Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Automotive File error reading WMA in Evoque

Just bought a 2016 Range Rover Evoque with the upgraded Meridian system.
Been playing with what files can be handled through a memory stick.
Thought I had it sussed out fully, but not quite.

So use WIndows Media Player to generate WMA VBR files, using highest VBR accuracy of 240-355kbps, from my CDs and then sync onto a memory stick.

Found that most tracks play just fine, but occasionally system will skip a track with a File error. I have checked the files and they all play fine back on the computer through Windows Media Player. Can see the file is compressed to the right order of magnitude as other playable files so don't see anything unusual about them.

Can anybody enlighten me on this?

I'm following the manual recommendations to not compress, but already found out that the system cannot read any lossless formats that I either already have (FLAC and Apple lossless) or easily able to generate (wma lossless), and looking at other forum listings out there, saw VBR was the way to go.

To be honest, I would try a casual chat with a knowledgeable JLR dealer. This forum has expertise in home audio, but experience on the automotive section is either non existent or totally invisible.

Also, I understand that whilst the ICE is Meridian branded and they have significant input in its design and audio playback subsystems, it is fundamentally a Panasonic unit, but may be wrong on this for Meridian branded units. So another avenue to pursue.

That said, check the filenames of the erronous files and see if there is anything in common, like odd characters, punctuation and spaces.

Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately I think the dealership does not really know too much details or at least I haven't found the person who does.

Will play with the files, check what bitrates were actually used to see if those files were at the upper end compared to others. Those files play fine from iPhone, but then already streaming so doesn't count.
I'll try more compression on one of the failed ones to see if that helps.

Planning on writing up my findings and feeding back to JLR as would be useful for all owners...

Cheers
Tom

There's really very little knowledge here about the automotive side. We just don't have many users, and the information is not so easy to come by so we haven't been bumping into it at every turn (so to speak).

I suggest you email support@Meridian.co.uk

Good luck! Maybe you can become our expert.

Hi Folks,

Been offline for a few weeks, but done some more experimentation this week and think I have found the optimum solution.

Experimented with WMA and so here are my conclusions:
WMA-VBR 240-355kbps: tracks that exceed the 355kbps do not play.
WMA-PRO: does not recognise
WMA 192kbps (so this is the next option down from the higher quality VBR), those tracks that did not play using VBR, now play just fine.

I didn't stop there, as the 192kbps is basically the same as on my iPhone and wanted something better since the recommendations were "to be as uncompressed as possible". So tried a new tact using AAC, and that seems to work well.

Created a brand new library in iTunes just for ripping my CDs in this format (I already had my CDs ripped in Apple Lossless).
For CD import setup as follows:

AAC Encoder
Custom
Stereo Bit Rate: 320kbps
Sample Rate: Auto
Channels: Auto

Tick box for:
"use Variable Bit Rate Encoding (VBR)"

As a result of that, should see in the Details window the following:

160kbps(mono)/320kbps(stereo) VBR

Then tick the box for:
"use error correction when reading Audio CDs"

After ripping all the CDs I wanted, simply copy across the "Music" folder from within the "iTunes\iTunes Media" folder directly onto the USB stick.

So far all tracks that I had a problem with before play just fine. Interestingly I note that some of the tracks have quite high bit rates, up at 373kbps for example (similar to the WMA files that failed) and yet still play just fine. Which suggests that the system handles AAC better than WMA.

Finally, for around 2,100 tracks, consumes around 23GB on the USB stick.

So AAC seems to be the way to go to get the highest quality.

Cheers
Tom