Requirements for Quicktime AS3 Audio

• AC3 audio requires special components for playback in many circumstances. speaker image by Byron Moore from Fotolia.com

  AC3 audio is a codec used for the sonic content of MPEG2, AVI, DivX 5.2.1 and XviD files. Though largely unknown to non-techies, AC3 files (sometimes confused with AS3 audio) are essentially Dolby Digital audio. Standard versions of the Quicktime player bundled with the Apple computer (or downloadable on a PC) are unable to playback AC3 audio without installation of an appropriate CODEC. Notably, you cannot download this CODEC from the official Quicktime website, but it can be obtained easily from other places.

Video Player

• To play a movie file with AC3 audio, you may choose from a number of options. One possibility is to avoid using the Quicktime player for movie files. The free VLC Player plays AC3 content without a problem. Newer versions of Windows Media Player also may be able to bypass the issue. Depending on version, RealPlayer, Media Go and iTunes may also be useful.

Quicktime Player Requirements

• If you want to use the Quicktime player for movie files, the best thing to do is download the most current version available. Older versions are not only more likely to have issues with AC3 audio but may have trouble with other movie CODECS in general. If you want to pay for the smoothest viewing experience, Quicktime Pro offers special features such as conversion of media files and direct recording from a FireWire camcorder.

Perian

• Even with the newest, best version of the Quicktime player, Mac users will not be able to play AC3 audio without an additional plug-in. Known as "the swiss-army knife for Quicktime," Perian is a free open-source component that adds playback support for many popular audio/video formats such as AC3. Further, it also plays back audio types such as Windows Media Audio (v1 & v2), Flash ADPCM, Xiph Vorbis (in Matroska), MPEG Layer I & II Audio, True Audio, DTS Coherent Acoustics and Nellymoser ASAO.

AC3 Filter

• For PC users, AC3 Filter is a good solution for playback issues with AC3 audio. The software decodes and processes AC3 tracks to allow playback of movie files on most players. The processor also allows you to up-mix and down-mix the audio tracks up to six channels if you want to tweak them for your home theatre system.