Firefox setup has TOO MANY plug-ins and add-ons [seriously].

I have Seamonkey, and the page below works for me:

http://hpr.dogphilosophy.net/test/

[Bruce Wayne]

Possibly /probably because your Firefox setup has TOO MANY plug-ins and add-ons [seriously].

I have Seamonkey, and the page below works for me:

http://hpr.dogphilosophy.net/test/

When I go to that site, for .wav it says Should But Might Not. When I click to try it, it plays as it should, in the HTML5 player.

Here's a list off all my extensions/plugins.

Extensions
Adblock Plus
Avast Online Security
Avast SafePrice
FlashGot (enables downloads of videos from web pages)
Ghostery
Greasemonkey
InlineDisposition (forces a browser to open compatible file types rather than asking the user what to do with them)
Media Loop (adds a loop command to the menu that appears when you right-click an MP4/OGV/WebM in Firefox)
ReloadEvery (when enabled, forces a page reload every set number of seconds or minutes)
Unhide Passwords (enables you to type in passwords that you can see rather than little dots)

Plugins
Adobe Acrobat
DivX Plus Web Player
DivX VOD Helper Plug-in
Foxit Reader Plugin for Mozilla
Google Earth Plugin
Google Update
iTunes Application Detector
OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Osmozilla - GPAC Plugin for Mozilla
Primetime Content Decryption Module provided by Adobe Systems, Incorporated
QuickTime Plug-in 7.7.9
RealPlayer Version Plugin 6.0.12.46
RealPlayer(tm) G2 LiveConnect-Enabled Plug-In (32-bit)
Shockwave Flash
Shockwave for Director
Silverlight Plug-In

All my extensions are enabled. All my plugins are on Always Activate.

[hello_hello]

The wave file from El Heggunte's link plays for me using Pale Moon (Mozilla based).
Can you provide a link to your page? If others also can't play it in their browser it'd probably indicate the problem's not caused by your plugins.

[Bruce Wayne]

The wave file from El Heggunte's link plays for me using Pale Moon (Mozilla based).
Can you provide a link to your page? If others also can't play it in their browser it'd probably indicate the problem's not caused by your plugins.

Here ya go.

sample

When I click on that link, it immediately opens through the QuickTime plugin.

[Cornucopia]

Part of the problem I see with your encodes is that you are outputting 32bit Float WAV files (instead of the usual 16bit or 24bit Integer LPCM WAV). Some apps/plugins will have trouble with that. Quicktime shouldn't. Your mime settings might be set to just download that type and may need resetting.

BTW, you've got a heck of a lot of plugins running. Certainly not LEAN,MEAN, FIGHTING MACHINE.

Scott

[Bruce Wayne]

Part of the problem I see with your encodes is that you are outputting 32bit Float WAV files (instead of the usual 16bit or 24bit Integer LPCM WAV). Some apps/plugins will have trouble with that. Quicktime shouldn't.

Ah, OK. I just thought a wav was a wav was a wav. What program should I use to encode 24bit LPCMs?

Your mime settings might be set to just download that type and may need resetting.

I don't know what those are. How do I access them, and how would I know if they need resetting?

BTW, you've got a heck of a lot of plugins running. Certainly not LEAN,MEAN, FIGHTING MACHINE.

Scott

Which ones do you recommend I switch off? I don't even know what half of them do.

[hello_hello]

I don't know anything about HTML5 but when I click on your link Pale Moon wants to download the wave file rather than open it. I've got 39 add-ons installed, but that's because I don't want to use a browser that's mean and lean and as featureless as IE6 with tabs. The only ones related to playing video or audio are the obligatory Flash plugin and the standard Windows Media plugin, but that's it for me as far as multimedia plugins go.

You could always try restarting Firefox without any add-ons and testing again. That'd probably include any plugins too. There's a "restart with add-ons disabled" menu under Help. Well... that's where it is for me. There's always a chance I moved it with Menu Wizard, although I don't think I did.

What are you using to convert the audio? It's not that 32 bit float is bad but most audio conversion programs would default to outputting 16 bit wave as the "finished" output. Until you work it out, here's a 16 bit version courtesy of foobar2000. Is that really how it's supposed to sound?

[Bruce Wayne]

I don't know anything about HTML5 but when I click on your link Pale Moon wants to download the wave file rather than open it. I've got 39 add-ons installed, but that's because I don't want to use a browser that's mean and lean and as featureless as IE6 with tabs. The only ones related to playing video or audio are the obligatory Flash plugin and the standard Windows Media plugin, but that's it for me as far as multimedia plugins go.

You could always try restarting Firefox without any add-ons and testing again. That'd probably include any plugins too. There's a "restart with add-ons disabled" menu under Help. Well... that's where it is for me. There's always a chance I moved it with Menu Wizard, although I don't think I did.

What are you using to convert the audio? It's not that 32 bit float is bad but most audio conversion programs would default to outputting 16 bit wave as the "finished" output. Until you work it out, here's a 16 bit version courtesy of foobar2000. Is that really how it's supposed to sound?

Sorry for taking so long to get back on this. I tried that sample you posted in both Firefox and Pale Moon, both with extensions and plugins disabled, and, unfortunately, both browsers asked me how I wanted to open the file instead of opening it for me. Then I tried it in Maxthon Cloud Browser and that did open it in HTML5.

As for what I've been using to convert, pretty much anything that can convert to wav. I haven't been converting to 32 bit float deliberately. I don't even know what 32 bit float means. As I said in an earlier post, I just thought a wav was a wav was a wav. Never thought before that the encoding really mattered. If I select Options in Firefox, then Applications, then type wav in the search field, I get Content Type: WAV (audio/wav) Action: Use VLC Web Plugin (in Firefox), Content Type: WAV (audio/x-wav) Action: Use VLC Web Plugin (in Firefox), Content Type: WAV (unknown/unknown) Action: Always ask. I tried resetting the mime type actions before by deleting mimetypes.rdf but it didn't work.

[sneaker]

What is your final goal? You speak about "HTML5" but are not actually writing any HTML file, just trying to open a file directly in a browser. That has nothing to do with HTML5.
This is HTML:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">  
    <title>PAGE TITLE</title>
</head>
<body>
   <audio controls="controls">
      Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element.
      <source src="sample.wav" type="audio/wav">
   </audio>
</body>
</html>

Note that trying to directly open a wave file from a http server can have different results based on the http headers sent by the server. A server can tell the client's browser that it is supposed to save the file, not play it. If you use HTML as outlined above clients should always play directly in browser.

[Bruce Wayne]

What is your final goal? You speak about "HTML5" but are not actually writing any HTML file, just trying to open a file directly in a browser. That has nothing to do with HTML5.
This is HTML:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">  
    <title>PAGE TITLE</title>
</head>
<body>
   <audio controls="controls">
      Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element.
      <source src="sample.wav" type="audio/wav">
   </audio>
</body>
</html>

Note that trying to directly open a wave file from a http server can have different results based on the http headers sent by the server. A server can tell the client's browser that it is supposed to save the file, not play it. If you use HTML as outlined above clients should always play directly in browser.

Thanks. I tried that html code with the sample on a file sharing site and it worked fine. What was confusing me was how I was able to open mp4 and ogv files that I had on my desktop directly in browser but every time I tried with a wav file, it opened through the QuickTime plugin.

[Cornucopia]

Go into your browser settings (or "internet settings") and change the mime type's associated action/application.

For firefox, see something like this: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Changing_media_handling_behaviour

Scott

[Bruce Wayne]

Go into your browser settings (or "internet settings") and change the mime type's associated action/application.

For firefox, see something like this: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Changing_media_handling_behaviour

Scott

That's the problem though.

If I select Options in Firefox, then Applications, then type wav in the search field, I get Content Type: WAV (audio/wav) Action: Use VLC Web Plugin (in Firefox), Content Type: WAV (audio/x-wav) Action: Use VLC Web Plugin (in Firefox), Content Type: WAV (unknown/unknown) Action: Always ask. I tried resetting the mime type actions before by deleting mimetypes.rdf but it didn't work.

EDIT: From some of the reading I've been doing, it seems that wav files aren't supposed to open natively in Firefox. Seems you need to use either HTML code or a plugin. Is that right?

[sum_guy]

Html5 natively supports h264 and webM.

To display a video using HTML5, which works in the newest versions of all major browsers, you can serve your video in both WebM format and MPEG H.264
AAC format, using the <source> element like this:

<video controls>
<source src="somevideo.webm" type="video/webm">
<source src="somevideo.mp4" type="video/mp4">
I'm sorry; your browser doesn't support HTML5 video in WebM with VP8 or MP4 with H.264.
<!-- You can embed a Flash player here, to play your mp4 video in older browsers -->
</video>

[Bruce Wayne]

Html5 natively supports h264 and webM.

To display a video using HTML5, which works in the newest versions of all major browsers, you can serve your video in both WebM format and MPEG H.264
AAC format, using the <source> element like this:

<video controls>
<source src="somevideo.webm" type="video/webm">
<source src="somevideo.mp4" type="video/mp4">
I'm sorry; your browser doesn't support HTML5 video in WebM with VP8 or MP4 with H.264.
<!-- You can embed a Flash player here, to play your mp4 video in older browsers -->
</video>

What are you talking about? You're in the audio section. You're replying to the wrong thread.

[sum_guy]

My bad on the video source. For audio... wav is not native to html 5

<audio controls>
<source src="horse.ogg" type="audio/ogg">
<source src="horse.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
Your browser does not support the audio element.
</audio>

[El Heggunte]

My bad on the video source. For audio... wav is not native to html 5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_Audio#Supported_audio_coding_formats

[Bruce Wayne]

Yeah, I'm still quite confused. If I try to open an mp4, ogv, webm, mp3, or ogg from my hard drive natively in Firefox, it plays. But a wav always needs a plugin, or Firefox asks me what I want to do with it.

[Bruce Wayne]

Is this the answer?

http://www.ehow.com/how_8334509_play-wav-file-firefox.html

Are wavs just not designed to open natively in Firefox? Can someone please just tell me one way or the other?

[Cornucopia]

Isn't that page just a repeat of what I suggested?

Modern FF versions, using html5, fully supports wav directly. See this: http://hpr.dogphilosophy.net/test/
If you haven't tweaked your mime application associations, do so. If you have and it still is acting wrongly, remove QT and retweak. If it is still wrong, your system is likely messed up and needs uninstalling/reinstalling (maybe browser, maybe OS).

Scott

[Bruce Wayne]

Isn't that page just a repeat of what I suggested?

Modern FF versions, using html5, fully supports wav directly. See this: http://hpr.dogphilosophy.net/test/
If you haven't tweaked your mime application associations, do so. If you have and it still is acting wrongly, remove QT and retweak. If it is still wrong, your system is likely messed up and needs uninstalling/reinstalling (maybe browser, maybe OS).

Scott

I think the problem is I confused everyone with the thread title. I really don't know anything about this. I don't know what I'm talking about. I had just assumed HTML5 was Firefox's native player. I didn't know it was just the code to open the native player. I don't know anything about anything. Here's my problem. If I right-click on an mp4 on my desktop and select open with Firefox, it'll just start playing. Same thing with an mp3. But if I right-click on a wav file and select open with Firefox, it'll either start playing through a plugin or Firefox will ask me what to do with it. So my question is is that normal? I had assumed because wav is one of the three basic audio formats that can play through HTML5, along with mp3 and ogg, that, because I can right-click on an mp3 or ogg and play them through Firefox, I should be able to do the same with a wav.

[sum_guy]

Why not download and install VLC media player and forget opening anything but website with Firefox. VLC plays just about anything. Video or Audio.

[Bruce Wayne]

Why not download and install VLC media player and forget opening anything but website with Firefox. VLC plays just about anything. Video or Audio.

It's not that I only want to use Firefox to open media. It's just that I'm obsessive. This is confusing me and I just want a clear, unambiguous answer. If I right-click on an mp3 file and select open with Firefox, the mp3 starts playing through Firefox's native player. All I want to know is should a wav file do the same thing or is it normal for it to need a plugin? I just want someone to tell me.

[sum_guy]

The analogy is, your using a screw driver to hammer in a nail. Firefox and other Browsers are not the right tool to open media files for playback. Yes, they can open some files and "play" them, but they won't open them all. The different media types you want to playback can all be played back with VLC, i.e. You can't use Firefox as an all in one media player.

[Bruce Wayne]

The analogy is, your using a screw driver to hammer in a nail. Firefox and other Browsers are not the right tool to open media files for playback. Yes, they can open some files and "play" them, but they won't open them all. The different media types you want to playback can all be played back with VLC, i.e. You can't use Firefox as an all in one media player.

Again, I'm not wanting to. You're still not understanding what my problem is. mp3, ogg, and wav are the three basic audio formats that can play through html5. If mp3 and ogg will play in Firefox, why won't wav? I don't understand how all three are similar in the first respect but wav is different in the second. Or should wav play in Firefox and is it just something I'm doing wrong? I just want someone to tell me one way or the other. SHOULD WAVs PLAY IN FIREFOX?!

[sum_guy]

HTML5 is not Firefox. HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and current version of the HTML standard. Firefox merely interprets HTML5. So forget HTML5

WAV's aren't going to play in Firefox for you. Flat out, period, done, over, out.

[Bruce Wayne]

HTML5 is not Firefox. HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and current version of the HTML standard. Firefox merely interprets HTML5. So forget HTML5

WAV's aren't going to play in Firefox for you. Flat out, period, done, over, out.

Fine, OK, that's all I wanted. Just a clear, straightforward, unambiguous answer.

[Cornucopia]

Putting it another way: There are a variety of "players"...
1. General Media players
2. Media players built into editors
3. Media player modules in other type apps (Word, PPT, Acrobat PDF, etc)
4. Media player processes as part of parsing & rendering a web page/site

You want to be using #1 (or occasionally #2) for your usual media playback needs - that's what they're supposed to be good at.
#3 & #4 are quite crippled subsets.
For similar reasons that you cannot easily play back a TS stream, an MKV file, a DTS file or a MXF file in PowerPoint, you also cannot (nor should not) easily play such things natively in a browser.
If there is a SPECIAL need for a certain format, that's what PLUGINS are for. However, since plugins are an additional point of vulnerability, complexity and instability, that's why HTML5 was created: to enhance yet streamline modern web needs (including capability for the most common consumer media types).
Note - that doesn't mean EVERYTHING, just those that make sense in streaming mass consumption. WAV is not meant for streaming mass consumption (usually, it is too large and not optimized for streaming), rather for recording/editing/mastering.

The reason WAV could work in FF, etc. has to do with HTML5's media embedding/linking, but that has more to do with the way FF, etc. interprets & renders HTML5 than with its native acceptance of WAV. Just "opening up" a file in a browser, without the interpretive code of a web page (HTML, XML, ASP, JSP, etc.) leaves the browser unable to easily interpret the file(s) for rendering (aka playback).

Scott

[Bruce Wayne]

Putting it another way: There are a variety of "players"...
1. General Media players
2. Media players built into editors
3. Media player modules in other type apps (Word, PPT, Acrobat PDF, etc)
4. Media player processes as part of parsing & rendering a web page/site

You want to be using #1 (or occasionally #2) for your usual media playback needs - that's what they're supposed to be good at.
#3 & #4 are quite crippled subsets.
For similar reasons that you cannot easily play back a TS stream, an MKV file, a DTS file or a MXF file in PowerPoint, you also cannot (nor should not) easily play such things natively in a browser.
If there is a SPECIAL need for a certain format, that's what PLUGINS are for. However, since plugins are an additional point of vulnerability, complexity and instability, that's why HTML5 was created: to enhance yet streamline modern web needs (including capability for the most common consumer media types).
Note - that doesn't mean EVERYTHING, just those that make sense in streaming mass consumption. WAV is not meant for streaming mass consumption (usually, it is too large and not optimized for streaming), rather for recording/editing/mastering.

The reason WAV could work in FF, etc. has to do with HTML5's media embedding/linking, but that has more to do with the way FF, etc. interprets & renders HTML5 than with its native acceptance of WAV. Just "opening up" a file in a browser, without the interpretive code of a web page (HTML, XML, ASP, JSP, etc.) leaves the browser unable to easily interpret the file(s) for rendering (aka playback).

Scott

Thanks. Most informative answer yet. WAVs will just not play natively in Firefox just like other formats will. Confusion over.