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degsy_london
Trending Lyricist I
April 20, 2026
Answered

Sonos not playing files converted via the NCH sound file app

  • April 20, 2026
  • 12 replies
  • 111 views

I have several trhousand tracks which I converted from .wma to .flac, using the NCH Switch Sound File Converter app on Windows 11. The converted files appear to be playing on Sonos, but there is no sound.

All ther files are within Sonos limits (44,100khz and 16-bit), and play perfectly well on my phone apps (Rocket Player and Pulsar), so are not corrupted.

I have found that if I open one of the files in Audacity, then simpley export it back again, the file plays in Sonos.

I have contacted the Sonos aupport team, and sent them a diagnostic while one of the tracks is playing, and they confirm multiple errors, so it appears that it is something to do with the Codec and how Sonos is interpreting it.

I do not want to have to manually read and export every file via Audacity, so any suggestions using other software where I can perform a batch reconversion would be appreciated.

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Best answer by User117655

All my local files (50k+ tracks) ripped to .flac using dBpoweramp:

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/

Also does batch conversions... Highly recommend it but read it up to make sure it meets your needs...

12 replies

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Corry P
Corry P
Sonos Staff
April 22, 2026

Hi ​@degsy_london 

In the interest of divulging what I know, codecs don’t “align”. When you decompress a compressed audio file, the output is in PCM (Pulse Code Modulation - uncompressed). When converting, that output is fed into the input of the compression codec and a new file is made. The new file will contain any inaccuracies invoked when the original file was compressed, as well as new ones with the new codec, but for an untrained ear, they will largely be undetectable, though this does depend on compressions settings used, such as the bitrate or quality factor.

These days, storage isn’t as much of a limiting factor as it used to be, so converting to FLAC may well be the best/easiest thing to do. If you ever run out of space, however, you’ll know you have options. 😁

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
    degsy_londonAuthor
    Trending Lyricist I
    April 22, 2026

    Thanks Corry P. I might not have used the correct terminology, but the compounding of errors was what I feared. As for the space issue, that’s not a problem on my PC or NAs drive, and fortunately I still have a phone which allows an additional SD Card, and I have a 512 GB one, which is enough at the mo.

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