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FLAC file issue

I have searched past topics but have not found an exact match for my problem. Like many others, I used to play music located “on this device” (Android phone) over my Sonos network. Everything was working until a recent Sonos app update where they removed that option. I was annoyed but saw that it was still showing my PC on the available list. I have my music folders on the PC set to be seen and accessed on the network. So I tried going that route on the Sonos app. I asked it to select all artists which it dutifully did. Great, so far. I selected an album from an artist, it shows the tracks, and plays them. I’m thinking, okay, my PC is on most of the time anyway so I’ll just use that instead.

Well not so fast. There are a couple of artists that I really like and had ripped their CDs as FLAC files using EAC. Those files show up in the Sonos app but when I try to play them, I get the  message, “An error occurred while adding tracks to the Queue (701).” 

I am stumped. All of my other music, which are MP3s, play fine. It’s only these FLAC files won’t. They played just fine before the Browse screen option of “on this device” was removed from Android phones. Any ideas? I would consider it a step backward to have to rip all 12 of those albums in MP3.

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11 replies

jgatie

The FLAC files can't be over 24 bit/48 kHz resolution.  Sonos doesn't do 96/192 kHz.

Airgetlam

There’s a pretty good summary of what files Sonos can process in the supported audio formats FAQ.

Bruce
S

The FLAC files can't be over 24 bit/48 kHz resolution.  Sonos doesn't do 96/192 kHz.

 

I honestly don’t even know how to check that. I tried looking at EAC and FLAC but they don’t tell me anything. I ripped these files over a year ago and as I mentioned in my OP, they played just fine up until a month or so ago, so I have to assume that they fit that parameter. Otherwise, they never would have worked. Did Sonos change something? 

ratty

The only thing that’s changed is that some while ago Sonos started being able to play local files in 24-bit, instead of just 16-bit. The maximum sampling rate of 48kHz hasn’t changed in over 15 years.

If you’re getting a message along the lines of “error occurred while adding tracks to the queue” then Sonos is probably having trouble locating the files in the first place. Try asking Sonos to update the music library. 

S

The only thing that’s changed is that some while ago Sonos started being able to play local files in 24-bit, instead of just 16-bit. The maximum sampling rate of 48kHz hasn’t changed in over 15 years.

If you’re getting a message along the lines of “error occurred while adding tracks to the queue” then Sonos is probably having trouble locating the files in the first place. Try asking Sonos to update the music library. 

 

I had never created a library in the past since I was always playing from my phone. I went into the Sonos app this morning and couldn’t see my music the way I could last night. I tried to create a library but the app said that the PC wasn’t responding. After fiddling around, I eventually ended up making a change in my Windows settings and tried again. This time the app said that it was creating the library which took a few minutes to complete. Once it was done, the library showed up in my Browse screen with all of my music listed. I immediately tried to play one of the FLAC files and it worked!

At least I am back up and running to be able to play my own music without resorting to some streaming service. I may experiment with using a USB thumb drive plugged into my router so I wouldn’t need my PC on to play music. I’m not sure what is entailed into getting that set up and I imagine there is more to it than just plugging the thumb drive with my music on it into the router. Another path to follow, I guess.

ratty

I may experiment with using a USB thumb drive plugged into my router so I wouldn’t need my PC on to play music. I’m not sure what is entailed into getting that set up and I imagine there is more to it than just plugging the thumb drive with my music on it into the router. Another path to follow, I guess.

I’ve used a 256GB flash drive in a router for my local library for 7+ years. I’d stopped buying music, having switched to streaming for new content, so the library was static.

Depending on the router it can be easy, or not. Most with a USB port will support file sharing, but they vary on the SMB/CIFS versions and the flash file systems supported.

S

I may experiment with using a USB thumb drive plugged into my router so I wouldn’t need my PC on to play music. I’m not sure what is entailed into getting that set up and I imagine there is more to it than just plugging the thumb drive with my music on it into the router. Another path to follow, I guess.

I’ve used a 256GB flash drive in a router for my local library for 7+ years. I’d stopped buying music, having switched to streaming for new content, so the library was static.

Depending on the router it can be easy, or not. Most with a USB port will support file sharing, but they vary on the SMB/CIFS versions and the flash file systems supported.

 

With my luck, it will fall under the “not easy” category but we will see. I’ll load the drive up later, plug it in, and see what happens. If the Sonos app can’t see it, I’ll have some researching to do.

ratty

What router is it?

S

What router is it?

It’s a Linksys WRT 1200 AC.

ratty

I had a quick look for a manual but found only a quickstart guide that was pretty superficial. You’ll need to poke around in the router settings. 

There is third party firmware available for that router too, e.g. DD-WRT and OpenWrt, so I’m sure you could get it going as a shared network storage device somehow or other.

S

I had a quick look for a manual but found only a quickstart guide that was pretty superficial. You’ll need to poke around in the router settings. 

There is third party firmware available for that router too, e.g. DD-WRT and OpenWrt, so I’m sure you could get it going as a shared network storage device somehow or other.

 

Yeah, I checked the box and it only came with a quickstart guide. I’ll have to get into the router later and see if there is anything in the setup that stands out. I would think that Linksys is so common that there must be a reasonable way to set this up. Thanks for the help.

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