Playing long MP3 files in Groove or other apps

I have some larger MP3 files (approx 20mins) which are vocal recordings of magazine articles. I also have MP3's from the same website which are normal length songs (3-4 mins). When I try to play each file length through Groove Music (or any other MP3 player APP) the shorter files will play but the longer files won't. I have checked for all available updates through windows update and at:

Download Surface Pro 4 Drivers and Firmware from Official Microsoft Download Center

I also installed the generic Realtek High Def driver from their website. But nothing has worked yet. It's seems to come down to the length of file that can be played in an app. When I open the same long MP3 files in windows media player or VLC, they play fine. Unfortunately, the controls are so small in either of those programs on the Surface Pro, that they are annoying to use. Is there a way to play these longer MP3's on Groove?

crd said:

It's seems to come down to the length of file that can be played in an app.

The longest mp3 I have is 1 hour 22 minutes long, Groove can play that with no problem. It's more likely that there is something odd about the mp3 format used for the files from this particular site.

If you can open them in an audio editor such as Audacity then save them again as a new file that may make them playable. Audacity is available as a Portable App if you'd like to try it without the need to install anything.
https://portableapps.com/apps/music_...acity_portable

Thanks Bree. You prompted me to try the same files on my Laptop, and they play through Groove fine there. So it's only my Surface Pro 4 that has a problem.

I tried Audacity to convert to other files and remove properties, but no other file type works either. So it seems confined to long audio files playing on my Surface Pro 4. Are there any troubleshooting ideas i can try aside from Windows Updates and re-installing drivers?

Sorry, I don't have a Surface Pro 4 to test this on. Perhaps others who do can try it and see if they can reproduce this problem.

The only thing I have left to suggest is to try the 'playing audio' troubleshooter. Type 'troubleshoot' in the Cortana/Search box to find it.

Sadly that doesn't work either. Thanks for your help Bree, any other Surface Owners with an opinion?

I'd suggest capturing a Process Monitor trace of the issue. Start recording, then attempt to play one of the mp3s that is not working properly. Afterwards, stop and save the trace, compress it and upload it to onedrive/google drive/<your favorite filehost>.