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Author Topic: MC20 (Mac) - converting hi-res for Sonos compatibility  (Read 4243 times)

clpetersen

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MC20 (Mac) - converting hi-res for Sonos compatibility
« on: September 09, 2015, 10:24:09 am »

Hello JRiver Interact - did some searching on the forums, did not a find a similar query, apologies if I missed it.  Running JRiver version 20, latest (August 20 2015) updates.

Issue: we have a central music library (NAS) on a home Mac-based environment. Both Sonos and JRiver access this library, no issues. For simplicity, we do not control Sonos through JRiver; each system lives in its own ecosystem.

I have some limited hi-res music (24/96 through DSD). Sonos of course does not support these. Hence, I would like to convert the format to ALAC or FLAC with 44.1kHz sample rates for a Sonos-compatible copy/version.  Have tried various advanced settings -seems close (have the sample rate table set to convert everything to 44.1) - but they do not seem to 'stick' when doing the conversion. The format changes (AIFF to ALAC or FLAC for example), but the sample rate stays at 192kHz for some reason.

What am I missing? 

Many thanks.

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AndrewFG

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Re: MC20 (Mac) - converting hi-res for Sonos compatibility
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2015, 10:33:11 am »

Maybe an obvious statement, but the MC convert function keeps the original file and creates a second copy in the new format. Since both files have the same metadata, you sometimes need to take great care that you are looking at the converted file and not the original file.

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Author of Whitebear Digital Media Renderer Analyser - http://www.whitebear.ch/dmra.htm
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clpetersen

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Re: MC20 (Mac) - converting hi-res for Sonos compatibility
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2015, 12:10:48 pm »

Thanks for the reply. yes, I am using at the converted file. I keep the original in a directory  on the NA i call simply '24/96' since I know Sonos can't play those and I have less than 20 albums in hi-res format. I move the coveted format into the correct genre by retagging the metadata in JRiver. Then let Sonos update its library index. The converted files show up just fine, but Sonos gives the incompatibility warning, and confirming on JRiver I see the original sample rate retained.

So:
In JRiver version 20, how do I convert a 24 bit, 192kHz file to standard redbook format? (16 bit, 44.1 kHz). 
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AndrewFG

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Re: MC20 (Mac) - converting hi-res for Sonos compatibility
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2015, 02:26:50 am »

In the convert window, click the Options link and you should see the dialog below. Uncheck the "Skip" options and review/change the DSP and Bit Depth options.
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Author of Whitebear Digital Media Renderer Analyser - http://www.whitebear.ch/dmra.htm
Author of Whitebear - http://www.whitebear.ch/mediaserver.htm

clpetersen

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Re: MC20 (Mac) - converting hi-res for Sonos compatibility
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2015, 12:55:46 pm »

Hello Citizen of the Universe -

Thanks for the screen shot. In fact that seems to work - I get files with sample rates of 44.1 kHz and bit depths of 16, either in ALAC or FLAC.  Sonos refuse to play the ALAC version (.m4a) as an 'unsupported format' and the FLAC appears to play through Sonos but only random jitter comes through the system.  Of course, JRiver plays everything flawlessly.  Most of our library is ripped as ALAC to be compatible with iTunes on iPhones etc.

So, far now, I am going to end this experiment and perhaps contact Sonos.

Any experience out there??

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