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Music Library Limit

  • 22 January 2021
  • 5 replies
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Is the Sonos Library limit still approx. 65k?

I ask because I am running into the Can’t Update Music Library dialog saying

“There is not enough room to update your music library. Please remove unused queues or saved playlists and try again.”

Is there any easy way of double checking this to make sure e.g. a diagnostic.

I suppose I will have to move towards PLEX. If so it is a pity I can’t trial it first before committing as it is a big outlay for a life subscription which I figure I will need.

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Best answer by amun 22 January 2021, 23:57

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5 replies

A

Is the Sonos Library limit still approx. 65k?

The limit is a combination of the number of tracks and the amount of store taken up by all the track info combined. So if you just have popular music, you might get away with 65k tracks. If you include classical, which often has much longer track names and titles, your limit might be much lower. I can only get about 38k tracks on my system before Sonos fails.

 

Is there any easy way of double checking this to make sure e.g. a diagnostic.

There was, but Sonos removed it - they claimed that it was a security risk. So you have to submit a diagnostic and then ask Sonos support - and half the time they get it wrong. If you’re lucky, they’ll have improved since I last bothered.

 

I suppose I will have to move towards PLEX. If so it is a pity I can’t trial it first before committing as it is a big outlay for a life subscription which I figure I will need.

I tried out Plex under Sonos, but I don’t remember paying anything for it. The Sonos version was too basic unless you have a very simple library, but it did work. The standard version of Plex, working from a browser, looked more sophisticated, but it didn’t gel with me.

At the moment I switch out my least used albums  to stay under the limits, but if I want to use the whole set then I cast it from my NAS via HifiCast to a Chromecast audio plugged in to one of the Play 5s, or to my receiver which has Chromecast built in. Other alternatives exist ;-)

 

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

As you found, the ability to check your Music Library storage limits is restricted so you have to submit a diagnostic and request (with the number) that Sonos staff take a look at it.

There are tweaks you can try to reduce the storage needed if you are near the limit.

A

@Stanley_4 is correct about the tweaks - I didn’t mention one of them as I’d already rejected it myself.

Sonos only uses the tags, so you can reduce the store by changing all the filenames and, preferably, path names to something much shorter. This may reduce the amount of store to under the limit, but won’t help if you actually have more than 65k tracks.

As I mainly use the folder view this is no use to me, but some may find it an acceptable compromise.

 I’m not changing my data as eventually I’ll move to a more capable system that can handle the full data. Indeed, the casting approach already does that, so my backup plan is already in place ;-)

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I keep a master copy of my music and a copy edited to deal with the many things that seem to upset Sonos. If I ever switch I can just delete the Sonos copy.

I do the same for my car that can’t deal with FLAC so I have another edited copy for it in MP3.

 

Not great but it works while complaining about the issue hasn’t so far.

A

I keep a master copy of my music and a copy edited to deal with the many things that seem to upset Sonos. If I ever switch I can just delete the Sonos copy.

I do the same for my car that can’t deal with FLAC so I have another edited copy for it in MP3.

 

Not great but it works while complaining about the issue hasn’t so far.

I’d imagine that we’ve all found our own ways of coping with the deficiencies of the Sonos system that suit our particular needs… I have no intention of maintaining two separate 800Gb datasets (which require backing up) just  because Sonos functionality is sub-optimal.

If I become worried about it I can always switch to the casting system, which has none of the Sonos limits and doesn’t need me to keep a separate data set.

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