Resuming CD Collection Ripping - Guidance and Advice

[alexd]

I've recently decided to resume ripping my entire CD collection as the previous attempts (mp3, ripping for iTunes, ripping to FLAC) have seen me begin and then halt.

Having had the software (RipNAS in 2010, dBpoweramp in 2011) for a number of years, I'm not unfamiliar with it, but want to have an optimal approach. Most, if not all of the previous issues that became obstacles appear to have been addressed. So before kicking this off, I'm realise the value from all those CDs and reduce reliance from streaming services!

Getting this right has become a long post, but I've tried to research before asking

Setup
Upgraded to v17 and having a dedicated rig to rip with means I think I am set... but having reviewed previous attempts, I want to ensure I have got it right

Strategy

1. Rip all CDs to FLAC (rip once, rip right and can be played on my Sonos)
2. Rip all CDs to mp3 CBR for mobile devices / car
3. Establish a robust naming hierarchy
4. Leverage dbPoweramp capabilities
5. Use other Illustrate apps to provide integrated solution for playing to include access to Sonos and avoid iTunes if possible

So to achieve my goals, I have followed guidance and suggestions from other threads:

Ripping
My profile uses the multi encoder for FLAC and CBR 320kps, and the following

Dynamic Naming
[Genre]\[MAXLENGTH]220,[IFCOMP]Various\[year] [album][IFMULTI]\CD[disc][]\[album] - [track] - [artist] - [title] [][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[year] [album][IFMULTI]\CD[disc][]\[artist] - [album] - [track] - [title][][]

DSP - Replay Gain
Set to Track & Album

DSP - Playlist Writer
To create m3u

DSP - ID Tag Processing
Set to remove Day and Month from year

CD Ripper Settings
Secure (accurate rip, limit speed, ultra secure 2,4,2 vary speed)
No C2 set
Generate complete log file for future reference

MetaData Tags
default but added Artist Sort and Album Artist Sort, created RipDate Tag

Ripping Checkpoint
Is this an optimal setup, have I missed anything that would be an issue later on?



Assuming the configuration / settings are solid, then here's where I'm looking for most help / guidance from the community

Scenarios / Questions

1. With Sonos using album artist, I wanted to introduce Album Artist Sort tag. So added in the Ripping, but my testing has shown this is not within the metadata. Therefore my understanding this has to be populated once the flac and mp3 files are created and edited post creation? PerfectTunes has a "sort tags" which I presume is the optimal solution?
2. So should I try to alter my dynamic naming to use Album Artist Sort if Sonos is the primary listening platform?
3. Having created the RipDate tag, I couldn't see a solution to autopopulated? Therefore this a post creation activity?
4. My plan is to host all flac on my Synology NAS for both Sonos and Synology Audio Station. Any gotchas using NAS, particularly Synology?
5. Replication to my NAS had been with Synctoy previously, but TuneFUSION combines this and Task Scheduler. I presume it makes sense to adopt this?
6. Based on the dynamic naming structure being used, I should be able to alter the Album Tag to remove any reference to the multi disc. This should result in all files for the same CD boxset are grouped under that title rather than split, but any issues doing this?
7. Is mp3tag still the best solution to automate tag updates? I have PerfectTune licence but still understanding the capabilities
8. For CDs with a blank Album Artist tag, for non complilations, I want to link to the Artist and for compilations use "Various Artists". What would be the best method to achieve this?
   

Existing Music Files

1. Previous music libraries These are a mixture of flac and mp3. Do I try to integrate into the naming structure or just rerip (I should have all the CDs)?
2. For downloaded music, how easy is it to put it into the new folder structure / tags? Any gotchas for this?

Ripping Rig
I've repurposed an mediapc that had a teac DVD drive. I have a couple of external DVD drives that I can use via USB
With the multi licence pack, I could create a tower pc with multiple drives and use this exclusively. Does anyone else do this, or I am overthinking?


Any help or pointers would be appreciated!

[garym]

Re: Resuming CD Collection Ripping - Guidance and Advice

ALL LOOKS FINE. SEE A FEW POINTS (IN ALL CAPS BELOW)

Rip all CDs to FLAC (rip once, rip right and can be played on my Sonos)
Rip all CDs to mp3 CBR for mobile devices / car

I ASSUME YOU ARE USING MULTIENCODER TO CREATE BOTH FLAC AND MP3 DURING THE SAME RIP. IF NOT YOU SHOULD.

With Sonos using album artist, I wanted to introduce Album Artist Sort tag. So added in the Ripping, but my testing has shown this is not within the metadata. Therefore my understanding this has to be populated once the flac and mp3 files are created and edited post creation? PerfectTunes has a "sort tags" which I presume is the optimal solution?

ALBUMARTISTSORT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE AND CREATED DURING RIPPING (NO NEED TO DO AFTER THE FACT). DOUBLE CHECK THE ACTUAL NAME OF THE TAGS FOR ARTISTSORT AND ALBUMARTISTSORT. I DON'T USE THESE, SO NOT SURE.

1. So should I try to alter my dynamic naming to use Album Artist Sort if Sonos is the primary listening platform?

NAMING SHOULDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT SONOS USES THE METADATA TAGS THEMSELVES, NOT THE FILE NAMES FOR BUILDING ITS LIBRARY.

1. Replication to my NAS had been with Synctoy previously, but TuneFUSION combines this and Task Scheduler. I presume it makes sense to adopt this?

UP TO YOU. EITHER APPROACH WORKS.

1. Based on the dynamic naming structure being used, I should be able to alter the Album Tag to remove any reference to the multi disc. This should result in all files for the same CD boxset are grouped under that title rather than split, but any issues doing this?

I DO THIS. I LIKE HAVING MULTI CD SETS SHOW UP WITH A SINGLE ALBUM NAME, AND THEN USE DISC TAG FIELD. FOR EXAMPLE, THIS IS MY DYNAMIC NAMING STRING:

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album] [IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

NOTE, YOU'LL HAVE TO EITHER HAVE DISC SUBFOLDERS (LIKE ME ABOVE), OR ADD DISC NUMBER BEFORE TRACK NUMBER (I.E., [disc].[track]), SO THERE IS NO ISSUE OVERWRITING TRACKS FROM DIFFERENT DISKS THAT HAVE THE SAME NAME.

1. Is mp3tag still the best solution to automate tag updates? I have PerfectTune licence but still understanding the capabilities'

I USE MP3TAG FOR MAJOR TAG EDITING POST RIP, BUT DBPA ID TAG UPDATE/PROCESSING CAN DO SIMILAR THINGS. I HAVE PERFECTTUNES TOO, BUT HAVEN'T BOTHERED TO EXPLORE FULL BLOWN TAG EDITING WITH IT YET.

1. For CDs with a blank Album Artist tag, for non complilations, I want to link to the Artist and for compilations use "Various Artists". What would be the best method to achieve this

NOT SURE WHAT YOU ARE ASKING HERE. THIS SHOULD BE AUTOMATIC. MY NONCOMPILATIONS SHOW UP UNDER ARTIST OR ALBUMARTIST IN MY RESULTING FOLDERS.


Previous music libraries These are a mixture of flac and mp3. Do I try to integrate into the naming structure or just rerip (I should have all the CDs)?

YOU CAN ALWAYS RUN THESE THROUGH A NEW NAMING STRUCTURE IN A BATCH WAY WITHOUT RERIPPING USING EITHER DBPA ARRANGE AUDIO UTILITY DSP, OR MP3TAG NAMING FUNCTION.

1. For downloaded music, how easy is it to put it into the new folder structure / tags? Any gotchas for this?

EASY. I DO IT ALL THE TIME. i LOAD UP THE DOWNLOADED FILES AND CHANGE THE TAGGING AND NAMING STRUCTURE TO SUIT ME THEN SIMPLY COPY OVER TO MY LIBRARY WITH ALL MY OTHER FILES.


Ripping Rig
I've repurposed an mediapc that had a teac DVD drive. I have a couple of external DVD drives that I can use via USB
With the multi licence pack, I could create a tower pc with multiple drives and use this exclusively. Does anyone else do this, or I am overthinking?

HOW MANY CDS DO YOU HAVE TO RIP. 10,000 OR 600? I'VE NEVER BOTHERED WITH USING MULTIPLE DRIVES, BATCH RIPPING, ETC. BECAUSE I SORTA WANT TO CLEAN UP METADATA ETC. AS I'M RIPPING. OVER TIME I'VE PROBABLY RIPPED OVER 5000 CDS, BUT THIS HAS BEEN FOR A PERIOD OF YEARS, NOT ALL IN ONE MONTH!

[Spoon]

Re: Resuming CD Collection Ripping - Guidance and Advice

A few points: re album artist sort tag not writing, see if CD Ripper is set to write that tag value, Options >> Metadata & ID Tag options

Dynamic naming (filenames) are typically not used by players, they use ID Tags.

If you have TuneFUSION then potentially you do not need to create mp3 at the time of ripping, instead set it to create mp3s when needed.

[garym]

Re: Resuming CD Collection Ripping - Guidance and Advice

If you have TuneFUSION then potentially you do not need to create mp3 at the time of ripping, instead set it to create mp3s when needed.

Yep, that's what I use it for. In the old days, I created a mirror mp3 library so I could play songs on my iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. when away from home. I no longer do this. I just use TUNEFUSION to create mp3 files from my FLAC library "on the fly" based on what things I want to take with me. Very useful program and I no longer need to think about having a duplicate lossy library for travel.

[LittleValley]

Re: Resuming CD Collection Ripping - Guidance and Advice

May I piggyback on this thread?

I'm a complete newbie to the business of ripping CDs. I have a large collection, almost exclusively classical music, that I want to rip in preparation for the hoped-for acquisition of a Brennan B2, and I want to name them in the sequence: Composer / Work / Artist(s) / Date (as some artists have recorded a particular work more than once).

A contributor to the Brennan support forum who'd had exactly the same target, recommended dBpoweramp's CD Ripper to me, and kindly sent me notes on the procedure he'd used. However, though he referred to the facility of setting the naming procedure to suit the user's own requirements, he had himself chosen to use the default procedure but incorporated some modifications. Unfortunately my ageing brain became a bit confused at this stage, and of course the otherwise exemplary set-up guide for CD Ripper doesn't go into any detail about these naming options (room for a rethink here?)

Is there anyone who can spell out for me how I should reset the Naming options to get the result I want, or point me to anywhere on the site where this has already been covered?

[garym]

Re: Resuming CD Collection Ripping - Guidance and Advice

on the CD ripper screen, lower left, click on the "SET" next to the naming row. Once on that page, upper right, there is a ? inside a circle. this is the help info for naming. What naming would you prefer? For example, this is my naming string. (sometimes, just playing around and testing options can get you what you want).

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

edit: but if you have new questions about naming, I'd suggest you start a new thread with appropriate subject line, so more people can see it and help. This thread is too broad for specific naming questions and help.