RE: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

[monsterjazzlick]

Hi folks,

I recently joined the forum and also purchased 'dBpa' and 'PerfectTunes'. I have ripped - so far - 10 x CDs and now something has crossed my mind.

I created a profile ('monsterjazzlicks_FLAC') wherein all of my ripped files are stored in a dedicated folder in 'My Music' (on my PC-HD). Now, I am wondering if this is a good idea or not because eventually the size of the 'monsterjazzlicks_FLAC' folder is going to be 100+ GB, and counting! (I am 99% sure that 'dBpa' used 'My Music' as a default folder when I first set it up?). So, would it be better to have a dedicated external-HD for saving my FLAC CD collection on, please? I actually have a spare unused 'Dell' 1TB drive in my office!

Now, I know a little about 'file-paths' and from experience I have learned that often - when you drag&drop/relocate file(s) - once moved, then the software is no longer able to detect where the folder is! Meaning, if I 'CTRL+X' everything over to the 'Dell' 1TB, then 'dBpa' may no longer be able to pick-it-up.

The 10 x CDs I have already ripped may well need to be ripped again because I can make a couple of significant improvements (and I don't mind because I want to get them 100% correct - plus it's good practice). Therefore, I am wondering if it may be wise to simply start over and substitute using my PC-HD as the SAVE location.

Many thanks in advance for any kind assistance offered here.

Paul David Seaman

[garym]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

I rip to my local C: drive (a folder I call c:\tempflac). Then when I'm happy with the files (I may twiddle with the tags, etc. after ripping a few discs), I copy these files (the entire artist/album subdirectory) over to my permanent storage which is in an external drive (and delete them from c:\tempflac). And of course I have numerous backups of all these files too on other external harddrives.

But if you want, you can rip directly to the external harddrive. Just point the dbpa ripper to that location (e.g., E:\name of music directory). Either way works, and dbpa won't care where the files endup once you're done ripping. The LIBRARY and PLAYER you use will care where they are located, but once ripped, dbpa is done with them.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

I rip to my local C: drive (a folder I call c:\tempflac). Then when I'm happy with the files (I may twiddle with the tags, etc. after ripping a few discs), I copy these files (the entire artist/album subdirectory) over to my permanent storage which is in an external drive (and delete them from c:\tempflac). And of course I have numerous backups of all these files too on other external harddrives.

But if you want, you can rip directly to the external harddrive. Just point the dbpa ripper to that location (e.g., E:\name of music directory). Either way works, and dbpa won't care where the files endup once you're done ripping. The LIBRARY and PLAYER you use will care where they are located, but once ripped, dbpa is done with them.

Thanks a lot Gary,

I will try and have a mess later on.

I am definitely going to use an external-HD instead. 10 x CDs is already over 3GB!

Maybe I will try ripping one and then see how it turns out. I would like to rip directly to the external-HD (because that's where the FLACs will be staying). So, will I have to edit my 'dBpa' PROFILE, in order for it to perform the latter mentioned please?

Paul

[garym]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Thanks a lot Gary,

I will try and have a mess later on.

I am definitely going to use an external-HD instead. 10 x CDs is already over 3GB!

Maybe I will try ripping one and then see how it turns out. I would like to rip directly to the external-HD (because that's where the FLACs will be staying). So, will I have to edit my 'dBpa' PROFILE, in order for it to perform the latter mentioned please?

Paul

In the lower left corner of the ripping string, change the path location to point to your external drive (click the SET button at right of the location, then browse to the top folder on your external drive an select it). Right now it's probably "c:\my music".

[Oggy]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Hi Paul,

I rip directly to my NAS drive, so when I first started ripping my first CD, I had to read up about mapping a network drive. So my profile is z: rather than c.

Originally I had a couple of false starts, as I wasn't using a naming scheme, that automatically handled multi CDs

Now, I rarely make mistakes, but if I do, either edit the tags, or delete and re-rip, after the correction; whichever is the quickest or easiest. Because I rip directly to NAS, and the process can be very quick, I try and "get it right, first time", and spend a minute, or two, checking the tags and sometimes searching for alternative cover art. This check is the only reason, I rarely (now!) make mistakes.

Once I've displayed the cover art, full size, on my player, I may occasionally trim any rough bits from the edges.

As always, whatever works for the individual.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

In the lower left corner of the ripping string, change the path location to point to your external drive (click the SET button at right of the location, then browse to the top folder on your external drive an select it). Right now it's probably "c:\my music".

Thanks Gary,

As regards to the 'file-path' for ripping CD's to my new Dell-external-HD, I seem to have your kindly advised system configured now, thanks:





But, after starting to rip a handful of CDs, I then thought about how I might prefer - in terms of housekeeping - a dedicated folder for each genre. For example: Jazz, Pop, Classical, Misc.. Now, all of my CD collection will fit - category-wise - into to those four folders. Therefore, in the Jazz folder there might be: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc; in the Pop folder: Madonna, Beyonce, etc; in the Classical folder: Bach, Mozart, etc; and in the Misc. folder: James Bond Movie Tunes, Best of U.K. T.V. Show Themes, etc.

Now, at present, I currently have NO such genre folders:



... and I fear that if I carry on as I am, then I am going to end up with one single massive folder which is non-genre-specific!

So, can I - right now - create a Jazz genre folder and drag in the Miles Davis folder, please? Or will this mess up the folder-structure I have just created?! In other words, would I be better off starting again from scratch?

And, please, do you think it would be OK to keep changing the 'file-path' (eg. monsterjazzlicks_FLAC_jazz; monsterjazzlicks_FLAC_pop; monsterjazzlicks_FLAC_classical) each time you rip a different genre?:



Many thanks,

Paul

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Hi Paul,I rip directly to my NAS drive, so when I first started ripping my first CD, I had to read up about mapping a network drive. So my profile is z: rather than c.

Originally I had a couple of false starts, as I wasn't using a naming scheme, that automatically handled multi CDs

Now, I rarely make mistakes, but if I do, either edit the tags, or delete and re-rip, after the correction; whichever is the quickest or easiest. Because I rip directly to NAS, and the process can be very quick, I try and "get it right, first time", and spend a minute, or two, checking the tags and sometimes searching for alternative cover art. This check is the only reason, I rarely (now!) make mistakes.

Oggy,

Once I am totally up and running, I may make a quick You Tube tutorial to help newbies. It would just consist of tips I have picked up on here as well as sharing some personal preferences.

I probably need another week though to get fluent with what I have learned so far.

Paul

[garym]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Thanks Gary,

As regards to the 'file-path' for ripping CD's to my new Dell-external-HD, I seem to have your kindly advised system configured now, thanks:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1467[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1468[/ATTACH]

But, after starting to rip a handful of CDs, I then thought about how I might prefer - in terms of housekeeping - a dedicated folder for each genre. For example: Jazz, Pop, Classical, Misc.. Now, all of my CD collection will fit - category-wise - into to those four folders. Therefore, in the Jazz folder there might be: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc; in the Pop folder: Madonna, Beyonce, etc; in the Classical folder: Bach, Mozart, etc; and in the Misc. folder: James Bond Movie Tunes, Best of U.K. T.V. Show Themes, etc.

Now, at present, I currently have NO such genre folders:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1469[/ATTACH]

... and I fear that if I carry on as I am, then I am going to end up with one single massive folder which is non-genre-specific!

So, can I - right now - create a Jazz genre folder and drag in the Miles Davis folder, please? Or will this mess up the folder-structure I have just created?! In other words, would I be better off starting again from scratch?

And, please, do you think it would be OK to keep changing the 'file-path' (eg. monsterjazzlicks_FLAC_jazz; monsterjazzlicks_FLAC_pop; monsterjazzlicks_FLAC_classical) each time you rip a different genre?:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1470[/ATTACH]

Many thanks,

Paul

It's fine to drag and drop things after ripping all you want. No, I wouldn't change path each time I ripped a different genre CD. Instead I'd make this part of my dynamic naming string and let the computer automatically do the work. Use this string to do what you want. It's just like my other string, but it uses the GENRE tag to automatically create a genre folder (or use an existing genre folder if that folder already exists). Just be sure you use the genre you really want when you're ripping doing the tagging.

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

EDIT: I changed the above string a bit to better deal with compilations under a genre folder.
p.s. You mention quite a bit about re-ripping to fix things. Keep in mind that one can always do tag editing or name/folder editing after the fact without reripping. But I suspect it is better to get farther along the ripping learning curve before dealing with those topics.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

It's fine to drag and drop things after ripping all you want. No, I wouldn't change path each time I ripped a different genre CD. Instead I'd make this part of my dynamic naming string and let the computer automatically do the work. Use this string to do what you want. It's just like my other string, but it uses the GENRE tag to automatically create a genre folder (or use an existing genre folder if that folder already exists). Just be sure you use the genre you really want when you're ripping doing the tagging.

EDIT: I changed the above string a bit to better deal with compilations under a genre folder.

Hi Gary,

So do I copy&paste this over the 'string' you gave me yesterday, please? I mean, so I will use this NEW one all the time now? I wanted to check first before writing over!

So with this NEW 'string', I type in the 'genre' (as you would normally do inside the 'tagging' fields) and then 'dBpa' will automatically place it inside the correct 'genre' folder (on my external-HD)? There will only be four 'genres' (Jazz; Classical; Pop; Misc.) and so do I need to create these four folders first, or will the 'string' - as you mention- definitely perform all of the donkey-work?

Cheers,

Paul

[garym]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Hi Gary,

So do I copy&paste this over the 'string' you gave me yesterday, please? I mean, so I will use this NEW one all the time now? I wanted to check first before writing over!

So with this NEW 'string', I type in the 'genre' (as you would normally do inside the 'tagging' fields) and then 'dBpa' will automatically place it inside the correct 'genre' folder (on my external-HD)? There will only be four 'genres' (Jazz; Classical; Pop; Misc.) and so do I need to create these four folders first, or will the 'string' - as you mention- definitely perform all of the donkey-work?

Cheers,

Paul

Yes, delete what is currently in the naming string space, the copy paste the new string above in the same place. And this will AUTOMATICALLY create the genre folders. You don't have to create them first.

[garym]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Yes, delete what is currently in the naming string space, the copy paste the new string above in the same place. And this will AUTOMATICALLY create the genre folders. You don't have to create them first.

and by the way, if you use the foobar2000 setup I gave you in your other thread, you'll have a column that shows all genres. If you click on, for example, Jazz genre, then it will filter automatically and present you with only the albums you have that have the genre jazz. It does this whether you have separate genre folders or not. REMEMBER, FOLDER LOCATION IS JUST FOR US TO SEE THINGS WHEN WE LOOK AT THE FILES ON OUR COMPUTER....ALMOST ALL MUSIC SERVERS ARE USING THE FILE TAGS, NOT THE FOLDERS OR NAMES OF FILES.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Yes, delete what is currently in the naming string space, the copy paste the new string above in the same place. And this will AUTOMATICALLY create the genre folders. You don't have to create them first.

Great stuff.

If you created this 'string' yourself then you are one clever dude!

Will test a couple out before I retire ...

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

REMEMBER, FOLDER LOCATION IS JUST FOR US TO SEE THINGS WHEN WE LOOK AT THE FILES ON OUR COMPUTER....ALMOST ALL MUSIC SERVERS ARE USING THE FILE TAGS, NOT THE FOLDERS OR NAMES OF FILES.

Nice one.

Gotcha, loud and clear.

btw - do you know Tampa in Duneadon? We might be going on holiday there next year!

[garym]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Nice one.

Gotcha, loud and clear.

btw - do you know Tampa in Duneadon? We might be going on holiday there next year!

Tampa Bay, Dunedin, etc. is a nice area. Lots of great gulf beaches nearby. Tampa itself is big city, but the nearby beach communities, like Dunedin, are great vacation spots.

[garym]

Re: 'SAVE' on PC vs. External-HD (help?)

Great stuff.

If you created this 'string' yourself then you are one clever dude!

Will test a couple out before I retire ...

not that clever. I just pieced together bits and pieces of things others had posted on the forum and changed it to suit me.