Hello, i have a question about my WDTV player (model 2014, latest firmware). I have on my nas lots of music files in WAV format and like to play with the music app at the WDTV. He sees the files after i browse to the location on my nas (Qnap). And all files are WAV files. But the most of them he don’t play it. But WDTV supports WAV files it says. When i start with the first song, he flip over to the song which want to play it. I don’t understand it. Crazy issue is also that 2 songs is coming from the same album but play only one song. It looks he random it but in the system settings is no random selected. Somebody recognize this problem and how to solve it? Its not an issue of bitrate because sometimes he play a high bitrate and sometimes low.
I hope somebody can help me with this problem?
Sorry I can’t resolve this for you, but the problem should not be anything to do with wav files. I have wav recordings too (3,000 songs) and WDTV plays them just as it should.
Assuming somebody comments here and gets your problem resolved, once you are up and running correctly, this is how to play music. (When everything is working as it should because I understand your problem is WDTV missing songs out).
Navigate to an album (using the remote’s arrow buttons; left, right, up, down). Pressing the centre button “OK”, allows you to enter the album (or file). Then if you wish to only play one song in the list, navigate to it, over it (with the arrow buttons) and press “OK.” WDTV will then play just that one song. If you wish to play the whole album (or file) you are in, navigate over the first song and press the “play” button (the middle button on the 2nd row on the remote) and WDTV will then play all the songs on the album.
Sorry I haven’t addressed your main problem, I’m sure somebody will, but really I just wanted to let you know that yes, WDTV does play WAV. Whatever your problem is, it should be something else.
My guess it has to do with proper vs improper encoding of the files. Did you encode them and with the same program? If you got the files from “elsewhere” no telling about the quality of the encoding. In this case, you go what you paid for. (And who uses WAV files today, anyway?) Use, for example, the very popular mp3 file format that can play on any device.
Hello Mike27oct, thanks for your reply. All files are converted from Apple lossless (.m4a) to wav. I converted with Music Converter and i don’t know if encoded, how can i check this? The reason why i choose for WAV files is because of the high quality, its uncompressed. Rather i would choose for AIFF because its the highest quality however it become very large files and takes a lot of space of my nas. Mp3 files its compressed and have a lower quality then uncompressed. I tried also to convert from FLAC to WAV but has same problem. I hope somebody has a good solution and works.
You are not going to improve the quality of your Apple lossless files by encoding it another way. Unless you have problems playing them, just leave them alone as they are fine.
Unfortunately, Apple Lossless not supported by WDTV and won’t play at all, so i have to convert it. Or is there any possibility to play m4a files on my WDTV?
All I can tell you is that my WDTV plays my m4a files (only have the standard kinds, not the lossless kind) , along with mp3 files. In the early days of iTunes and when I got another mp3 player other than the iPod, I changed making files from m4a to mp3. I made the files (from my CDs using iTunes) like my eMusic download service did at a much higher quality and bit rate level than the default mp3 iTunes would make. With very listening, I cannot tell the difference between music from CD vs my mp3 files, and that is good enough for me.
I guess your m4a problem could be because they are lossless format, but cannot confirm this.
My advice to you Rudi, as a big fan of lossless music myself, is to stick with lossless. I wouldn’t care if the world thought mp3 was the way to go, excellence in sound has no equal and if you check audiophile websites you will find the sound quality argument is not in any doubt!
I can think of a test you can do. Try this and see if it works, a test which is free and with no risk.
Go here, to get Audacity Editor: Audacity download | SourceForge.net
Import into Audacity one of your wav files that WDTV will not play. (Don’t worry, the original wav file is still right where it is, Audacity merely takes a copy). Whilst you have the file in Audacity, go to the original wav track and add the number 1 as a suffix, so later you know it’s the original. Now the rest is blindingly simple. All you need to do in Audacity is nothing! Just export it! (You may need to actively select “export as wav” but I have never needed to do so). Once exported, I suggest naming the exported track with the suffix “2”, to be absolutely sure which one it is (since some people find WDTV media library unreliable in the renaming of existing tracks, sometimes getting “ghost duplicates.”). A suffix “2” will ensure you can select it to play in WDTV. That way it will show, as WDTV will see it as a new entry.
If you are following what I’m trying to suggest, what you will now have is your original track changed into standard wav by Audacity. My hope is that when you test WDTV to see whether it will now play, it may do so! If not, there will have been nothing lost in trying this - but if it does work, it won’t be difficult to alter all of your problem wavs this way.
Never suggested the OP convert from lossless to mp3. Did suggest his Apple lossless files format could be the problem when converting to WAV
I also said (or implied) that a carefully constructed mp3 file (meaning tweaks made to the iTunes mp3 file creating procedure) sound as good as the original CD when listening to on speakers and headphones. Believe me, if they didn’t, I would have made lossless files, too. This coming from a long-time audiophile who once worked in a hi end stereo store.
If I want to hear the original, I have the CD, if I want universal portability files that play on anything, I make my spiffed up mp3 files. Also, downloaded files other than FLAC or similar hi end downloads are not the quality of a CD, so why try to create a pig from a sow’s ear? Most download services serve up 256K or 192K VBR bit rate files. They sound good, but are not exactly like same file from a CD.
Hi Mike. In my view your help for folk on here has been brilliant. I’ve been on some threads where I myself have benefitted from your comments/knowledge, and I certainly wouldn’t want you to think I was suggesting you were advising Rudi to convert his lossless audio to mp3. I don’t doubt you wouldn’t do that, it doesn’t fit with the person your comments hint at!
No, what I wanted to do, was encourage Rudi in his use of lossless. As a self admitted (extreme nutcase) audiophile having committed 1,000-plus cd’s to wav (and subsequently sold the cd’s) I’ve discovered that in one or two instances, having lossless audio files, wav (or flac for that matter) and the resilience provided by its massive signal strength can be essential to provide flexibility for editing. (Something most audio fans, and almost all mp3 users won’t need to be thinking about). I know of two examples where serious editing craves lossless, the first being boosting audio files. Giving a big boost to quiet passages, effectively low signal strength audio. (Which audio itself in the worst cases may have come from poor signal strength cd’s/cd’s in need of remastering or just low signal strength cd’s). And the other example where lossless is ideal comes about as the result of my own foibles, human error. Only rarely (but still a lot of instances) I’ve needed to import into - and thus out of as well) the editing software more than once because I’ve decided through time that a previous edit needs another further edit.
I won’t go on any longer, Mike - I strongly suspect you’re quick on the uptake. I do know the editing stuff I’m talking about matters only to a very few, but as I hope I’ve illustrated, it’s the usefulness of lossless in the editing suite that has caused me to respect it!
Thanks. Interesting technical stuff.
You might be interested in the tweaks I have made to the Importing CD section of my iTunes, Here is a screen shot of the changes I made to the MP3 Encoder in a Custom MP3 config
I selected 192 bit rate VBR, because my eMusic download service distributed their music files that way. I compared some of their encoded files to same ones I had on an actual CD; compared CD and file. Heard no difference (on mp3 files I did at a lower bit rate, but did not sound better if made at a higher bit rate). So, decided on the 192/VBR, and there were other tweaks in iTunes and just went with Highest. All done to get best possible sound with smallest file size for iPod, etc. It still works for me today. I notice some of the newest made eMusic files now come in at 320 bit rate.
For anyone not aware of specs of VBR (Variable Bit Rete) it is a particular setting of bit rate that is the lowest bit rate that will be encoded, although most files reach a higher rate, because VBR does not limit highest rate.
Thank you very much for for all your response and support. It is to much work for me to convert all my music files, i have around 2000, with cover data etc. I think about to save money for buying a Apple TV 4 (ATV) because all my files are Apple Lossless and i like also the interface of Apple. Im use to it for many years already. What i really like on my WDTV is the quality of movies to watch. It is really sharp and neutral of colors. I seen it also already this on ATV but it shows a bit to colorful and less of sharpness. I hope by updates of firmware the quality getting better on ATV.
I was hoping to play easily my lossless files on my WDTV so i don’t have to buy a ATV soon but it is more complex then i expected. Anyway, thanks!
Got you. That’s that. Should you ever want free of Apple in the future I just thought I would add this. With about 2,000 lossless wav, 20 seconds per file to alter them (estimate) bringing it to about 7 hours, I can see how you’re not going to do that without really needing to.
But just so you know it can be done if sticking to Apple causes further compatibility problems in the future, I would suggest doing it with a good dvd ripper, they do audio and have Apple lossless compatibility, so you could import them in and export them out as whatever you chose. I wanted to say using a ripper would be best, I wouldn’t want to imply Audacity’s the right tool to use if it’s an entire collection (it could be, but I don’t know!)
