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No Audio

Problem​

Sometimes, when you play a video downloaded by WhaleDown, you can see the video content, but you can't hear the sound.

Normally, this problem can be solved. Chances are that the audio is already there.

Solution​

1. Missing Codecs​

First, this is probably an issue caused by audio codecs. When downloading m3u8 videos, we use the video and audio codecs in the browser as much as possible. However, the built-in player in Windows or macOS lacks the corresponding video and audio codecs.

In this case, you just need to download a free open source software, VLC. It not only provides more video and audio codecs, but also supports all platforms. For mac users, IINA player is also a great choice.

2. DASH​

For DASH videos, WhaleDown will first download the video, then the audio, and eventually merge them. You'll hear the sound during playback only when the merging is complete.

In this case, please be patient and wait for the merging to complete.

3. M3U8​

Some m3u8 video servers will transmit the video and audio separately. In this case, WhaleDown detects multiple items for the same video. The items in the Detector would look like this,

  • video.m3u8 (Video only)
  • audio.m3u8 (Audio only)
  • playlist.m3u8 (Video + Audio)
  • master.m3u8 (Optional)

For cases where only one video quality is provided, 3 or 4 items are usually detected. For cases involving two resolutions, this number is usually 7.

There is no sound when playing because you downloaded the top video.m3u8. The solution to the problem is that you need to download playlist.m3u8 because it contains both video and audio.

Since playlist.m3u8 is detected first, it is usually displayed at the bottom of the Detector. Additionally, we recommend emptying the Detector every time you visit the next page. This helps you find playlist.m3u8 more accurately.

If master.m3u8 is included, it will appear under playlist.m3u8. master.m3u8 includes playlist.m3u8 in multiple resolutions, and the player automatically selects one to play. Generally, downloading master.m3u8 is also fine. However, if the server uses dynamic tokens, downloading master.m3u8 will return a 403 error.

info

Since the HLS(m3u8) protocol does not mandate file names, the video server can store the above files at will. Therefore, currently WhaleDown is unable to identify these m3u8 files based on file names. You need to make your own judgement.

Development is ongoing to identify media types based on the contents of m3u8 files.