dBpoweramp style metadata for mac?

[Alastor]

Spoon,

I am wondering about possible metadata behavior with your software on Mac desktops. I love how on Windows machines running dBpoweramp you can just hover over a file and have the tag pop up with the file description.

I have a client who I am transferring audio from cassette to FLAC, and he needs a way to easily sort/identify the files on his Mac desktop. Being able to easily search a folder by Metadata (ex. by Soloist or Year) would be the ultimate, but if I could get him functionality similar to the hovering metadata tag on Windows, that would be a big step in the right direction.

He would be willing to pay for the right solution, but I just wanted to know if anything in your bag of tricks would fit the bill for us. If not, is there something which you support/recommend which would help?

I don't know which OS he is running, but I would guess that it is up to date.

Thank you!
Russ

[BrodyBoy]

Re: dBpoweramp style metadata for mac?

Hi Russ. That "hover" behavior you're talking about is a Windows function, not a dBp function. In Windows, it's called "tooltips" and Windows Explorer is one the areas where you can selectively enable/disable it. You can research whether Mac OS's Finder offers a similar feature.

A couple other points arise from your post:

First, there won't be any metadata in those cassette-to-FLAC audio files except for whatever you add manually. You're probably aware of that already, but it's important for you & your client to understand that navigating/sorting/searching by file metadata is only possible after, and to the extent that, you actually add that metadata to each file. There's no online database or program like PerfectTunes that will be able to recognize the files and add metadata automatically.....as you take on the task of tagging the files, you'll need to know which tags are needed to meet your client's usage and expectations.

Second, searching files by metadata is essentially database functionality, and that's the purview of the OS's file manager or third-party programs. Music player software, with its user interface that lets us search and navigate a collection of audio files, is essentially a database program specialized for music. dBp creates and organizes the files, but after that, we typically interact with them through our players. dBp isn't a player and doesn't really serve the purpose you describe. (Your client's Mac OS comes with iTunes, which is actually pretty good at accessing and manipulating music files, even if you don't intend to use it as a player.)

But again, I emphasize that this entire proposition...searching, sorting, navigating, using these audio files...is 100% dependent the quality of the metadata you write to the files.

[Spoon]

Re: dBpoweramp style metadata for mac?

OS X does not offer this, instead use Batch Converter, and enable the columns you want to see, use it for just browsing.

[Alastor]

Re: dBpoweramp style metadata for mac?

Thanks for the thorough reply Spoon.

I did know about having to tag the metadata manually. It is a lot of work, but the client did a great job of keeping notes so between that and a little googling I have been able to thoroughly tag the music.

Since I insisted on FLAC as a platform agnostic format which maintains the best audio quality, I am stuck working outside of iTunes, (at least since the demise of Fluke's plugin) and currently use VLC as a quick and dirty player solution.

I am trying to get him into a Naim player using the HFX Windows server you had suggested (and he bought), but for the time being he is insisting on using his desktop speakers and his Mac. To each his own...

I will look into batch conversion software, as well as other metadata searching solutions. I hope I can find a solution for him. He is getting to hear some recordings of music he conducted which he hasn't heard in over thirty years!

Thanks,
Russ