FLAC files from Qobuz Downloader crash Audition when imported in multitrack

Report · Aug 01, 2023

Summary:
I record a weekly radio program in Adobe Audition on Windows 11, and my workflow uses Multitrack sessions where I import songs (MP3, WAV, or FLAC) and then record voiceovers and mix everything down.

I have a set of FLAC files from the Qobuz music service that will reliably crash Audition when imported into Multitrack - specifically, they create an error message and then Audition becomes unresponsive.

I'm not sure what's broken about the files; they play in Windows audio players reliably, and they pass the "flac -t" test command in Linux. If I download the same song from Qobuz directly from the web site, they import into Audition just fine - so I believe something about how they're being encoded by the Qobuz Downloader is exposing a bug in Audition.

If the files are malformed, I want to report a bug to Qobuz, but I also believe that a FLAC file should never be able to crash Audition, especially if it can be opened and played in other programs. The files successfully load and play in Windows Media Player, MediaMonkey, and VLC Media Player, as well as Audacity.

The issue reproduces for me on Windows 11 22H2, in Audition 23.5, Audition 23.3, and Audition 23.0 (I haven't tried any other versions); it reproduces on two separate PCs.

Repro information:
1) What was I doing when it crashed: I dragged the repro FLAC files into a multi-track session in Adobe Audition to import the file to the session

2) What have I dont since last launching the application: created a Multitrack session. The crash will reproduce whether it's the first import or the last of several, but only with the specific "malformed" FLAC files. Other FLACs will not crash Audition no matter when I import them.

The issue reproduces even if I completely wipe all Adobe Creative Cloud applications and reinstall, and across multiple versions of Audition.

3) Files that are crashing Audition: I can send examples of the same song and album that will crash Audition and ones that do not crash Audition. Below in this message, I list the results of the flac -t command line test on Linux, as well as the files' metadata and ID tags -- the file that breaks Audition is slightly larger (32.42MB for the bad file vs 32.34 for the good one)

4) I am not seeing reports of this specific issue; however the new Qobuz Downloader has a number of bugs so it may also be silently messing up these FLAC files.

5) screenshot of the error message attached - "Audition has encountered an error. $$$/dvacore/logging/ExceptionLogging/UnknownError=Unknown Error"

6) bug report here, I also submitted bug reports with Adobe's crash reporter. I'm attaching the Audition log that shows a crash Callstack when opening the file.

7) attaching screenshot and I can send logs and examples of the files that reproduce the problem

8) Session backups did successfully keep my multitrack session, but when I reopen them trying to use the "imported" file will still cause Audition to eventually fail

More information on the files:

FLAC test results from flac 1.3.2 on Ubuntu
file that does *not* crash Audition, downloaded directly from the Qobuz Store site:

$ flac -t good\ 01-04\ Special\ Cases.flac

flac 1.3.2
Copyright (C) 2000-2009 Josh Coalson, 2011-2016 Xiph.Org Foundation
flac comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are
welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. Type `flac' for details.

good 01-04 Special Cases.flac: WARNING, cannot check MD5 signature since it was unset in the STREAMINFO
ok

Good file Metadata:

Artist Massive Attack

Title Special Cases

Album 100th Window

Track 4/9

Disc 1/1

Genre Trip Hop

Year 2002

Rating

Composer

Size 32.34 MB (38% Compressed)

Original Size 51.99 MB

Length 5 minutes 9 seconds

Channels 2 (stereo)

Sample Rate 44.1 kHz;

Sample Size 16 bit

Bit Rate 1,411 kbps

Encoder

Encoder Settings

Audio Quality Perfect (Lossless)

Contains Album Art, ID Tag [Vorbis Comments]

Channel Mapping

File good 01-04 Special Cases

Type FLAC Audio File [.flac]

for a bad file that *does* crash Audition 100% repro, generated by the Qobuz Downloader for Windows (still plays fine and loads fine in Audacity):

$ flac -t 4-Special\ Cases.flac

flac 1.3.2
Copyright (C) 2000-2009 Josh Coalson, 2011-2016 Xiph.Org Foundation
flac comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are
welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. Type `flac' for details.

4-Special Cases.flac: ok

bad file's metadata:

Artist Massive Attack

Title Special Cases

Album 100th Window

Track 4/9

Disc 1/2

Genre Trip Hop

Year 2002{CR}2002

Rating

Composer

Size 32.42 MB (38% Compressed)

Original Size 51.99 MB

Length 5 minutes 9 seconds

Channels 2 (stereo)

Sample Rate 44.1 kHz;

Sample Size 16 bit

Bit Rate 1,411 kbps

Encoder FLAC reference libFLAC 1.1.2 20050205

Encoder Settings

Audio Quality Perfect (Lossless)

Contains Album Art, CRC, ID Tag [Vorbis Comments]

Channel Mapping

File 4-Special Cases

Type FLAC Audio File [.flac]

Callstack:

Ticks = 94766 <340 (main)> <exception> <4> Caught exception!

{

context: "aui.ErrorManager"

type: "std::exception_ptr"

}

Callstack:

[

dvacore::config::DeferredErrorReporter::Finish ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x0000000000093B48)

dvacore::logging::LogCustomException ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000012F40F)

std::basic_ostream<unsigned char,std::char_traits<unsigned char> >::write ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x00000000003FBFDD)

std::basic_ostream<unsigned char,std::char_traits<unsigned char> >::write ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x0000000000001080)

_NLG_Return2 ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x00000000000026A5)

RtlCaptureContext2 ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A3646)

dvacore::logging::LogException<std::exception_ptr> ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000012ABA4)

aui::TabCreatorRegistry::RegistryEntryBegin ( @ 0) (AuUI.dll+0x0000000000A21C1A)

aui::TabCreatorRegistry::RegistryEntryBegin ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x0000000000001080)

_NLG_Return2 ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x00000000000026A5)

RtlCaptureContext2 ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A3646)

aui::ApplicationMenu::Setup ( @ 0) (AuUI.dll+0x0000000000105947)

aui::ApplicationMenu::Setup ( @ 0) (AuUI.dll+0x0000000000105A5D)

dvaui::datatransfer::SetDefaultCursorSupport ( @ 0) (dvaui.dll+0x0000000000216CB9)

dvaui::datatransfer::OS_DropTarget::~OS_DropTarget ( @ 0) (dvaui.dll+0x0000000000217180)

DoDragDrop ( @ 0) (ole32.dll+0x000000000003529B)

NdrInterfacePointerMemorySize ( @ 0) (RPCRT4.dll+0x0000000000067E23)

NdrClientCall3 ( @ 0) (RPCRT4.dll+0x00000000000D371A)

NdrStubCall3 ( @ 0) (RPCRT4.dll+0x000000000004B4D3)

CStdStubBuffer_Invoke ( @ 0) (combase.dll+0x00000000000C5DAF)

WindowsGetStringRawBuffer ( @ 0) (combase.dll+0x000000000009DFAD)

WindowsGetStringRawBuffer ( @ 0) (combase.dll+0x000000000009DD38)

??? (combase.dll+0x00000000000C9191)

DllGetClassObject ( @ 0) (combase.dll+0x00000000000A0DD7)

CoWaitForMultipleHandles ( @ 0) (combase.dll+0x0000000000049C69)

DllGetClassObject ( @ 0) (combase.dll+0x00000000000A6859)

??? (combase.dll+0x000000000006A608)

??? (combase.dll+0x000000000006AED9)

DispatchMessageW ( @ 0) (USER32.dll+0x0000000000018211)

DispatchMessageW ( @ 0) (USER32.dll+0x0000000000017CD1)

exo::app::OS_AppBase::PumpMessage ( @ 0) (exo.dll+0x000000000000BAD6)

exo::app::OS_AppBase::RunEventLoop ( @ 0) (exo.dll+0x000000000000BC24)

AudWinMain ( @ 0) (AuUI.dll+0x0000000000118A30)

AudWinMain ( @ 0) (Adobe Audition.exe+0x0000000000001971)

AudWinMain ( @ 0) (Adobe Audition.exe+0x0000000000001F5E)

BaseThreadInitThunk ( @ 0) (KERNEL32.DLL+0x00000000000126AD)

RtlUserThreadStart ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x000000000005AA68)

]

Ticks = 94766 <340 (main)> <assert> <5> Assertion Failed

{

expression: "false"

hash: "e7c2c1a0-0f49-db1f-febd-6eac0000003a"

lastError: "2"

message: "$$$/dvacore/logging/ExceptionLogging/UnknownError=Unknown Error"

sourceFile: "..\..\logging\src\ExceptionLogging.cpp"

sourceFunction: "dvacore::logging::LogException"

sourceLine: "638"

timestamp: "2023-08-02T01:11:38.0Z"

}

Callstack:

[

dvacore::config::DeferredErrorReporter::Finish ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x0000000000093B48)

std::basic_ostream<unsigned char,std::char_traits<unsigned char> >::write ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x00000000003FC31E)

std::basic_ostream<unsigned char,std::char_traits<unsigned char> >::write ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x0000000000001080)

_NLG_Return2 ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x00000000000026A5)

RtlCaptureContext2 ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A3646)

dvacore::logging::LogException<std::exception_ptr> ( @ 0) (dvacore.dll+0x000000000012ABA4)

aui::TabCreatorRegistry::RegistryEntryBegin ( @ 0) (AuUI.dll+0x0000000000A21C1A)

aui::TabCreatorRegistry::RegistryEntryBegin ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x0000000000001080)

_NLG_Return2 ( @ 0) (VCRUNTIME140_1.dll+0x00000000000026A5)

RtlCaptureContext2 ( @ 0) (ntdll.dll+0x00000000000A3646)

aui::ApplicationMenu::Setup ( @ 0) (AuUI.dll+0x0000000000105947)

aui::ApplicationMenu::Setup ( @ 0) (AuUI.dll+0x0000000000105A5D)

dvaui::datatransfer::SetDefaultCursorSupport ( @ 0) (dvaui.dll+0x0000000000216CB9)

dvaui::datatransfer::OS_DropTarget::~OS_DropTarget ( @ 0) (dvaui.dll+0x0000000000217180)

DoDragDrop ( @ 0) (ole32.dll+0x000000000003529B)

NdrInterfacePointerMemorySize ( @ 0) (RPCRT4.dll+0x0000000000067E23)

]

Ticks = 95688 <340> <AuLog.LSF> <5> Log information from libsndfile:

No Error.

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> AuUI termination sequence started...

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Writing to Crash Recovery Folder: C:\Users\jim_c\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Audition\23.0\8cf5b426-4049-437a-bc84-b5469e78221d

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating AuCEPSupport

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating AuUI

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating AuApplication

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> AuApplication termination sequence started...

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating dva unit test and console

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Essential Sound

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating AutoSave Manager

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Direct File Playback

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Session Host

Ticks = 255641 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Audio Device

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating XMP System

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Favorites Manager

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Preset Manager

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Clipboard Manager

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating ProjectManager

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating DocumentManager

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> AuApplication termination sequence complete.

Ticks = 255656 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating AuBackEnd

Ticks = 255781 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating dvaaudiodsp

Ticks = 255781 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating AuMediaCoreSupport

Ticks = 255797 <340> <AmioLSF> <5> Unloading libsndfile...

Ticks = 255828 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Crash Recovery

Ticks = 255828 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> AuUI termination sequence complete.

Ticks = 255891 <340> <AuLog.Shutdown> <5> Terminating Application Settings

Report · Aug 02, 2023

I've linked this thread on the thread that the devs have started about crashes, so they should be able to respond directly (I hope).

Report · Aug 02, 2023

Thank you for reaching out. Would it be possible for you to send the problematic files to us? You can use any file sharing site and send us the link.

Report · Aug 02, 2023

Thank you Steve and Satish --

I've just sent two FLAC files that repro the problem to audbugs@adobe.com via WeTransfer, the email subject is:

13979842: Example FLACs that crash Adobe Audition on import

The files are transferring now and WeTransfer should notify you within 5-10 minutes

Jim

Report · Aug 03, 2023

Thank you very much @Farpointer . We are able to repro the problem and working on a solution. The file metadata(Copyright) contains some special character(23) which is causing problem in Audition.

Report · Aug 25, 2023

Latest Audition patch release(23.6.1) fixes the bug. Please give it a try.

Report · Aug 25, 2023

I can confirm that Adobe Audition 23.6.1 no longer reproduces the problem! Thanks for the quick turnaround on the fix, everyone.

Adobe Support Community

FLAC files from Qobuz Downloader crash Audition when imported in multitrack

1 Correct answer