MonoGame/MonoGame · error · NotSupportedException

XMA is not a supported encoding format. It is specific to th

Error message

XMA is not a supported encoding format. It is specific to the Xbox 360.

What it means

Thrown explicitly by DefaultAudioProfile.ConvertToFormat when ConversionFormat.Xma is requested. XMA (Xbox Media Audio) is an Xbox 360-only codec not supported by the cross-platform ffmpeg-based pipeline, so the request is rejected up front with NotSupportedException.

Source

Thrown at MonoGame.Framework.Content.Pipeline/Audio/DefaultAudioProfile.cs:316

                        // XNA seems to preserve the bit size of the input
                        // format when converting to PCM.
                        if (content.Format.BitsPerSample == 8)
                            ffmpegCodecName = "pcm_u8";
                        else if (content.Format.BitsPerSample == 32 && content.Format.Format == 3)
                            ffmpegCodecName = "pcm_f32le";
                        else
                            ffmpegCodecName = "pcm_s16le";
                        ffmpegMuxerName = "wav";
                        //format = 0x0001; /* WAVE_FORMAT_PCM */
                        break;
                    case ConversionFormat.WindowsMedia:
                        // Windows Media Audio 2
                        ffmpegCodecName = "wmav2";
                        ffmpegMuxerName = "asf";
                        //format = 0x0161; /* WAVE_FORMAT_WMAUDIO2 */
                        break;
                    case ConversionFormat.Xma:
                        throw new NotSupportedException(
                            "XMA is not a supported encoding format. It is specific to the Xbox 360.");
                    case ConversionFormat.ImaAdpcm:
                        // ADPCM IMA WAV
                        ffmpegCodecName = "adpcm_ima_wav";
                        ffmpegMuxerName = "wav";
                        //format = 0x0011; /* WAVE_FORMAT_IMA_ADPCM */
                        break;
                    case ConversionFormat.Aac:
                        // AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
                        // Requires -strict experimental
                        ffmpegCodecName = "aac";
                        ffmpegMuxerName = "ipod";
                        //format = 0x0000; /* WAVE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN */
                        break;
                    case ConversionFormat.Vorbis:
                        // Vorbis
                        ffmpegCodecName = "libvorbis";
                        ffmpegMuxerName = "ogg";

View on GitHub (pinned to 1d71bbd0ff)

Solutions

1. Choose a supported format: ConversionFormat.Pcm, Adpcm, ImaAdpcm, WindowsMedia, Aac, Vorbis, or Mp3.
2. If targeting Xbox 360 specifically, use the Xbox 360 platform toolchain (not the open-source pipeline).
3. Update the processor's ConversionFormat property in the .mgcb to a non-XMA value.
4. Remove or replace any Xma references in content processor parameters.

Example fix

// before
DefaultAudioProfile.ConvertToFormat(content, ConversionFormat.Xma, quality, file); // throws

// after
DefaultAudioProfile.ConvertToFormat(content, ConversionFormat.Adpcm, quality, file);

// Reject XMA before conversion
if (formatType == ConversionFormat.Xma)
    throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(formatType), "XMA is Xbox 360 only; choose a supported format.");
DefaultAudioProfile.ConvertToFormat(content, formatType, quality, file);

try { ConvertToFormat(content, fmt, quality, file); }
catch (NotSupportedException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("XMA"))
{ /* pick Pcm/Adpcm/etc. instead */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ConvertToFormat (or a processor/config that selects XMA) with ConversionFormat.Xma. Typically arises from a .mgcb or processor parameter inherited from an XNA/Xbox 360 project targeting XMA output.

Common situations: Migrating an old XNA Xbox 360 project whose content was configured for XMA. A processor defaulting to Xma. A misconfigured conversion format enum.

Related errors

• ffmpeg exited with non-zero exit code: {ffmpegStdout} {ffmp
• Could not read the audio data from file "{Path.GetFileName(F
• Incorrect file type! Expected '.wav' but found '.{_fileType}
• Calculated block align does not match RIFF {_format.BlockAli
• Probed channel count does not match RIFF: {_format.ChannelCo

AI-assisted analysis of MonoGame/MonoGame@1d71bbd0ff (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/33d55eac4737bb3c. Report an issue: GitHub.