Various Artists Compilation album display artist name with Heos

[kaled]

I primarily use Asset UPNP with my HEOS multiroom system.
It works great. However, one small annoyance I have is that for compilation albums with the album artist marked as various artists, the 'artist' field doesn't show when navigating albums via the heos app, or on the display of heos devices (those that support it).
I've checked the option in the settings menu '[artist] - [title] for Various Artist album tracks: for compilation albums and control points which do not show the individual artists, this option adds the artist name into the title'
I know that the heos system should be able to correctly show the artist name since if I use the music server built into my synology nas, it correctly shows the artist.
Any suggestions on asset ipnp configuration?

[Spoon]

What happens if you use this to browse:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthr...-Asset-Control

[kaled]

Thanks, and installed.
When I navigate to an album with various artists, it shows the track number > track name > artist

[Spoon]

Then it is heos system which is displaying album artist over artist.

[kaled]

That what I thought, but then another music server (Synology Audio) is correctly showing the artist field, rather than the album artist field. Is there another field in FLAC that should also represent the artist e.g. is there a 'performer' field?

[Spoon]

Because this other music server does not give out album artist ever, there are players which actually use this field correctly so would not be right to remove it.

[IdrisRoberts]

I had similar situation using an AssetNas server.
I corrected the problem by leaving the Various Artist column blank, and providing the compilation setting is ticked, it works for me.
I use a Naim streamer to play the music and my Various Artist compilations show the artist and song title correctly.

[Spymaster]

I'm having the exact same problem - and unfortunately it's not as clear cut as affecting "Various Artists" albums only. A soundtrack album, for example, may be credited to a single composer but also contain 1 or 2 songs. So the album artist is X, as are most of the tracks, but 2 additional tracks may be artists Y and Z. HEOS treats the whole album as artist X and puts that name against every track. Of course, if X is "Various Artists" then that's what it puts against every track. Cambridge Audio's StreamMagic app does the same thing. It's really frustrating.

[mville]

HEOS treats the whole album as artist X and puts that name against every track. Of course, if X is "Various Artists" then that's what it puts against every track. Cambridge Audio's StreamMagic app does the same thing. It's really frustrating.

Im my experience hi-fi manufacturers haven't a clue when it comes to software/firmware. These are not uncommon issues and something I experienced with Apple, iTunes and the iPod Classic 160Gb, which Apple never resolved.

The way forward would be for the HEOS and StreamMagic developers to fix display issues with Various Artist albums and tracks, or at least comment on their reasoning.

[simbun]

Unfortunately I don't have a HEOS system to test this with, but have you tried using a normal UPnP control point e.g. BubbleUPnP? Someone suggested this works (requires using the HEOS app to configure the zones though), which means you'll see your native UPnP server browsing tree.

If you don't want to move outside the HEOS app (or the above doesn't work), have you tried using MinimServer? MinimServer allows you to modify tag values or remove them completelty without affecting the underlying files e.g. You could remove the AlbumArtist tag, or change its value to Artist e.t.c.

Apologies for suggesting a competing product, and I don't know if it'll work for you, but why these systems have chosen not to have a compliant UPnP implementation I don't know; I would gladly get some of the NAD/BluOS wireless devices but not given their limited tag support.

[Spymaster]

Im my experience hi-fi manufacturers haven't a clue when it comes to software/firmware. These are not uncommon issues and something I experienced with Apple, iTunes and the iPod Classic 160Gb, which Apple never resolved.

The way forward would be for the HEOS and StreamMagic developers to fix display issues with Various Artist albums and tracks, or at least comment on their reasoning.

I'm delighted to say that, after months of nagging, Cambridge Audio has fixed StreamMagic so that album artist and track artists are showing correctly. However HEOS is still wrong and Denon haven't replied to my ticket. It seems impossible to get hold of anyone who might help.

[Spymaster]

Interesting observation:

When streaming to HEOS from Synology's own media server, the "track artist" is displayed against each track correctly (via AssetUPnP the album artist is displayed against each track). So HEOS is reading THAT properly.

Could this be an issue with Asset, or UPnP in general, after all? Or a setting that can be tweaked?

[Michael Bishop]

Greetings. I've just upgraded my home theater to a Denon AVR-X8500HA. I'm running Asset version 2023-05-15, and in the Heos App I see that on compilation albums, where the compilation tag is set, and the Album Artist is set to "Various Artists" the Heos displays the Album Artist text, instead of the Artist text when playing tracks from albums or playlists from Asset. I also use BubbleUpnP as a control point, and it does not do this, but instead shows the Artist info on compilation albums, and on playlists that contain tracks from compilation albums. Also, the Pioneer receiver I replaced (Pioneer SC-68) with the new Denon, did not do this, when using the Pioneer MediaServer input to access my Asset music server. I contacted Denon about this issue, and, for what it's worth, here is an excerpt of their reply. I'm convinced that my tag settings are all correct, and that it is the Denon/Heos interpretation of how this information should be displayed that is wrong. But it appears that I did not convince anyone at Denon - because they say they are not issuing any updates to fix this problem. The only way out of this mess that I know of is to delete the "Album Artist" tag on tracks that are in a compilation, where the Album Artist tag was set as "Various Artists." Thoughts? Here is the excerpt of Denon's reply (Note: I don't use WAV files in Asset, I suspect this Denon reply is part of a form letter that they have sent out before):

Hello Michael,

Thank you for contacting Denon Customer Care. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

I’m glad to hear that you love your Denon AVR-X8500HA! It’s indeed a fantastic AVR receiver. However, I understand the frustration you’re experiencing with the Heos / DLNA issue related to album and artist tags.

When playing music from your music server, the Heos app displays the “Album Artist” tag instead of the correct “Artist” tag for compilation albums or playlists. Let’s explore some possible solutions:

Check Your ID3 Tags:
• Ensure that your music files have properly filled ID3v2.3 TAG information, including both the “Album Artist” and “Artist” fields.
• Some media players, including Heos, use these tags to display album and artist information. If the tags are missing or incorrect, it can lead to issues with album art display.
Album Artist vs. Artist:
• In general, the album artist (sometimes referred to as “ALBUMARTIST” or “ALBUM ARTIST”) is used as the superior grouping criterion over the individual artist field.
• For compilation albums, the album artist often becomes “Various Artists”, while the artist field shows the actual performer.
File Format Consideration:
• You mentioned using WAV files ripped from your CDs. WAV files do not support attached metadata tagging, including album art.
• Consider converting your music to FLAC files, which work well on all devices and support metadata tags.
Denon HEOS Album Art Rules:
• Denon HEOS has specific rules for displaying album art. Make sure your artwork adheres to these rules to ensure proper display in the app.
Regretfully, there isn't any firmware that can be provided in regards to your issues. However, we hope this helps!

Best Regards,
Cxxxxxxx

[simbun]

You can try setting [SimpleArtist] in the advanced configuration for the HEOS control point but we are still waiting on a fix as described here, so it may not work just yet for HEOS (may result in no artist at all).

The current bug in the implementation means you'll need to copy the following lines (in addition to [SimpleArtist]) to the new section (as described in the linked forum post):
[NoAssetPrependTrackNum]
[NoAssetTrackWantFrontArtist]
[NoAssetTrackWantEndArtist]
[NoAssetAlbumArtist]

[kaled]

I had similar situation using an AssetNas server.
I corrected the problem by leaving the Various Artist column blank, and providing the compilation setting is ticked, it works for me.
I use a Naim streamer to play the music and my Various Artist compilations show the artist and song title correctly.

@idrisroberts could elaborate on this. What do you mean by leaving the Various Artis column blank and providing the compilation setting is ticked?