MP4 improper import

I’ve been trying to import a file recorded by my friend on his computer, however, it seems to insist on importing in an improper way. It seems as if it is compressed in some fashion. When I open it in other programmes, it opens and plays just like it should. I’ve tried opening other MP4s, and they didn’t pose much of an issue. Is this an issue with the library, Audacity, or the file itself? I’ll try to describe it as best as I can.

The audio when played back with another programme is 2 minutes and 43 seconds, but when in Audacity, it only lasts 0.432 seconds.
The two channels seem drastically different, although being roughly symmetrical in other programmes.
I’ve tried slowing down the audio to see if that would aid me, however, it didn’t do all too much.

Sorry if this post is in poor form, I am fairly new to this forum. Thank you in advance.

Windows 10, Audacity 2.2.1

Did you install the [u]FF mpeg Import/Export Library[/u]?

It seems as if it is compressed in some fashion.

Yes, MP4 is compresed.

As a work-around, you can try converting the file to WAV with [u]TAudioConverter[/u].

Recoding the file with an app like the excellent XMediaRecode (freeware) might help.

Sorry for not replying for so long. It turns out, the audio was somehow encoded in a slightly different fashion than expected. I had to do some conversion to allow it to open properly in Audacity. I can’t remember exactly what I did at this point, though.