How to sort out my library?

[DLD-UK]

Hi,

I've used dbPowerAmp to rip my CD's for years. But when I fisrt started I got everything wrong as I didn't understand anything. Now I understand some things but not enough!

I ripped everything to WAV and Flac as I had no idea what to use. A number of times I've had hard disk crashes which meant how I ripped changed after each crash as I couldn't remember what I had done before.

I use LMS and various Squeezeboxes. That has been great but now I want to move LMS and my library to a Raspberry Pi.

One of the big mistakes I made was to not use Linux friendly file names so moving to the Pi is not straight forward.

I also didn't name things how I want them so most were ripped without the year being in the file name. Since I started doing that I have found it most useful.

Now I don't know whether to rip everything again or batch convert the files I have. Any advice much appreciated.

If I batch convert should I use the WAV files as the input?

Now I would like to have two libraries. One with my albums sorted into folders by genre with each album in it's own folder undeer album artist and named year-album with tracks named tracknumber-title (composer)

But I also want another library also sorted by genre with all artists in one folder. The reason for this is that I want to go through that libary and delete all the tracks I don't like and then use it to create and automatic radio type system.

I'm sure there are better ways of doing it and I'd love to hear anyone's views.

My mains questions are:

1. Should I convert the WAV files or rip everything again?
2. How do I get the naming I want? Sometimes when rip with the year in the track name I get just the year and other times I get month and day too. I would like it consitent and preferably be the origianl year it was released.
3. On the library with all tracks how do I sort normalisation? No matter how many times I read about it I've never understood it!

Any help much appreciated.

If any of what I have typed makes no sense then please excuse me but I'm afraid that I am partially signted and find it hard to read back what I've written.

Thank you.

[garym]

Re: How to sort out my library?

"One of the big mistakes I made was to not use Linux friendly file names so moving to the Pi is not straight forward"

On this issue, I'm not sure what you mean. I ripped all my CDs to FLAC with dbpa. And I have some older mp3/m4a files. This was all done on windows. I run LMS on an rPi. I've never had any issue with filenames on the rPi. If anything, linux is more forgiving of file names than windows.

Also, regarding your other questions, it matters whether you are talking about 100 CDs or 10,000 CDs. But in general, if you have the files and they were AccurateRip/Secure when ripped, you can use dbpa music converter to convert all to FLAC, carryover metadata, rename files and folder org in any way you like, without reripping.

Regarding the 2nd library, I wouldn't do this. Instead I'd simply create a giant "playlist" file. You can add every song in your library to one big playlist (or separate ones based on rock, country, jazz, etc.) and then go into those playlists and delete the files you don't want. Then you have giant playlists you can do random play with. In LMS, I use playlists and "dynamic playlists" LMS plugin to play these playlists randomly. Then I can set things like "don't play songs played in the last X months", etc.

Re volume normalization, just add ReplayGain tags to all your files. You can run a batch music converter job to do this ("convert to" the ReplayGain DSP) just select "by album, using tags" and add TRACK and ALBUM tags. LMS will use these tags to automatically volume normalize on playback. In LMS choose "Smart Gain". This will use ALBUM RG values for songs from the same album being played or TRACK RG values when playing a mixture of songs from different albums.

[DLD-UK]

Re: How to sort out my library?

Thanks for the reply.

What I mean by linux file names is that the file names have blanks in them which Linux doesn't like. I also have special characters that Linux didn't like. When I tried to copy the files across the copy failed and many of the file names on the linux side were all wrong. I'm sure there is a way round this but I gave up. I think Linux was treating some of the characters as commands or something weird.

I know I can use a playlist but I really want to end up with a library with just the songs I like. I can then convert just those to MP3 for various players. My view is that I have loads of disk space so I'm happy with that.

But I also want to sort out the normalisation for those tracks. When I have tried to create playlists the volume of the tracks varied greatly. I'm sure that is something to do with my inconsistent ripping.

I don't know how many albums I have but it is wll over 1000.

A competely separate question that I forgot to ask is - is there a definitive list of genres anywhere? When I ripped with dbPowerAmp I got a massive list of genres and I'd love to reduce that to a list I want to use. Can I tell dbPowerAmp the list of genres I want to use?

[simbun]

Re: How to sort out my library?

What I mean by linux file names is that the file names have blanks in them which Linux doesn't like. I also have special characters that Linux didn't like. When I tried to copy the files across the copy failed and many of the file names on the linux side were all wrong. I'm sure there is a way round this but I gave up. I think Linux was treating some of the characters as commands or something weird.

I think the only characters that you can't use in Linux filenames are NUL and / so I'm sure the filenames will be ok (although you will obviously have to quote or NUL terminate the filenames depending upon what you're doing), it's probably one of:
What O/S and version are you running on the Pi?
How are you copying the files to the Pi?
How do you know the characters are weird, what are you using to view the filenames? If you transfer one back does it look ok?

[schmidj]

Re: How to sort out my library?

What is far more important than the filenames is the tagging. Are your files well tagged? Given that some are WAV files, that may be an issue. Almost all players work best when sorting your collection using the tags, not the filenames. And tagging WAV files is often an issue, as there is no real tagging standard for WAV files as there is for FLAC. If your files are well tagged, and you still want or need to rename them, you should be able to do a batch rename either using the DSP in the dBpa converter or using a custom action in mp3tag. Just make sure to keep a copy of the files so if your renaming goes awry you still have the originals.

[garym]

Re: How to sort out my library?

What O/S and version are you running on the Pi?

Most people running LMS on an rPi are running piCorePlayer (that's what I do). It is basically a tweaked rPi OS, based on Linux I believe. The setup is "turnkey" in that it includes all the files one needs to run squeezelite (a music player) and LMS (the music server). It also has a webGUI that makes it easy to mount drives to the rPi, turn on SAMBA, etc. See:

https://docs.picoreplayer.org/

[garym]

Re: How to sort out my library?

A competely separate question that I forgot to ask is - is there a definitive list of genres anywhere? When I ripped with dbPowerAmp I got a massive list of genres and I'd love to reduce that to a list I want to use. Can I tell dbPowerAmp the list of genres I want to use?

There is no standard list. And most of the genres that are automatically filled in to your tags on dbpoweramp ripping are wrong. I used to have very detailed genres (jazz vocals, acid jazz, cool jazz, bebop jazz, Hard Rock, Country Rock, Blues Rock, etc. I found this too much. A few years ago I used PerfectTunes to change all my GENRE tags. I ended up with just a handful From memory:

Pop/Rock
Country
Bluegrass
Folk
Jazz
Classical
Opera
Reggae
Hip Hop
Latin
Comedy
Christmas

Spoken Word

[garym]

Re: How to sort out my library?

But I also want to sort out the normalisation for those tracks. When I have tried to create playlists the volume of the tracks varied greatly. I'm sure that is something to do with my inconsistent ripping.

All you need is (1) ReplayGain metadata tags in your files, and (2) in LMS > Settings > Player tab > audio, scroll down and under "Volume Adjustment/Replay Gain" select "Smart Gain" from the options.

Check to see if you have ReplayGain tags in your files. If you don't you can add them as I indicated earlier. Should be easy to do.

[DLD-UK]

Re: How to sort out my library?

What is far more important than the filenames is the tagging. Are your files well tagged? Given that some are WAV files, that may be an issue. Almost all players work best when sorting your collection using the tags, not the filenames. And tagging WAV files is often an issue, as there is no real tagging standard for WAV files as there is for FLAC. If your files are well tagged, and you still want or need to rename them, you should be able to do a batch rename either using the DSP in the dBpa converter or using a custom action in mp3tag. Just make sure to keep a copy of the files so if your renaming goes awry you still have the originals.

I'm really not sure how well tagged my files are as I didn't understand tagging well when I started. My main libary is Flac. The WAV files are just a separate copy that I always did because I wasn't sure if everything would play Flac when I started. It is a long time ago. Certainly my genres are all messed up. I also want to rename my files with the year in as I've found that really useful and wish I had always done it.

[DLD-UK]

Re: How to sort out my library?

I think the only characters that you can't use in Linux filenames are NUL and / so I'm sure the filenames will be ok (although you will obviously have to quote or NUL terminate the filenames depending upon what you're doing), it's probably one of:
What O/S and version are you running on the Pi?
How are you copying the files to the Pi?
How do you know the characters are weird, what are you using to view the filenames? If you transfer one back does it look ok?

It was a quite a while back that I tried to move to a Pi and I don't remember what went wrong or how I copied the files. What I do know is that the copy failed and I think it failed when file names contained an & but I'm not sure now. What I do know is that I don't want to copy my current library as it is. My only question is whether I can get the current library is shape by converting or whether I would be best off re-ripping. I don't like the current naming, the genres are not what I want and I'm really not sure what else is wrong in the tags. I know the album art is different through out the library too.

[DLD-UK]

Re: How to sort out my library?

There is no standard list. And most of the genres that are automatically filled in to your tags on dbpoweramp ripping are wrong. I used to have very detailed genres (jazz vocals, acid jazz, cool jazz, bebop jazz, Hard Rock, Country Rock, Blues Rock, etc. I found this too much. A few years ago I used PerfectTunes to change all my GENRE tags. I ended up with just a handful From memory:

Pop/Rock
Country
Bluegrass
Folk
Jazz
Classical
Opera
Reggae
Hip Hop
Latin
Comedy
Christmas

Spoken Word

What I wondered is whether there is a way of setting the genre list in dbpoweramp. Certainly what I get when I rip is really strange with some items totally wrong. I ripped a Queen CD recently and I personally would call that rock but dbpoweramp came up with something weird. I don't remember what now.

[garym]

Re: How to sort out my library?

What I wondered is whether there is a way of setting the genre list in dbpoweramp. Certainly what I get when I rip is really strange with some items totally wrong. I ripped a Queen CD recently and I personally would call that rock but dbpoweramp came up with something weird. I don't remember what now.

No, these odd genres come from the online databases that dbpa use for tagging. You have to ,either fix at the time of ripping, or use a tag editing program (such as dbpa itself) or PerfectTunes to change these after the fact for already ripped files.

No one can tell you whether reripping is easier for you than fixing what you have. There are plenty of dbpa related tools to fix the files you already have. You can change the tags, change the file names, change genre, add years, etc. All this is doable with the tools here. But you need to poke around and try some of these tools. If that all seems too much, then maybe for you it is easier to just rip again. But if you do, you should be prepared to test a bit to get your file naming and organization good (see the naming string I use copied below), add the tags and album art you want (e.g., year, ReplayGain, etc.). I recommend FLAC for file format. Almost anything can play these, they are lossless, and good for tagging.

naming string I use. (Note, I don't add year to my file name, but i do have year in my tag data, and LMS recognizes and uses the year info when I browse or search my library in LMS).

[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][][]

[simbun]

Re: How to sort out my library?

My only question is whether I can get the current library is shape by converting or whether I would be best off re-ripping. I don't like the current naming, the genres are not what I want and I'm really not sure what else is wrong in the tags. I know the album art is different through out the library too.

One thing that might be worth checking is if your rips are AccurateRip or CTDB verified, if they're not then I'd probably go back to source and rip again, but if they're all correct then modifying your existing files should be quicker.
One way to test your rips would be to use CUETools (PerfectTunes does a similar thing), following this guide.

[DLD-UK]

Re: How to sort out my library?

Most people running LMS on an rPi are running piCorePlayer (that's what I do). It is basically a tweaked rPi OS, based on Linux I believe. The setup is "turnkey" in that it includes all the files one needs to run squeezelite (a music player) and LMS (the music server). It also has a webGUI that makes it easy to mount drives to the rPi, turn on SAMBA, etc. See:
https://docs.picoreplayer.org/

The reason I was looking at alternative is that I need to install Asset (or other DLNA) server for non-squeezebox devices. Can I do that with piCorePlayer?

[DLD-UK]

Re: How to sort out my library?

All you need is (1) ReplayGain metadata tags in your files, and (2) in LMS > Settings > Player tab > audio, scroll down and under "Volume Adjustment/Replay Gain" select "Smart Gain" from the options.

Check to see if you have ReplayGain tags in your files. If you don't you can add them as I indicated earlier. Should be easy to do.

How do I do that? I can't see that info in MP3Tag.