Set-Up for Ripping

[dbarnby]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Hi, mville,

No offense taken. I've learned a great deal from you, and I appreciate your posts. Thank you.

I do believe that sometimes you may not recognize that the image you have formed in your mind about what I'm all about doesn't match the reality. For example, you indicated that I should become familiar with PC operating systems. The reality is that I've been using Windows for 37 years, since before it was Windows but was DOS. Your characterization is most inaccurate and does me a real disservice. I understand the differences between files and folders quite well, but once you have assumed otherwise it indeed does color your thinking about the person you are communicating with; you (and others on the Forum) are more likely to write off a problem I have as one of ignorance of the OS, rather than seek to understand precisely what nuance it is that prompted the question in the first place (so the nuance goes unanswered and prompts more questions). In such case the problem is not one of "lack of education" on either end of the line, but of miscommunication, or misunderstanding, or lack of context.

When two people communicate the objective is to create in the receiver's mind the same image that starts out in the sender's mind. A degradation of meaning can happen when those images are put into words &*8211; and that problem exists in both directions. Both parties need to guard against that possibility and not make the assumption they have been clear and the other party is "slow," and, they need to be open to having the other party seek clarification. Seeking clarification is not a criticism of a person, but of the clarity of the words and phrases used to convey a meaning. Words can and do fail &*8211; again, in both directions.

You perhaps recall the emphasis that I (in the beginning) put on clear definition of "tags," "fields," "values," etc. You and the other Forum members convinced me at that time that in this case clear definition is not going to happen; i.e., "that horse has already left the barn." I have accepted that, but it does place an added burden on all of us to be more careful and exact with our written words. We can, indeed, overcome loose definitions, but it does often require more back and forth than would otherwise be necessary.

One of your strengths (and others on this Forum) is that you are thoroughly familiar with dbpa. That familiarity can, however, become a difficulty when it results in "assuming away" or skipping over a host of background, orienting information that is necessary to understand any given point you are making. Things you take for granted may need explanation to a beginner and you may not even realize it. Without such background understanding and context, a good answer to a question can fall on bare ground and not take root (and prompt more questions).

Your example of knowing the fundamentals of math before studying higher math is entirely relevant. The thing here is that nobody was born knowing anything about dbpa; they are a blank slate regarding how it operates, and they don't know the fundamental principles by which it works. To overcome that is exactly why they come to the Forum.

Unfortunately, the help sections in dbpa are sketchy at best, and don't do the job, even after several readings (although they may be clear to those who understand the program well). A newbie expects to ask "stupid" questions and receive thoughtful answers. If the answers fail to convey understanding, or reflect a misunderstanding of his question, he will seek clarification. That's what this is all about. Several Forum members have stated clearly that their own learning curve was a long, hard slog.

My experience is that everyone in this Forum is not only bright, but serious and dedicated to learning and being helpful. In addition, they are patient and persistent. I will miss your expertise and your posts.

Early in this thread someone encouraged me to not get discourage, but to hang in there; I think it was Oggy. I appreciated that encouragement; it was, however, not necessary as "persistence" is my middle name, and I am going to "wrestle this to the ground." Actually, I've come a long way, and I don't have much farther to go. I really am "getting it" thanks to you and the other Forum members, but there are still a few holes remaining in my knowledge.

After a long wait, UPS failed to deliver my Synology NAS so as of today that is now in shipment again, and in a week or two I'll be able to move ahead with the hardware. In the meantime, I'm plugging up the few remaining holes in my dbpa understanding.

My best regards to you,
dbarnby

[mville]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

dbarnby, thanks for the post.

I just want to add that I too was a newbie once and it was the help and this forum that got me to where I am today with the software. I can assure you that I make no assumptions as to your knowledge or expertise, I have and can only go on what I read in this thread.

[Oggy]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Oggy, I would be helpful to me to hear your thoughts on my post *353. Is my understanding of Name reversal correct? How about my understanding of Alphabetizing?

Thank you,
dbarnby

Hi Don,

Yes, name reversal is correct.

Beethoven, Ludwig van
Elgar, Edward
Mahler, Gustav

Alphabetical order, and if on the player or app you display from A-Z, will still display alphabetically.

Yes in CD Ripper Options from your green Menu icon, if you uncheck any of the tags, then they won't be written. For example, I uncheck, Rating.

Talking to three work colleagues, none use sort tags, but a couple have an app that ignores "The", so The Beatles are displayed as The Beatles, but in Bs. The third uses Beatles, The due to historical shortcomings in the app, which have since been rectified. He uses simply, Vivaldi, and only adds initials when required: Bach, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. All have John Lennon under Js.

This is simply for information and all are happy with their choices.

As you know, I do use sort tags, and this was my reasoning behind that decision.

When my record collection got to around 200 LPs, I decided to put them into alphabetical order, simply to be able to find them quicker. I made two decisions:-
1) The Beatles went in Bs.
2) John Lennon under Ls.

When the collection got into 1,000s and some of my favourite artists had 20+ releases, I also put them in chronological order. This was more practical to help find a single LP quickly amongst several thousand, rather than being a fixation on order: it saved a lot of time.

When it came to ripping CDs using dBpoweramp, apart from learning how to use CD Ripper, naming strings (thanks garym, mville and Dat Ei), I tried a few different options, including Beatles, The.

I quickly decided that I would call The Beatles, The Beatles, John Lennon, John Lennon and Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach. As I wanted to replicate my record collection, I of course needed to use sort tags. When I got my player, it has an option to ignore certain words, such as The. To maintain as much compatibility with as many players as possible I still use sort tags, BUT, not all players support sort tags. Being a tag, they do no harm being present.

As you've seen by my screenshots, my app allows display by Artist (or Album Artist), Album in chronological / alphabetical order, which is my preferred method as it (almost) replicates my LP collection and why I made the decisions I did.

Of course I could quickly and simply search through all the files by typing for example, Bach, Beatles or Lennon.

Don, the questions you've asked me you certainly understand, you just need to decide on the preferences that work for you and your player.

[dbarnby]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Hi Oggy,

Thanks so much for your explanations.
Sorry for the delay is responding. Stuff keeps intervening. I finally received by Synology NAS; next thing is to get that set up and working, then back to the ripping, and, who knows, maybe more questions at that process unfolds, but no more questions for a little while. Till then,
dbarnby

[dbarnby]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Hi Oggy,

Thanks so much for your explanations.
Sorry for the delay is responding. Stuff keeps intervening. I finally received by Synology NAS; next thing is to get that set up and working, then back to the ripping, and, who knows, maybe more questions at that process unfolds, but no more questions for a little while. Till then,
dbarnby

3/30/18

I've ripped about 40 discs and find some strange results that I need to resolve before proceeding.

I've been using the non-classical and classical Naming Strings suggested by garym.
All my naming strings begin with Genre.

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

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

1. In File Explorer (FE) I see a folder structure I don't understand.

What I'm trying to do is: genre > artist > album
What I'm seeing is: genre > genre> artist > album

Where have I gone wrong? Why do I find a repeat of genre indented beneath genre?

2. I see compilation folder at same level as Genre folders, and also see Compilation folder subordinate to Genre folders. I need to understand more definitively what happens when I check the compilation check box. It feels like the Compilation check box is gumming up the works.

a) Does is simply substitute the words "various artists" wherever the artist name would appear in the File Explorer?

b) Why do I see "Compilations" in both the top level and subordinate levels of the FE.

b) Does dbpa simply establish a FE folder into which ALL compilations go?

c) Does it simply establish a FE compilation folder subordinate to each and every genra folder (if such a disc is ripped, and the box checked)?

d) I assume the use of the compilation check box has NO effect whatever on the way the Player utilizes tags. Is that correct?

3) What happens when I stop rip midstream? Have I put ANYTHING onto the hard drive? Can I proceed without having to erase some partial "recording?"

4) One disc ripped fine the first time I ripped it, but on later ripping the last track failed. Why would this be?

5. Can I move and rearrange folders in the FE (with cut/paste or copy/paste without having any effect on the performance of the Player?

6) In the list of check box items inMetadata and ID Tag Options, please give me your thoughts on checking or unchecking the following:

a) Each track genre the same

b) GD3 Remove Artist / from Titles (I'm not sure what this does)

c) Disallow multi Generas (What are multi genera, and how are they "presented/used?"

7) Someone on the Forum mentioned that they did NOT use the Compilation check box; I don't recall who and in looking through my notes have not found that post. I'd like to understand better how that person handles discs with multiple Artists.

Also, since classical music is composer-centric, what about the naming of classical discs that contain multiple composers?.

[mville]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

I've been using the non-classical and classical Naming Strings suggested by garym.
All my naming strings begin with Genre.

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

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

1. In File Explorer (FE) I see a folder structure I don't understand.

What I'm trying to do is: genre > artist > album
What I'm seeing is: genre > genre> artist > album

Where have I gone wrong? Why do I find a repeat of genre indented beneath genre?

Concentrating on the Naming string issue first, the non-classical naming string you posted above, differs to the naming string suggested by garym in post no. 199 and will create a genre folder with a genre sub-folder when the album is not a compilation. This because you have specified genre twice:

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

[garym]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Concentrating on the Naming string issue first, the non-classical naming string you posted above, differs to the naming string suggested by garym in post no. 199 and will create a genre folder with a genre sub-folder when the album is not a compilation. This because you have specified genre twice:

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

use this instead:

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

when you copy this into file naming, make sure there is no space at the beginning or end of string.

[garym]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

2. I see compilation folder at same level as Genre folders, and also see Compilation folder subordinate to Genre folders. I need to understand more definitively what happens when I check the compilation check box. It feels like the Compilation check box is gumming up the works.

a) Does is simply substitute the words "various artists" wherever the artist name would appear in the File Explorer?

b) Why do I see "Compilations" in both the top level and subordinate levels of the FE.

b) Does dbpa simply establish a FE folder into which ALL compilations go?

c) Does it simply establish a FE compilation folder subordinate to each and every genra folder (if such a disc is ripped, and the box checked)?

d) I assume the use of the compilation check box has NO effect whatever on the way the Player utilizes tags. Is that correct?

Because your file naming string has GENRE as a top level folder, every GENRE will also have a subfoder for "compilation". If I want GENRE as top folder, it seems that I would want a compliation subfolder in each GENRE folder. Otherwise I'd have one large compilation folder with every genre lumped together (You can do that too if you prefer).

Compilation check box simply tells a player that each of the tracks could be a different artist. Some of my players use that information to report to me the actual artist of the track playing rather than just "various artists". So this is a good thing. The compilation tag is not messing anything up.

3) What happens when I stop rip midstream? Have I put ANYTHING onto the hard drive? Can I proceed without having to erase some partial "recording?"

Depends. You've probably ripped some of the tracks on the CD. If you then try to re-rip the same CD, it will ask you if you want to overwrite those tracks. Just say OK.

4) One disc ripped fine the first time I ripped it, but on later ripping the last track failed. Why would this be?

weird things sometimes happen. these are computers afterall. Just try again. or try to rip with a different drive.

5. Can I move and rearrange folders in the FE (with cut/paste or copy/paste without having any effect on the performance of the Player?

yes.

6) In the list of check box items inMetadata and ID Tag Options, please give me your thoughts on checking or unchecking the following:

a) Each track genre the same

b) GD3 Remove Artist / from Titles (I'm not sure what this does)

c) Disallow multi Generas (What are multi genera, and how are they "presented/used?"

I tick all these boxes

7) Someone on the Forum mentioned that they did NOT use the Compilation check box; I don't recall who and in looking through my notes have not found that post. I'd like to understand better how that person handles discs with multiple Artists.

What they do is put an ALBUM ARTIST in the tags for every CD. And for compilation CDs they use something like "Various Artists"

Also, since classical music is composer-centric, what about the naming of classical discs that contain multiple composers?.

You just have to make some decisions about how you want to name these. Classical tagging is complicated. See monsterjazzlicks "tags, tags, and more tags" recent posts on this topic.

[GaryG45]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Don,
For 4) When I've encountered this problem multiple times with a CD, I've cleaned the CD using a microfiber cloth and 91% isopropyl alcohol. Although the CDs look clean, this has allowed some CDs to rip without errors. Sometimes cleaning doesn't help, and as garym suggested ripping with a different drive works.

6c) Disallow multi Genres. I think you have a typo here. My version of CD Ripper shows genres and not "Generas". Multi genres are two are more genres for an album/CD. I use Discogs for most of my tagging information, and for some Frank Sinatra albums the genre is Jazz and Pop. It depends on how you want to handle genres for your music library.

Gary

[dbarnby]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Mville, garym, thank you for your help. The non-classical string I've used does indeed have genre included twice, but so does garym's string in post *199; so I'm a bit confused. Garym, I notice that the string you now suggest does not have genre included twice. (Please understand that I do not know how to decode these strings so I am indeed at a loss to know where or how many times genre should be included.)

Before I square these Naming Strings around for good, here are some further thoughts I've had. If anyone/everyone would help me understand the implication of my thinking, below, I'll be in a better position to decide how to proceed.

I've thought a lot about tagging and naming and have come, tentatively, to the following conclusion, and I welcome everyone's thoughts on it.

1) My Bluesound player uses the "BluOS" operating system which has the capability of searching (within BluOS) both by tags, as usual, and also by folder (as organized in the File Explorer). Therefore, the Naming String affects both the way CD's are organized in the FE (for utilitarian purposes), and the way I can do folder search through BluOS.

2) Therefore, it seems to be useful to think of the FE/folder structure as a way to view/search my library by CD/album, and the tagging as a way to view/search my library at a more granular level of artists, composers, genre, etc.

This view of things leads me to the conclusion that the Naming String can be pretty basic, dealing primarily with genre and album (with artist and composer being somewhat secondary &*8211; just coming along for the ride). For example:

genre > album > artist > composer, OR
genre > album > composer > artist.

Note: I am certain that I want my top-level category to be genre.

3) A further thought, since genre is the top-level of the naming hierarchy, is to incorporate a prefix of N or C into each genre name to indicate NonClassical or Classical. For example: "N Pop" and "C Opera" thereby separating the various genre into the two groups (N and C).

4) Further I can have two versions of each genre designation to indicate if such CD is a single work or a compilation, using a dash (-) for compilation CD's, e.g.:

"N Pop" for single artist, non-classical
"N &*8211; Pop" for multiple artists, non-classical

"C Opera" for single composer, classical CD
"C &*8211; Opera" for multiple composer, classical CD

Notice, too, that such an approach lets me signify multiple artists for non-classical, and multiple composers for classical (a parallel treatment) without recourse to the compilation check box which relates only to multiple artists.

(The dash would reflect multiple artists in the N case, and multiple composers in the C case.)

5) Doing this may make it unnecessary to ever use the Compilation designation check box, and simplify the process considerably by, allowing me to use a single Naming String for both "N" and "C" music (be it "N Pop" or "N - Pop," "C Opera" or 'C &*8211; Opera," because both the N vs. C distinction and the single vs. compilation distinction would both be embodied in the genera tag.

Such single Naming String would then be:
(genre > album > [to be followed by either artist>composer, or composer>artist as the single preferred format].

6) Alternatively I could still employ two different naming strings, one for N and one for C, so

For non-classical Naming String: genre > album > artist > composer
For classical Naming String: genre > album > composer > artist.


I would like to hear the Forum's thoughts on these ideas. Do they have any weaknesses I may not be aware of?

I'm particularly drawn to the idea of eliminating the use of "compilation" check box, but I'm unsure of what penalty I might pay for doing so.

Another matter &*8211; garym, regarding my question no. 6 (a,b,c) in my last post. Could you explain what each of these does?

GaryG45. Yes I made a type. I still don't understand multiple genre because I see (in dbpa) only one place to input genre, and in File Explorer (resulting from the Naming String) I find genre at only one "level." What does multiple genre mean? Where is it input? Does the Player sort on each/both? Everything about this is a mystery to me &*8211; and understanding all about it might be highly useful; I just don't know.

Thanks for your insights.
Don

[mville]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Mville, garym, thank you for your help. The non-classical string I've used does indeed have genre included twice, but so does garym's string in post *199; so I'm a bit confused. Garym, I notice that the string you now suggest does not have genre included twice. (Please understand that I do not know how to decode these strings so I am indeed at a loss to know where or how many times genre should be included.)

The string in post no. 199 has [genre]\ listed twice. However, once in the if the Compilation tag is set programmable action and once in the if the Compilation tag is not set programmable action. So, for any CD, only one action is ever executed, as you can't have both the Compilation tag Set and Not Set.

If you don't understand the Naming string (programmable actions), I suggest you do not edit it. There is plenty of help on the Naming string programmable actions, in the dBpoweramp Naming help pages.

[mville]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

1) My Bluesound player uses the "BluOS" operating system which has the capability of searching (within BluOS) both by tags, as usual, and also by folder (as organized in the File Explorer). Therefore, the Naming String affects both the way CD's are organized in the FE (for utilitarian purposes), and the way I can do folder search through BluOS.

Most players are designed this way i.e. you can organize/search by tags or by filepath/filename.

2) Therefore, it seems to be useful to think of the FE/folder structure as a way to view/search my library by CD/album, and the tagging as a way to view/search my library at a more granular level of artists, composers, genre, etc.

This view of things leads me to the conclusion that the Naming String can be pretty basic, dealing primarily with genre and album (with artist and composer being somewhat secondary &*8211; just coming along for the ride). For example:

genre > album > artist > composer, OR
genre > album > composer > artist.

Note: I am certain that I want my top-level category to be genre.

It is up to you how you use the software. Personally, I never organize/search by filepath/filename in the player software (although I have the option), including my Albums, which are organised using the relevant album tags.

3) A further thought, since genre is the top-level of the naming hierarchy, is to incorporate a prefix of N or C into each genre name to indicate NonClassical or Classical. For example: "N Pop" and "C Opera" thereby separating the various genre into the two groups (N and C).

4) Further I can have two versions of each genre designation to indicate if such CD is a single work or a compilation, using a dash (-) for compilation CD's, e.g.:

"N Pop" for single artist, non-classical
"N &*8211; Pop" for multiple artists, non-classical

"C Opera" for single composer, classical CD
"C &*8211; Opera" for multiple composer, classical CD

Notice, too, that such an approach lets me signify multiple artists for non-classical, and multiple composers for classical (a parallel treatment) without recourse to the compilation check box which relates only to multiple artists.

(The dash would reflect multiple artists in the N case, and multiple composers in the C case.)

5) Doing this may make it unnecessary to ever use the Compilation designation check box, and simplify the process considerably by, allowing me to use a single Naming String for both "N" and "C" music (be it "N Pop" or "N - Pop," "C Opera" or 'C &*8211; Opera," because both the N vs. C distinction and the single vs. compilation distinction would both be embodied in the genera tag.

Such single Naming String would then be:
(genre > album > [to be followed by either artist>composer, or composer>artist as the single preferred format].

6) Alternatively I could still employ two different naming strings, one for N and one for C, so

For non-classical Naming String: genre > album > artist > composer
For classical Naming String: genre > album > composer > artist.


I would like to hear the Forum's thoughts on these ideas. Do they have any weaknesses I may not be aware of?

I'm particularly drawn to the idea of eliminating the use of "compilation" check box, but I'm unsure of what penalty I might pay for doing so.

Eliminating the Compilation tag is non-standard, however, like anything, this is down to personal choice. I guess most users want compilation albums to be listed as such, i.e. as Various Artists albums. I know I do.

I do not understand the following:
Notice, too, that such an approach lets me signify multiple artists for non-classical, and multiple composers for classical (a parallel treatment) without recourse to the compilation check box which relates only to multiple artists.

Regarding your points 3) to 6), again this is a non-standard approach and IMO it seems you are over complicating things somewhat. Multiple artists, composers etc. are handled well by most decent player softwares, but I say again, if this is how you want to organize things, it is entirely up to you.

[garym]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

I agree with mville. You have come up with a very complicated and nonstandard way to tag with your suggestion. Of course you can do anything you want, but I'd recommend against it. Part of this seems to be based on the fact that you are unclear about the compilation tag. I recommend you learn more about the compilation tag and avoid your complex workaround.

regarding dashes to list more than one thing in a tag.....that's fine. For example, I use a genre of "Pop/Rock" rather than trying to distinguish between the two. Over time I've tried to get more and more simple with genres (and even these are too many most likely):

Pop/Rock
Jazz
Country
Blues
Folk
Latin
World
Classical
Opera
Holiday

For multiple artists, I use the multi-item tagging feature built in for FLAC files. And then I choose one artist for the ALBUM ARTIST tag. For example:

ARTIST: Willie Nelson; Wynton Marsalis
ALBUM ARTIST: Willie Nelson

(so the folder containing the album would be under Willie Nelson folder, but my player would show the album also under Wynton Marsalis when browsing or searching.

Some might use:

ARTIST: Willie Nelson; Wynton Marsalis
ALBUM ARTIST: Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis (that is a single name that is the combination of the two artists, not a multivalue tag)

[GaryG45]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Don,
Because your music organization is going to be genre-centric you should NOT use multiple genres. For your collection and NAMING string you need a single genre. Multiple genres would mess up and/or further complicate your organization.

Multiple genres are specified like multiple artists with a semicolon separating the genres. For example:

ARTIST: Frank Sinatra
ALBUM: That's Life
GENRE: Jazz; Pop

Foobar displays genres
Jazz
Pop

If I select the Jazz genre, That's Life will be displayed in the list of Jazz albums. If I select the Pop genre, That's Life will be displayed in the list of Pop albums.

What would dbpa do if it sees Jazz; Pop for the genre tag? Would it get an error, use Jazz, or use Pop? This is why I think you should only use single genres and not pursue multiple genres.

Gary

[Oggy]

Re: Set-Up for Ripping

Hi Don,

Now you have settled on the Bluesound, it could be a good time to step back, have a play with the app, and see if you have a preferred method of playing and searching. BlueOS looks to be fairly flexible, and it could be worth really familiarising yourself with it before finalising your naming string.

Personally speaking I don't use folder view, but it wasn't until I received my player and had a good play with the app, that I decided on the best interaction for me - and as you have seen we all have slightly different preferences.

Taking two simple Genres, Classical and Popular, does BlueOS display those as you would expect? If so, and a large percentage of your collection being Classical, would the ability to search by say, Baroque, Chamber, Opera, Symphonic be useful to you?

Regarding compilations, I cannot see a good reason not to use them. CDs featuring various artists, both Classical and Popular are compilations, and if you logically enter and display Artist for each track, locating them as Various Artist (or Compilations, depending on personal preference), does make life somewhat simpler, whilst giving useful information.

I do suggest you find how, or indeed if, your player handles Album Artist. Often in modern popular music, who can have a guest artist on each track, which could be Artist, because of this, a CD could be and often is, checked as a Compilation. However you can uncheck the Compilation, and simply use the single Album Artist, whilst keeping the additional Artist information.