Contributor I

Answered

Sonos doesn't "see" WAV files

Forum|Forum|10 years ago
February 1, 2016
12 replies
4579 views

In a certain iTunes artist folder, I've got 16 albums, all imported from CDs. 3 were brought in as MP4, the rest WAV. Sonos "sees" the 3 MP4 albums, but not the WAV albums. Any ideas?

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Best answer by Ryan S

I have no idea. As I said, metadata for WAV files is non-standard, so therefore I can't say what the differences between those that can be seen and those that can't. Assumedly, the tags are either not getting read by Sonos because they are in other non-standard fields, or they are a resolution and/or bit-depth Sonos does not support (i.e. 96KHz/24-bit files). Without seeing the actual files, we cannot tell you anything about them.

And by the way, there are many music manager applications that will batch convert those files and fill in the tags automatically for you.

You can check if it's a metadata issue by going into your Sonos controller and browsing Music Library > Folders and drill down until you get to the folder where those tracks should be located. If they're listed there, but not in Artist/Album view the metadata on those tracks isn't getting encoded correctly for Sonos. This FAQ goes into an explanation of why WAV tracks may be missing. If the tracks are missing, it could be an issue with the format of the tracks. We'll support WAV tracks up to 1411kbps, so it's good to check the resolution too.

jgatie

It's because WAV files are terrible when it comes to metadata. There is no real standard for their metadata, so Sonos had to fudge the implementation. Nobody should be storing files in WAV format because there are better alternatives which result in lossless files which are smaller in size and their metadata is fully supported. Convert the files to FLAC or ALAC.

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dhodskinsAuthor

Contributor I

i've got more 30,000 WAV files that the Sonos already sees & plays fine in this same library. Apart from your opinion about the nature of WAV and its metadata, I'm interested in having Sonos play my WAV files, including the ones in the folder that I've mentioned. Why would Sonos have a problem with this folder and not with other (30,000 files) folders?

jgatie

You said nothing about owning 30,000+ WAV files in the original post, so how was I to know anything about that? As to why these files can't be seen? I have no idea. As I said, metadata for WAV files is non-standard, so therefore I can't say what the differences between those that can be seen and those that can't. Assumedly, the tags are either not getting read by Sonos because they are in other non-standard fields, or they are a resolution and/or bit-depth Sonos does not support (i.e. 96KHz/24-bit files). Without seeing the actual files, we cannot tell you anything about them.

And by the way, there are many music manager applications that will batch convert those files and fill in the tags automatically for you.

Ryan SAnswer

Retired Sonos Staff

I have no idea. As I said, metadata for WAV files is non-standard, so therefore I can't say what the differences between those that can be seen and those that can't. Assumedly, the tags are either not getting read by Sonos because they are in other non-standard fields, or they are a resolution and/or bit-depth Sonos does not support (i.e. 96KHz/24-bit files). Without seeing the actual files, we cannot tell you anything about them.

And by the way, there are many music manager applications that will batch convert those files and fill in the tags automatically for you.

You can check if it's a metadata issue by going into your Sonos controller and browsing Music Library > Folders and drill down until you get to the folder where those tracks should be located. If they're listed there, but not in Artist/Album view the metadata on those tracks isn't getting encoded correctly for Sonos. This FAQ goes into an explanation of why WAV tracks may be missing. If the tracks are missing, it could be an issue with the format of the tracks. We'll support WAV tracks up to 1411kbps, so it's good to check the resolution too.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

D

dhodskinsAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks, Ryan. I'll check it that way & let you know how it goes.

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dhodskinsAuthor

Contributor I

That was it. The folders & files were all there, so it's a metadata issue, just as jgatie suspected. I'll try MediaMonkey to see if I can get it fixed. Thanks for the help

Y

yardent

Lyricist II

You said nothing about owning 30,000+ WAV files in the original post, so how was I to know anything about that? As to why these files can't be seen? I have no idea. As I said, metadata for WAV files is non-standard, so therefore I can't say what the differences between those that can be seen and those that can't. Assumedly, the tags are either not getting read by Sonos because they are in other non-standard fields, or they are a resolution and/or bit-depth Sonos does not support (i.e. 96KHz/24-bit files). Without seeing the actual files, we cannot tell you anything about them.

And by the way, there are many music manager applications that will batch convert those files and fill in the tags automatically for you.

@jgatie: any music manager you recommend to convert WAVs to other lossless format?

jgatie

@jgatie: any music manager you recommend to convert WAVs to other lossless format?

I personally use dBpoweramp:

https://www.dbpoweramp.com

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yardent

Lyricist II

Thanks. what would you say is the second best highest quality format after WAV assuming I use a Mac OS if that makes any difference.

ratty

Thanks. what would you say is the second best highest quality format after WAV assuming I use a Mac OS if that makes any difference.

All lossless formats will sound exactly the same. If you use iTunes and/or are Apple-centric choose ALAC, otherwise use FLAC.

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