Why won't iTunes stream 320 kbps audio across a network?

Question

My iTunes library, that's shared on our network, has some songs that have a bit rate of 320 kbps. These songs will not play when I try to play them from a client computer - accessing them through the Shared library.

Why won't they play? Is there a work around besides downgrading the bit rate?

Answer 1

Do you know for sure it is the 320 kbps that is keeping the songs from being played? Can you play songs with a lower bitrate successfully?

There are three reasons I can think of that would make a song not play in Shared Library:

• You have reached the 5-computer limit on Shared Library. Only when the number of concurrent connections gets back to less than 5 you will be able to connect and play the songs.
• The remote iTunes has not been authorized for that Apple ID and the song you are trying to play has DRM protection (i.e., it is an Audible book or it was purchased way back when Apple only sold DRM-protected songs).
• The song is listed on the Shared Library (and on the "server" iTunes Library) but it is pointing to a file that does not exist on the computer's file system or is out of reach.

I hope this gives you additional ideas to look into.

Answer 2

On the clients, try to switch the 'Streaming buffer size' (Preferences > Advanced) to 'Large', it may help if it's a bandwidth problem.

Answer 3

I cannot locate a specific reference to prove this, but I suspect that iTunes' Home Sharing feature, by design, will not stream audio files with such a high bit rate because it would require too much network bandwidth.