MP3 playback issue

Streaming Audio
21

Dear @Quicksilver61x.

I agree with you, network should be transparent, same transparency in 4.8 or 4.9 :slight_smile:

I don’t see the incidence on the App usage or on the device (NAC-N-272 and Qute2 for you, ND5XS for me) usage (selecting direct from device menu).
For me, this has nothing to deal with our concern.
I really think this is an 4.9 issue, nothing else.
What’s the source of the concern : coding ? MP3 tags read differently depending the contens ?
I can’t answser, I am not NAIM team :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

I will try remove all tags and see what happen …

You don’t bother me, for sure, it’s my pleasure to share my experience and that’s the purpose of our community !

Yours,

Bertrand

22

Have you tried looking at the format of the MP3 file like I suggested 9 days ago ?

If you open up a file that won’t play in mp3tag ( there is a demo version ) and look at the media information and then look at a file that will play.

Screenshot 2025-11-20 at 11.55.43
Screenshot 2025-11-20 at 11.55.436262×1466 387 KB

I bet you it’s Joint Stereo.

23

Dear @NogBadTheBad,

Thanks for your proposal.

I did something different : I copied a full non readable MP3 album into an USB and I plugged it direct into my ND5XS.
The result is the full album is readable … so far so good, but that does not help me to get a correct explanation of the issue :slight_smile:

Now, I am sure the MP3 is readable through USB but not through media player in network.

My trouble is greater because I own 2 media players on same network.

1 very old non updated in OS for years (WesternDigital) and another (Synology DS214+) updated in OS on regular basis.

Same issue appears on same MP3, same behavior.

If readable, both read, if not readable, none of them is able to read.

And let’s say 1 year ago, all my MP3 were readable from both of my media players …

But one more time, by USB plug, works fine.

So strange …

Jordan from Naim support team wrote me “may be a kind of structure problem in my folders”.

Why not, but no change in my list of MP3 for years, same issue on same MP3 in both of my systems …

I don’t think this is a correct explanation :frowning:

My last assumption is may be an OS update in my router/fiberbox (which occurs on regular basis) and have created this issue.
Let’s hope a new update will solve it :slight_smile:

All other ideas are welcome !

Yours,

Bertrand

24

I would suggest revisiting @NogBadTheBad idea about checking the properties on the MP3 file. The Joint Stereo issue has been a problem in the past, and it might help diagnostics.

25

The Stereo Mode (Stereo or Joint Stereo) feature could not be the main reason why MP3 files do not play. As I wrote yesterday, both Astral Weeks (Stereo) and It’s Too Late to Stop Now (Joint Stereo) do not play; Moondance and Tupelo Honey, both in Joint Stereo Mode, play perfectly.

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26

My question was to @Bertrand rather than yourself.

27

Are we still discussing the same Stereo Mode issue?

28

I’m discussing the issue that @Bertrand raised and asked him to check if they were joint stereo or not, that as far as I know he’s hasn’t checked.

I had the issue with older hardware and it turned out that it was an issue with files that were joint stereo.

Hope that’s cleared it up for you.

29

Dear Bertrand,

The folder structure is consistently a source of trouble across several apps; it is not advisable to place many thousands of files or directories under a single directory. Apart from such a kind of trouble, why does the folder structure affect V4.9 and not the previous one? Besides, NAIM support should better define the “kind of structure problem”: what does that mean?

We can also say the same thing for the network and its devices.

Going back to the test of playing the same file in a different way (UPnP or USB Port) under V4.9, I had a suspicion that the command starting from the iPhone reaches the NAIM device through the network, triggers two different commands (with dissimilar results and behaviours) on the USB port or the UPnP/NAS to play the track. Only in the first case is the retry successful, while in the other, the track stalls, directly and without a retry. The interface between the iPhone (or iPad) and the firmware should be investigated, as the two “read” commands inside the firmware.

Kind regards.

30

I don’t see how the folder structure would be relevant, given that the files are visible even if they won’t play, and you are able to navigate the folders in the USB input, or ignore them by using the UPnP input which uses tags, not folders. Not that this gives you an explanation of your problem.

After updating to 4.9 did you factory reset the streamer? Naim recommend this, and it does occasionally correct minor glitches that appear after an update.

31

Hello @ChrisSU.

Thanks for your contribution.

I agree with you, folder structure is not the possibility.
Here is what Jordan from Naim support answered :

“A common issue will be the folder structure you are using. Please put all the MP3s into one folder. Occasionally, you’ll encounter issues if you have too many different types of file extensions.”.

I must admit I don’t understand.

I did not reset my ND5XS after 4.9 upgrade, I never did for any upgrade. Why ?
Because I am not sure if I will loose all my iradio presets, I have 40, and I don’t have to recreate each time, all the more some are not reachable any more because registered as “added station” while in VTuner. Such radios are IFLAC radio from Kurt’s list …

Reminder : Kurt raised a topic "Native Flac via iRadio”.

I also am not sure of this reset will solve.
I think it is a kind of IT answer saying “did you rebbot your laptop” as a constant possibility regarding any issue on computers :rofl:

What is happening is a real mystery :scream:

Yours,

Bertrand

32

Did you check if there are any special characters (other than regular alpha numeric) in the folder- or filenames?

33

Dear @whatu1tme2b,

Yes, for sure, I did.
Only standard ansi characters in both folders and filenames.

BD

34

If you have a Windows or MacOS laptop, you could try installing VLC Media Player (for example) and try to play the MP3 files from the same UPnP/DLNA server to rule out these servers or any network equipment.

1 Like
35

Hello @whatu1tme2b.

Good initiative.
I used VLC on my laptop to read this MP3 from my Synology DS214+.
And worked fine ! Perfectly readable …

I think it’s not an issue on my router/fiberbox because the flow went through it while listening on laptop.

I really think it’s a ND5XS issue created when updating in 4.9, only when reading by network.
Remember direct input by USB in ND5XS perfectly run …

Hope it helps @Stevesky for this so strange issue :wink:

Thanks to all, but mystery still open …

Bertrand

36

Very strange issue. At least we know the MP3 plays fine on another device using the same UPnP server / network. It indeed looks like an issue of the ND5XS.

I would love to try it on my ND5XS2, but that has different firmware, hardware etc.

37

I have had a look back through the forum and found this from some time back. It sounds like a plausible explanation, and fix. It reads as if the original poster on the old thread had this issue back in 2024. Does this help?

“By way of a PS to this dialogue, I duly took GadgetMan’s advice and referred the matter to Naim. I received brilliant technical support from Duncan Roberts (to whom I am so grateful). He advised me to re-save (ie. Export audio) the offending files through Audacity, with the following explanation:
"What this does, is saves the audio file but not the embedded metadata tags. Sometimes, when you have files from sources like Amazon, they embed a tag in the file that links it to them. What can sometimes happen, is these tags are read, and because it can’t be verified by the original source, the file refuses to play. "
And, it worked!”

38

Vaguely recall that, and worthy of a try in terms of eliminating things that have caused issues before. Big album artwork data has been an issue previously which this trick would help prove/disprove
You can also delete the metadata in MP3Tag (and of course you can check the Joint Stereo issue withing MP3tag)

Screenshot 2025-11-23 at 16.00.59
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39

Hello @JonathanH and @GadgetMan.

Thanks for your proposals.

I successfully solved the issue.
Let me explain how :

With Mp3Tag,

I removed the Gallery Art picture and saved the files.

I added the SAME Gallery Art picture and saved the files.

And now, they all work fine !

This gallery art picture is 215ko large.

I don’t know why and how removing / adding the same solved but it solved !

So I can confirm this strange behavior is because of 4.9 and nothing else to deal with media server, router/fiber box update or whatever.

Only “a Naim issue” :smiley: which drove me crazy for some days …

Thanks to all for your kindly answers and proposals, I highly appreciated !

I let @Stevesky think about this for a 4.10 or 5.00 new version …

Yours,

Bertrand

2 Likes
40

Glad it got resolved. You can of course add multiple covers (i.e. a back cover etc) and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Anyhow you have a fix, and you haven’t needed to amend any of the music inside the MP3, so win-win, not to mention having it documented for others to try out on similar issues.