Music Server Newbie Experiences and Questions

[DuncanS]

Thanks Jan & Robert, I'll probably have a go with both programs and see which one I like the most. Cheers, Duncan

I use a programm called Tagscanner 5.1

Hi Duncan, the program I use is mp3tag. Does tag FLAC as well

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/download.html

You just load a folder with files into the program and you can add/change all kinds of tags and add a cover as well. Very easy to use.

 

[Robert van Diggele]

I use a programm called Tagscanner 5.1

Thanks Jan, your program also can scan the collection and export to excel. Nice Do you use this feature?

 

[JanBakker]

Thanks Jan, your program also can scan the collection and export to excel. Nice Do you use this feature?

No, I don't even use the online database (which can be very convenient at times) but I want my files tagged a certain way so I tag everything myself, stubborn as I am .
It may need some getting used to but once you figured it out it's a matter of minutes to tag an album and if you use the database just seconds I guess.

 

[JanBakker]

Tried it for the first time and it looks like this:

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I use a programm called Tagscanner 5.1

+1 on Tagscanner

Its an extremely useful utility for tagging Flac Files. The learning curve is pretty shallow too.

I use the online data base all the time. Then clean up manually if needed for extra tracks and such. It even imports and embeds the cover art. As long as I have the song titles and the correct ordering, i'm pretty happy. It does take a bit of time to tag an album though. Maybe 5-10 minutes using my slow laptop over network.

The icing on the cake is its freeware. I do plan to donate because I like it so much.

 

[HomerJAU]

I tag everything on my local hard drives then copy to my NAS and backup drive (USB 3.0)

Tagging changes each file's size so doing it on your NAS means your files become fragmented across the drive which affects performance (tagging plus future reads and writes). NAS writes can be slower too if you have a RAID.

Also, you may want to check your network is 1Gbps and not the old 100Mbps standard (actually the latest standard is 10Gbps but that still quite expensive). But upgrading to 1Gbps is cheap and is 10 times faster than 100Mbps).

If you are doing hundreds of albums, do yourself a favour and speed the process! (Tag on yourLocal hard disc and use 1Gbps network to copy to your NAS).

 

[HomerJAU]

Thanks Jan, your program also can scan the collection and export to excel. Nice Do you use this feature?

I have done but I wanted a report of all by albums not files so I wrote an app that does it and also finds the codec info (channels, sample and bit rates). I've been meaning to publish it here on QQ.

 

[DuncanS]

Thanks for that info. I've wired up the house for 1Gbps (everywhere!) and have a Dual RAID NAS so looks like tagging FLACs on the PC then copying across to the NAS is the way to go.

I tag everything on my local hard drives then copy to my NAS and backup drive (USB 3.0)

Tagging changes each file's size so doing it on your NAS means your files become fragmented across the drive which affects performance (tagging plus future reads and writes). NAS writes can be slower too if you have a RAID.

Also, you may want to check your network is 1Gbps and not the old 100Mbps standard (actually the latest standard is 10Gbps but that still quite expensive). But upgrading to 1Gbps is cheap and is 10 times faster than 100Mbps).

If you are doing hundreds of albums, do yourself a favour and speed the process! (Tag on yourLocal hard disc and use 1Gbps network to copy to your NAS).

 

[DuncanS]

I just tried tagging Amin Bhatia's 5.1 FLAC Interstellar Suite, using Mp3tag, it says its done it, but the Panasonic DMPBDT700 still shows everything to play in Alphabetical order. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

 

[Robert van Diggele]

I have done but I wanted a report of all by albums not files so I wrote an app that does it and also finds the codec info (channels, sample and bit rates). I've been meaning to publish it here on QQ.

Sounds very interesting Gary. Feel free to share with us

 

[Robert van Diggele]

I just tried tagging Amin Bhatia's 5.1 FLAC Interstellar Suite, using Mp3tag, it says its done it, but the Panasonic DMPBDT700 still shows everything to play in Alphabetical order. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

which app do you use the access the files, or send them to the player using DLNA? Can you show a screen of mp3tag with the files?

 

[JanBakker]

I just tried tagging Amin Bhatia's 5.1 FLAC Interstellar Suite, using Mp3tag, it says its done it, but the Panasonic DMPBDT700 still shows everything to play in Alphabetical order. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

I think you didn't rename the file, Tagscanner has a function of renaming all the files at once, dunno about Mp3tag.

 

[HomerJAU]

Sounds very interesting Gary. Feel free to share with us

Will do Robert. I will clean up the app tomorrow and post a link for download.

 

[Robert van Diggele]

mp3tag has that as well. Use the Convert/Tag - Filename option. You can select the format string you want and tag the whole folder at once, that is when you select all files

 

[JanBakker]

Mine is set like this:

It renames the file like this: 01 - tracktitle.codec

 

[Robert van Diggele]

Will do Robert. I will clean up the app tomorrow and post a link for download.

Great, thanks!

 

[DuncanS]

I'll have a go when I get back from the pub, though that may not be the best thing to do!

which app do you use the access the files, or send them to the player using DLNA? Can you show a screen of mp3tag with the files?

 

[Robert van Diggele]

:brew

 

[HomerJAU]

I'll have a go when I get back from the pub, though that may not be the best thing to do!

Yea. When I get back from the pub I'm usually in no state fit for 'work' - it's time to sit back and listen!

 

[DuncanS]

Well having imbibed some Moorland brewery Real Ale I went to the next pub to discover it was a friends birthday party, so when I got home having consumed some Otter Best Bitter there, I wasn't exactly what could be described as unaffected by C2-H5-OH!

Anyway now sober I have discovered that the Panasonic (surround FLAC ) & it seems the Pioneer Amp (2.0 only FLAC ) sort and play alphabetically according to the track Title, not Tag order by the looks of it - I edited the Title and put a '1' at the beginning and it came up first. So is there a way of modifying the track Titles to get the correct album track order?

Yea. When I get back from the pub I'm usually in no state fit for 'work' - it's time to sit back and listen!