I have recently replaced some .mp3 files with m4a equivalents in iTunes. The tracks had previously been synchronised to Audirvana (3.5.33) as mp3 files and they show up in the Audirvana library.
When I synchronise the iTunes and Audirvana libraries the file-name of the replaced files is not updated - so Audirvana is still looking for the .mp3 versions of the files - it cannot find them and so won’t play the tracks.
The updated files are accessible / playable within iTunes (via their m4a endings).
I cannot delete the syncrhonised album information in Audirvana, nor manually add the correct file name to the record for the affected tracks.
I am stuck - anyone got any ideas about how I can fix this?
Thanks in advance
(all this running on a mac running macos 10.14.6)
An update on this. Not very encouraging 
I have found that if I completely remove the problem tracks from iTunes and then sychnronise with Audirvana and then add the tracks back to iTunes, and then synchronise twice with Audirvana then the correct tracks are listed in Audirvana.
So the problem now is that there are several hundred tracks that have this problem - where they were initially posted to iTunes as mp3 and subsequently became m4a files.
Since there is no easy way to find within iTunes such files (so that they can be deleted from database and re-added) - other than to manually do this each time a track skips in Audirvana - there needs to be a better way forward.
I think the best solution would be for Audirvana either to:
- synchronise the two databases in a way that checks at least that the file path / location entries match between the two databases and correct Audirvana to match iTunes if not (rather than just ignoring it as seems to be case now), or
- provide some means to edit the database file location / name entries directly within Audirvana - just as it is possible to change artist / album / cover / year … and lots of other information about an entry
Right now I appear to be in the worst of all possible worlds - since the other ‘easy’ solution of deleting the entire Audrivana database and starting again is not attractive option (as all the changes I’ve made to the Audirvana database over time, and things like play / skip counts would be lost).
Any ideas?
Are you syncing your music to mobile (iOS) devices?
Sort of. I am using Apple’s iTunes Match service to put copies of my library into the cloud so I can stream it on other devices (phone, laptop etc.). A side-feature of iTunes Match is that once a track has been matched you can download an iTunes m4a copy of the track. This in turn allows you to ‘upgrade’ less good mp3 recordings to the standard used by Apple’s iTunes system. That’s what I have done for some tracks in my library - but I’ve only recently realised that Audirvana did not update the location for these ‘upgraded’ tracks… and now trying to fix.
It’s a bit if an unusual use case.
Don’t use the iTunes sync. Use the second method, monitor folder. Just map the folder where the music is stored.
Yes - could do. But as others have pointed out in the other threads about this, you then don’t get sync of playlists.
I’m not sure I see why ‘use case’ is even a factor - at a fundamental level it makes no sense for the Synchronisation to ignore whether the paths for the tracks are in sync: the whole point of the sync is to allow you to play the music in the iTunes catalogue in Audirvana. If the iTunes music moves (or changes ending, or file name), so too should file links to the tracks stored in Audirvana.
To suggest any other solution to sync (i.e. where after sync the tracks ‘syncd’ from iTunes are unplayable) is simply odd thinking.
You can switch to legacy mode and keep using iTunes as interface.
Is that until or instead of Audirvana sync being fixed?
Don’t hold your breath in this one. I would say instead.
Not many audiophiles use the Match functionality, mainly because it just gives you a compressed file that is only a little bit better than the mp3.
I’m not using Match for the audio quality, just the utility of being able to listen to my music on any device if I need to. The downside of having a large collection of high-res music files is that they don’t easily fit onto my mobile devices - being able to stream a copy when I’m on a train is handy: I’m not after highest quality, so dragging along a 24/96 version of a track is really not necssary.
But regardless of that, I still don’t see why the lack of desirability you feel towards mobile music should justify a broken sync mechanism between iTunes and Aurdirvana on the desktop. The issue is simply down to what happens when the name of a file changes in iTunes and this not being reflected in the copy linked to in Audirvana - it should update and it doesn’t. Why the filename changes is really not part of the the issue.
It doesn’t justify anything, but how many people are affected by any given issues determines the priority that is given to fixing it. This doesn’t impact many users, so I doubt that it’s high on Audirvana’s team priority list to look into this.
Most of the users are moving away completely from using iTunes/Music.
Sure - but at least now (I think for the first time) someone else has acknowledged that it is indeed something that needs fixing - so progress of sorts! 