[Bug]: WAV file on server is overdriven on App causing intense audio distortion, not an issue in web client

[CSSdshchur]

I have verified that the bug is not already awaiting release

Yes

What was the Problem?

I have a podcast on my server where one of the files was published as an uncompressed WAV. The file plays fine in browser of both PC and Android phone. However, when using the Android App, the audio is severely over-driven and distorted, playing multitudes of volume louder than intended. Likely, a codec issue.

Steps to Reproduce the Issue

1. Ensure the server has a file encoded in the WAV format (uncompressed audio, PCMF32LE 48KHz)
2. Attempt to play that file via the android app.
3. Observe extreme gain applied to the audio stream during decode.

What was Expected?

The decode would succeed correctly without distortion as is the case in browser currently.

Phone Model

Pixel 9

Phone OS

Android 16

Audiobookshelf App Version

Android App - 0.13.0

Installation Source

Google Play Store

Additional Notes

I also grabbed the newest APK from the releases page and tried that, no difference - 0.14.0-beta

I have a little experience with android dev, but do have a lot of programming knowledge and can probably setup a logging session if that would be useful (I might need some pointers/guidance for this app though)

[CSSdshchur]

Hmmm, investigating this further, it might just be that one file.

Still, very quirky behavior that would ideally be handled, but just grabbing another WAV file didn't produce the same issue.

I'll keep poking it to see if I can find what the difference there is causing the issue.

[CSSdshchur]

I tried looking into this more deeply. This issue androidx/media#2490 seems to best match what I'm seeing. However, another person noted that the fix should be within media 1.8.0-beta01. So I went ahead and setup the project on my local machine, updated the var:

    androidx_media_version = '1.8.0'

synced, built, and deployed onto my phone, but the problem persists.

I also tried to download the file for local playback in case it was some issue with chunk playing over the web-stream, but the same issue exists for local playback through the ABS app. Playing through the "Files by Google" and VLC apps, it's fine.

I tried to convert other files into the same wav PCM F32LE format, but they didn't have the same issue. I also took the original file and ran it through ffmpeg with the exact same codec, bitrate, etc, and it plays fine, but the original doesn't. Makes me think there's something hyper-specific to this one audio file and the encoder and settings used by the author, etc, which is causing this problem to be exhibited. I think for now, I'll just convert the audio and call it there for now.

If I have time, I'll try looking into this further, but it seems very circumstantial to the audio I have.

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I also looked into the upgrade pipeline for further versions of androidx-media, but it looks like it's been deprecated and the move to newer media3 would be a substantial undertaking. Might be something that would ultimately resolve this issue (and would be better for the longevity of this project), but obviously, resources are likely slim. I could try my hand at migrating, but I don't know the vision for this project nor do I have very much Android dev experience in the first place to say that I know what I'm doing by any means.