Problem streaming WMA formats on the TX-NR809

With the subject receiver I get the message "cannot play" when I try to link to some WMA format streams (I have not tried all of them). This the case in vTuner and other streaming services supported by the NR809. The same sites play just fine when I link to them on my PC, also with vTuner, for example (samples can be provided). Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a solution to this problem? Is this as software defect in the NR809? Lots of questions -- few answers.

Hi watchmavin,

How are you trying to establish the links?

OnkyoUSA wrote:Hi watchmavin,

How are you trying to establish the links?

Hi,
On the NR809, in the Net Streaming mode, I select, say, vTuner. I then drill down using the cursor keys on the remote to the station I want to hear. Often, if the station streams using WMA, the receiver tries to buffer, but then posts a "cannot play" message. I found out, however, that some WMA stations play fine on the NR809. Why some don't and some do, I do not know. The way I know that the common denominator is the WMA format, is from searching for the identical station on the vTuner website. There, the format and bit rate are posted for each station. On the PC, the same stations that do not play on the NR809, play just fine. I appreciate the effort to solve this mystery.

Hi watchmavin,

Can you provide some examples of the stations that have this issue so that we test this in our lab?

OnkyoUSA wrote:Hi watchmavin,

Can you provide some examples of the stations that have this issue so that we test this in our lab?

Here are some sample stations which post the "cannot play" message. The NR809 path to them is: NET > vTuner > Stations by Location > Middle East > Israel > All Stations >
(The following all use the WMA128 format. The same sites play on the vTuner PC webpage)
103 FM
88 FM
IBA World
Israel Radio
Kol Hamusica
Kol Israel Reshet Aleph
Kol Israel Reshet Bet
Reshet Gimmel

I occasionally find other WMA 128 sites that do not work, but many others do. I appreciate Onkyo looking into this.

Hi atchmavin,

Thank you. We will test this in our lab and hope to answer for you by next week.

OnkyoUSA wrote:Hi Watchmavin,

Thank you. We will test this in our lab and hope to answer for you by next week.

Many thanks to Onkyo for looking into this issue. It will be interesting to learn why some WMA streamers work and why some do not.

Hi watchmavin,

We do what we can to find solutions for our customers.

OnkyoUSA wrote:Hi atchmavin,

Thank you. We will test this in our lab and hope to answer for you by next week.

I am following up to see if you have any additional information regarding this issue. Thank you.

Hi watchmavin,

I have tested those stations in our lab and was getting the same thing you were getting "can not play". I am in the process of determining what this issue could be. As the only thing I can come up with at the moment is that the receivers can not decode a 128kbps lossless source which these are in.

OnkyoUSA wrote:Hi watchmavin,

I have tested those stations in our lab and was getting the same thing you were getting "can not play". I am in the process of determining what this issue could be. As the only thing I can come up with at the moment is that the receivers can not decode a 128kbps lossless source which these are in.

Thank you for this very interesting update. I checked the TX-NR809 Info Sheet. On page 2 under the heading of Network Capability...Internet Radio, it lists WMA lossless as one of the supported protocols. I hope you and Onkyo's technical staff can get to the bottom of this issue and release a firmware update which would resolve this issue. Thank you.

Hi watchmavin,

Hopefully we will have some sort of answer for you by weeks end...

OnkyoUSA wrote:Hi watchmavin,

Hopefully we will have some sort of answer for you by weeks end...

Hi,
It's been a while (3 weeks) and I am wondering if the issue we have been discussing has been diagnosed and a solution determined? Thank you.

I am wondering what the disposition is, on this one as well! I am questioning the ability of my 809, to live up to the spec's. Extremely limited file formats. still an excellent unit I may add.

Spytech wrote:I am wondering what the disposition is, on this one as well! I am questioning the ability of my 809, to live up to the spec's. Extremely limited file formats. still an excellent unit I may add.

Thank you for your support on this matter. What we know at this point is that "the receivers can not decode a 128kbps loss-less source". This seems to be an accurate diagnosis of the problem. I hope that Onkyo takes this issue seriously and releases a firmware update for it. My guess is that this problem is common across all the receiver models which can stream internet radio sources, as Onkyo probably reuses the same code in its various models. This issue not withstanding, I agree with you that the 809 is an excellent unit in all other respects, but that does not give Onkyo a pass on fixing this issue.