[Sonos] FLAC transcoding

[ssenart 0]

Great job on Emby. I plan to move in from Plex.

 

I have a Sonos player : bit depth: 16 bits, 24 bits;  sample rate: 16khz, 22.05khz, 24khz,32khz,44.1khz,48khz.

I have FLAC music library with files in the sample rates : 44.1khz, 88khz, 96khz, 192khz.

I would like :

- Direct play all files with sample rate below or equals 48khz.

- Down sample (and keep FLAC format) all files with samples rate greater than 48khz down to 48khz : Best quality Sonos can play.

 

In Emby, I have 2 options:

1) Sonos Plugin seems to send FLAC stream directly to the player without transcoding.

Only my FLAC 44.1khz can be played.
Is there a way to configure transcoding rules (such as profile in DLNA) or is it possible to implement transcoding to Sonos supported format (described here https://support.sonos.com/s/article/79?language=en_US).

Typically, in my use case, it would consist in down sample all sample rate greater than 48khz down to 48khz.

 

2) Currently, a better alternative is using DLNA with the profile :
 

  <DirectPlayProfiles>
	<DirectPlayProfile container="mp3,flac,m4a,wma" type="Audio" />
  </DirectPlayProfiles>
  <TranscodingProfiles>
    <TranscodingProfile container="mp3" type="Audio" audioCodec="mp3" estimateContentLength="false" enableMpegtsM2TsMode="false" transcodeSeekInfo="Auto" copyTimestamps="false" context="Streaming" minSegments="0" segmentLength="0" breakOnNonKeyFrames="false" />
  </TranscodingProfiles>	
  <ContainerProfiles />
  <CodecProfiles>
    <CodecProfile type="Audio" container="flac">
      <Conditions>
        <ProfileCondition condition="LessThanEqual" property="AudioSampleRate" value="48000" isRequired="true" />
      </Conditions>
      <ApplyConditions />
    </CodecProfile>	
  </CodecProfiles> 

It permits to direct play all FLAC format with sample rate below 48khz, and transcode to MP3 for sample rate greater than 48khz.

But, all my Hi Res FLAC are degraded to MP3 .

Would it be possible to set the output audio sample rate (during transcoding) according to the ProfileCondition rule (here 48khz).

In that case, the following profile will down sample my Hi Res FLAC to the best sample rate supported by Sonos :

  <DirectPlayProfiles>
	<DirectPlayProfile container="mp3,flac,m4a,wma" type="Audio" />
  </DirectPlayProfiles>
  <TranscodingProfiles>
    <TranscodingProfile container="flac" type="Audio" audioCodec="flac" estimateContentLength="false" enableMpegtsM2TsMode="false" transcodeSeekInfo="Auto" copyTimestamps="false" context="Streaming" minSegments="0" segmentLength="0" breakOnNonKeyFrames="false" />
  </TranscodingProfiles>	
  <ContainerProfiles />
  <CodecProfiles>
    <CodecProfile type="Audio" codec="flac">
      <Conditions>
        <ProfileCondition condition="LessThanEqual" property="AudioSampleRate" value="48000" isRequired="true" />		
      </Conditions>
      <ApplyConditions />
    </CodecProfile>	
  </CodecProfiles>

Same question for AudioBitrate : perhaps it is already done (I did not test it).

I know DLNA change is feasible in Jellyfin. I even suggested a pull request (https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/pull/4361) to integrate that feature.

It would be great having the same feature in Emby.

Thanks a lot for your work,

Stephane

[Luke 42077]

HI there, yes this is something that we can look at in a future update. Thanks for reporting.

[embyeros 1]

I happen the same all my audio in flac transcoding them to mp3 on my appletv 

 

[vdatanet 1617]

10 hours ago, embyeros said:

I happen the same all my audio in flac transcoding them to mp3 on my appletv 

 

Please, send your transcoding log in your thread on the Apple TV forum, because I direct play my FLAC files. Apple TV supports FLAC audio.

[Luke 42077]

@embyeros ?

[embixer1 0]

Is there any update on this? Also, is there a link where I can find what formats/bitrates are supported by current emby Sonos controller?

[Luke 42077]

50 minutes ago, embixer1 said:

Is there any update on this? Also, is there a link where I can find what formats/bitrates are supported by current emby Sonos controller?

HI, what exactly are you asking for? You can send any Emby-supported content to Sonos for playback. If it's not supported by the Sonos then the server will transcode it to a compatible format.

[embixer1 0]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:30 PM, Luke said:

HI, what exactly are you asking for? You can send any Emby-supported content to Sonos for playback. If it's not supported by the Sonos then the server will transcode it to a compatible format.

Looks like my transcoding is broken then. Going in the server setting, I see transcoding is enabled. Yet, I can only play pure mp3. Anything else, if I connect to a Sonos speaker, the play button just does not work. Clicking it does not even respond. I am on 4.7.11.0 server version on a Synology DS 920+ NAS with DSM 7.0 OS. All my Sonos speakers are Sonos One V2.

Edited January 6, 2023 by embixer1

[Luke 42077]

@embixer1can we please look at an example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

[vdatanet 1617]

Hello,

When I play music above 48 khz it is not transcoded. Sonos only supports music up to 24 bit/48 Khz. The same happens in Sonos One and Sonos Port. What should I do for it to be transcoded?

I use the SONOS plugin not the DLNA server.

greetings

embyserver.txt

[vdatanet 1617]

Please, does the SONOS plugin support transcoding?

[Luke 42077]

Hi @vdatanet please see if the latest update to the Sonos plugin resolves the issue. Thanks.

[vdatanet 1617]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi @vdatanet please see if the latest update to the Sonos plugin resolves the issue. Thanks.

No, It's still trying direct play above 48 Khz

[Luke 42077]

On 4/13/2025 at 1:18 AM, vdatanet said:

No, It's still trying direct play above 48 Khz

What version of the sonos plugin do you have?

[vdatanet 1617]

26 minutes ago, Luke said:

What version of the sonos plugin do you have?

1.0.28.0

[Luke 42077]

If you view the song detail screen in the web app, does it show the correct sample rate?

[vdatanet 1617]

24 minutes ago, Luke said:

If you view the song detail screen in the web app, does it show the correct sample rate?

Yes, Using web app SFN shows the correct sample rate:

BTW The same thing happens while using DLNA plugin

[Luke 42077]

OK please try the 1.0.29 update to the Sonos plugin and let's see if that resolves it for you. Thanks.

[Luke 42077]

@ssenart  @vdatanet  ?

[vdatanet 1617]

No, unsupported sample rate flacs are not transcoded. 24 bit 48 khz play fine.

[Luke 42077]

On 1/18/2026 at 9:46 AM, vdatanet said:

No, unsupported sample rate flacs are not transcoded. 24 bit 48 khz play fine.

What version number of the plugin are you on now? Can you please provide a new log example? Thanks !

[vdatanet 1617]

On 2/5/2026 at 8:07 AM, Luke said:

What version number of the plugin are you on now? Can you please provide a new log example? Thanks !

1.0.30.0

 

embyserver.txt

[Luke 42077]

On 2/8/2026 at 6:22 AM, vdatanet said:

1.0.30.0

 

embyserver.txt 81.73 kB · 0 downloads

If you view the song detail screen in the web app for this m4a, does it show the correct sample rate?