Is there a limit to the number of tracks in an M3U playlist (on a USB drive) that the ND5XS2 can handle?
I tried one with approx. 10k tracks yesterday and it seems to be fine. Just wondering if the ND5XS2 has a limit.
The Naim app has a 500 track limit on the play queue but Iâm not aware of any limit on play lists, other than what storage capacity the USB input can handle.
Yes, that was indeed also my impression.
But does the limit on the play queue mean that no tracks beyond the 500 limit can ever be played?
I tried a M3U file with approx. 10k tracks order alphabetically. When shuffle playing, all tracks seem to be used A-Z. I did not notice any 500 limit.
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If you want to queue up a whole playlist, yes, on a 2nd gen. streamer it will just queue up the first 500 and play them. I donât recall whether the USB drive handles them differently so would need to check whether this is any different to Server playlists.
I really do nât understand the logic. If I shuffle play a M3U playlist from a USB stick, it seems to have no limit at all. It plays all the tracks (approx. 10K) in random order.
Today I tried shuffle playing the exact same playlist but now from AssetUPnP installed on my laptop (so, the Servers input i.s.o. the USB input on the ND5XS2). Now it only load the first 500 tracks and shuffle plays those.
Beats me.
Itâs certainly odd! Are all of your 10k tracks on the USB stick? Iâm assuming they are.
At least with Asset you have the option of the Jukebox playlist which will randomly select 500 tracks from your collection. Minimserver doesnât have that option and the developer doesnât seem keen to offer it for some reason.
Yes, all tracks are on the USB drive and also the M3U files. I was thinking about setting up a NAS to store my FLAC files, but with this weird 500 track limit, thatâs no good for me.
@Richard.Dane Do you have an explanation for this weird difference? Why can I shuffle play an M3U playlist with 10K tracks stored on a USB drive, but the same playlist stored on a UPnP server only plays the first 500 tracks?
I am confused⌠Does this 500 track limit apply to any Server source (NAS, Core etc.)?
The 500 track max is a limitation of the Naim app, not the server or streamer. Presumably you are using the USB input to view and play these files (as opposed to the Server input under Local Music) which I think bypasses this problem.
Yes, I know that the limit is in the app. But why is it limited if the Server input is used and not if the USB input is used? The M3U file is approx. 700 kilobytes for 10 thousand tracks. Memory canât be the issue.
I am considering a NAS, but with this limit that is useless for my use: I have several M3U playlist containing different sub-selections per file (the biggest one is the one with 10K tracks). I want to be able to shuffle play these.
Sorry, I donât know why. One for @Stevesky I think.
I guess that using M3U playlists with the Server input and AssetUPnP is not the right way to go. I looked a bit more at AssetUPnP and I think using âDynamic Playlistsâ is the way to go. But than I first have to get the tags of all my tracks sorted. I just relied on dBpoweramp to set the tags correctly, but the genre / style tags are a mess. WowâŚthatâs a lot of work 
From what I have discerned (âunderstood/guessedâ) from previous discussions in the forum:
(No guarantees for 100% correctness; but sounds plausible enough for me.)
The Naim app and streamers use the concept of playlist/-queue to allow management of UPnP server (including the âlocalâ server view for USB devices) and streaming based sources. (Where you select and add to the queue from the available album/track libraries.)
The queue handling is then independent from the sources and you can mix tracks from different sources. (Which is nice.)
However, in this case the queue is limited to 500 tracks and any control happens in the app on that list. (For adhoc queues, this will often be enough. But I also miss the feature from iTunes to random-shuffle my whole library, by track or album.)
Statement was: âworks as designedâ.
(And I guess a change would be a significant one.)
Compared to that, the direct USB-device playback does not use the playlists. Itâs kind of much more primitive (you select a track, and it plays the folder to its end; no changes possible).
But seems this circumvention of the playlists allows, what you observe.
A 500 track limit is not necessarily an issue (thatâs more than 24h of music). As long as it is a random selection from my complete library, based on one or more genres that fit my mood at the time. I used to do that with a selection of M3U playlists. That does work with the USB input, but not with the Server input. If I play an M3U playlist through the Server input, it always picks the same first 500 tracks from the M3U playlist.
Anyway, I need to take advantage of the features of the UPnP server as an alternative (e.g. Dynamic Playlists in Asset UPnP) or stick with the USB input.
Learning as I go along.