UQ2 and .m4a files won't play

Posted by: robert_h on 30 December 2015

Hi, I have a brand new unitiqute 2, and my music files are served up by jriver mediacenter running on linux. I'm not sure using jriver or linux is relevant per se, the OS shouldnt matter, and jriver creates a standard dlna server. I dont have issues with any other files, I can play back flacs of any resolution (16/44, 24/192 for example) either by streaming from jriver itself selecting the UQ2 as the device, or the other way around ie selecting files via upnp from the UQ2 itself.

Where I am getting stuck is with .m4a apple lossless files, they just wont play. I might get 1 second only, and the UQ2 complains it cannot play the stream, and jriver mc21 crashes. Doesnt matter if I send from jriver, or select via upnp from the UQ2 itself. Obviously I could convert everything to flac, but I believe alac files should work.

Is there a setting somewhere I might have missed? Otherwise I have no issues whatsoever, everything plays perfectly (apart from "shine on you crazy diamond" from a usb stick but I assume the file is too large for the UQ2 to load into memory as I'm playing it right now via upnp).

thanks, Robert

Posted on: 30 December 2015 by Dave***t

Can you set Jriver to transcode to wav on the fly? I believe it can do so, and it should mean the files play OK. I had a similar problem when I ran minimserver into my UQ2 and that sorted it for me (in my case it was because the apple files were >24/96).

Sounds better to me too.

Posted on: 31 December 2015 by Aleg

If you look at the specifications for UnityQute it says for m4a:

M4a (CBR and VBR up to 320kbit/s)

 

it doesn't say you can use apple lossless in m4a, but only the mp3 type lossy encoding.

Posted on: 31 December 2015 by robert_h

Thanks, have changed jriver to output in pcm 24 bit, which appears to be working fine. What was odd was the 1 or 2 seconds burst of the song, which led me to believe the UQ2 was, albeit temporarily, able to play the track before giving up.

The manual states:

Internet radio (WMA, MP3 Streams, MMS) Playlists (M3U, PLS) MP3, M4A, AAC (up to 320 kbps, CBR/VBR) Apple Lossless (from iPod) Windows Media–formatted content (up to 320 kbps) LPCM16/24, WAV, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, AIFF

Which I had read as "up to 320 ..." applying to AAC. Interestingly Apple lossless is mentioned separately and stated as working from ipods only, so there must be a distinction between lossless m4a and lossy m4a.

Posted on: 31 December 2015 by Aleg

The "up to 320 ..." applies to all mp3, m4a and aac and are all lossy codecs.

The m4a file extension refers to a MP4 containers with audio data. So it is only a container format. The contents of that container can either be done with alossy codec (as supported by naim) or with a losseless codec, which appears to be unsupported by naim.

Cheers

Posted on: 31 December 2015 by robert_h

Thanks for the clarification. I think it's a little odd the uq2 was able to play 1 or 2 seconds before giving up, which gave me the impression it could decode the stream correctly. It's working fine now the uq2 is fed transcoded wav.

Posted on: 31 December 2015 by Dave***t

Just to clarify, the UQ2 can play apple lossless files, at least up to a certain resolution (24/96 according to the specs). IIRC when asked to play higher res files, it simply refuses.

So the second or two thing is a bit strange. But as long as it's working now, who cares

Posted on: 31 December 2015 by robert_h

I think all my m4a files are apple lossless, and the lossy ones are aac. Not a huge amount of each, i can either stick with transcoding, or convert the lossless ones to flac. Fairly certain none are hires, only 16/44. The manual suggests the lossless ones will only play from an ipod so i might try that later just to prove it works.

Posted on: 27 January 2016 by Richheart

I too use JRiver (as well as bubble UPnP). The sound quality of the UQ2 improves, IMO, when converting to PCM on the fly, before streaming to the Naim. I discovered this by chance: "Hey, why does this sound better?", The Naim definitely prefers PCM to Flac

Posted on: 27 January 2016 by robert_h

I've left my jriver software transcoding to wav at 16 bit, and havent had any issues whatsoever. I am in the process of dropping down an ethernet connection so i can increase to 24 bit, but 16 over wireless is perfect, no dropouts at all.

Posted on: 27 January 2016 by Adam Zielinski

Can you test the file by loading it on to a USB stick and playing from the front input of the UQ?

Posted on: 28 January 2016 by magicaxeman

I use ALAC all the time on my qute2 without issue, all are M4A lossless.

Posted on: 29 January 2016 by robert_h

hmm, interesting results:

alac file on a usb stick, plays fine (this is a 44khz 16bit m4a file) - UQ2 display confirms "ALAC"

exactly the same file as .flac (quickly converted from the m4a) - plays fine from the usb stick, display confirms "FLAC"

same m4a file via uPNP, with jriver switched back to deliver original format - 5 to 10 seconds of silence, while display says "connecting", 1 to 2 seconds of the song (which sounds perfect), then silence, and the UQ2 gives up trying to play.

override jriver to deliver 16 bit PCM (deliberately until I can get that wire running through from the loft) - plays perfectly, display confirms "WAV".

So confirmed that my m4a's work fine via an inserted USB stick, but not via uPNP - is there something magical about that I wonder? I guess I'm leaning towards a jriver software issue (possibly the wrong option selected somewhere?) but struggling to think what that might be. (jriver (as client) on my windows laptop, jriver on my linux box, and jremote on the ipad play all these files without issue).

Ultimately doesnt really matter now I know I can override dlna / upnp to deliver as WAV.