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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 6, 2022 20:48:30 GMT -5
So I've spent the past several days "grooming" some of my older music library drives, and what I've found is:
Some CD titles are wrong
Some CD artwork is wrong
Some CD track names are wrong
Some CD composer information is wrong
Some CD orchestra and artist information is wrong
I think I have duplicate copies of many discs, but since the metadata is wrong, I can't be sure
This isn't something I'll be able to fix by looking at file sizes or questionable metadata.
Is there a website (or a program) that I can use that will positively identify what I've got? I have a duplicates finder, but without accurate metadata, it's just a "best guess" list.
Thanks - Boom
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Post by wizardofoz on Sept 7, 2022 0:39:11 GMT -5
try www.jthink.net/songkong/might get close and Paul's support is pretty good. If you use Roon he offers a 20% discount code from time to time too |
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Post by oldwood on Sept 7, 2022 7:22:13 GMT -5
If you know the name of the album and the artist, MP3tag works well to update metadata.
It is a free download (I use it on a Windows VM) and is available for Mac.
In Windows, I just select the folder containing the flacs and select open in MP3tag, then search for tags by artist and album name. Sometimes it helps if you know the year or label for your files, as it will give you a list of possible options.
It will update album art and other metadata.
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 7, 2022 9:52:49 GMT -5
I'd forgotten about MP3tag - I own a licensed copy already and will try with that. I've been going manually through the directories and culling the stuff I don't want, but it's a slow and uphill battle. I just found, for example, that I have 14 copies (all different) of Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony. Some are part of box sets, some are on labels sold only through the shopping channels, and some are by the ten-buck-two orchestra conducted by whatz-it-tooya. After tossing out the obvious losers, I'm still left with equally good performances but on different labels. Then I have to decide who has the best recording quality - DG, Sony, Naxos, or...
Even MP3tag won't help with that, but at least I can verify the tagging of the winner.
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KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 10,256
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Post by KeithL on Sept 7, 2022 10:22:50 GMT -5
I've been using this one for a VERY long time... Tag & Rename www.softpointer.com/purchase.htmOne excellent feature it has is to sort files into FOLDERS based on their TAG CONTENT. So.... - if you have files in the proper folders it will create tags based on that - and, if you have your tags right, it will sort the files into folders to match |
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 7, 2022 10:57:22 GMT -5
Thank you, gentlemen! I think that with the help of the tools you’ve recommended, I can straighten out the tagging. Then I’ll need to address the questions of relative performance quality and recording quality. If I’m dealing with a pop song, this is only an issue of recording (do I prefer the original or the more recent remastered release?). But with classical music, there are more factors:
Which conductor’s pace do I prefer
Which orchestra is more competent
Which label’s recording is better
Which soloist(s) are better
Can I ignore the viola that is tuned flat
Etc.
Software won’t help with this part, and sometimes I find a gem on an unheard of label (the Estonian National orchestra, for example). But it’s often a three or four way tie for first place, so I’d ask for guidance from the Lounge. Which of the following labels has the best recording quality (all other things being equal)?
Deutsch Grammophon
Philips
Sony
Naxos
Telarc
Teldec
Virgin Classics
Decca
London
RCA Living Stereo
RCA Red Label
RCA Gold Label
Other
Thanks - Boom
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KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 10,256
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Post by KeithL on Sept 7, 2022 13:08:54 GMT -5
You could just keep multiple different versions of the ones you actually like... just sayin... after all - space is cheap nowadays.  (Then you can just go back later and nuke any versions that you decide you don't like.) I'd forgotten about MP3tag - I own a licensed copy already and will try with that. I've been going manually through the directories and culling the stuff I don't want, but it's a slow and uphill battle. I just found, for example, that I have 14 copies (all different) of Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony. Some are part of box sets, some are on labels sold only through the shopping channels, and some are by the ten-buck-two orchestra conducted by whatz-it-tooya. After tossing out the obvious losers, I'm still left with equally good performances but on different labels. Then I have to decide who has the best recording quality - DG, Sony, Naxos, or... Even MP3tag won't help with that, but at least I can verify the tagging of the winner. |
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 7, 2022 17:22:00 GMT -5
FWIW...
Having spent the last week listening exclusively, here are my rankings of label by sound quality. Not every title in every label will meet the ranking, but the vast majority will. Also note that some of these are "boutique" labels that won't have a wide selection of music - but what they have will be excellent. And finally, these rankings apply to classical music only including baroque, opera, symphonic, string quartet, etc. So without further ado...
1. Centaur
2. Mercury Living Presence (remasters only)
3. Naxos
4. Chandos
5. RCA Living Stereo (remasters only)
6. Telarc (primarily for OMG bass)
7. LaserLight (getting a good one in this label is no better than 50/50)
8. Everyone else
All that said... There are certain special performances of specific pieces that I like above all others. An example would be Lizst's "Totentanz" from "The Reiner Sound" remastered disc. I'll post others as I stumble across them during my sorts.
Glenn
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hemster
Global Moderator
Particle Manufacturer
...still listening... still watching
Posts: 51,950
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Post by hemster on Sept 7, 2022 18:21:13 GMT -5
If you know the name of the album and the artist, MP3tag works well to update metadata.
It is a free download (I use it on a Windows VM) and is available for Mac.
In Windows, I just select the folder containing the flacs and select open in MP3tag, then search for tags by artist and album name. Sometimes it helps if you know the year or label for your files, as it will give you a list of possible options.
It will update album art and other metadata.
I used mp3tag for sorting out my rather large collection. Many times I went back and readdressed things using their scripting and using regex allowed me to exercise that part of my brain which had fallen asleep for a long while  |
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 8, 2022 7:00:51 GMT -5
Favorites:
Franz Liszt - Totentanz - The Reiner Sound - Living Stereo remaster
Saint-Saens - Danse Macabre - The Best of Saint-Saens - EMI
More to come
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Post by oldwood on Sept 8, 2022 8:22:53 GMT -5
It is a simple program to use but can do a lot more if you are willing and able to dig into it. If you know the name of the album and the artist, MP3tag works well to update metadata.
It is a free download (I use it on a Windows VM) and is available for Mac.
In Windows, I just select the folder containing the flacs and select open in MP3tag, then search for tags by artist and album name. Sometimes it helps if you know the year or label for your files, as it will give you a list of possible options.
It will update album art and other metadata.
I used mp3tag for sorting out my rather large collection. Many times I went back and readdressed things using their scripting and using regex allowed me to exercise that part of my brain which had fallen asleep for a long while |
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Post by oldwood on Sept 8, 2022 8:31:12 GMT -5
Dan said; "You could just keep multiple different versions of the ones you actually like... just sayin... after all - space is cheap nowadays. "
That is what I have done, but found I was not listening to some versions, so I added my complete music collection to a playlist. The program I am using allows you to set it so hitting the delete button on a keyboard removes the track from the playlist.
This way I work away at removing the tracks I don't like and get a more complete curated playlist. You need to save the playlist once in a while, or before you restart the program.
Foobar has an option to copy all the files on a playlist to a location. I have considered this to get a curated copy of my music collection.
I find some cds I have purchased have only 1 or 2 songs I really enjoy listening to. Frank Zappa comes to mind  |
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 8, 2022 8:56:10 GMT -5
Even the music that I delete from my “working library” is preserved on backups. But keeping the working library disc svelte seems to provide at least one very important benefit - Roon works better! It crashes less often, it hangs less often, it indexes (and backs up) the library much faster, searches seem both faster and more accurate, and when I hook up a second USB HDD to copy the disc, it takes less time to duplicate.
So selecting and grooming favorites IS time-consuming, but I think it’s worth it.
Boomzilla
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Post by oldwood on Sept 8, 2022 14:17:15 GMT -5
Even the music that I delete from my “working library” is preserved on backups. But keeping the working library disc svelte seems to provide at least one very important benefit - Roon works better! It crashes less often, it hangs less often, it indexes (and backs up) the library much faster, searches seem both faster and more accurate, and when I hook up a second USB HDD to copy the disc, it takes less time to duplicate. So selecting and grooming favorites IS time-consuming, but I think it’s worth it. Boomzilla I had tried a few audio players before I found one that would not freeze up while trying to load 2TB of flac files. I ended up with Strawberry. I use it on Linux, but it is available on Mac or Windows.
It works well for me, although I can not compare to Roon as I have not tried it. I did find I need a minimum 8 gig of memory, but 16 gig works better.
I agree, getting the music collection pared down makes work better.
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 9, 2022 16:28:27 GMT -5
Having honed my file sorting skills on the Tchaikovsky and Beethoven folders, I think I’m ready to tackle Herr Bach. The most successful strategy I’ve devised is ‘divide and conquer.’ I’ll first identify, for example, all the symphonies, segregating them into a single sub folder. I can then separate the wheat from the chaff without having a hundred other folders in the way. Then come the piano sonatas, the violin sonatas, etc. when done, I dump the sub-folders’ contents back into the parent folder and turn it all over to Roon.
Working well so far!
The library disc started out as 5.3TB. It's now down to 3.9. LOTS of duplicates in the classical folders.
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 10, 2022 15:08:47 GMT -5
After about 40 hours of grooming, I whooped mp3tag on the remaining folders, and the drive is ready for prime time! Thanks to all for the help.
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 11, 2022 17:17:41 GMT -5
I'm currently duplicating the music library drive onto another. Unfortunately, I didn't notice when I started the transfer that one of the USB cables was a USB-2, so the duplication is taking 24 hours.
Once the dupe is finished, I'll use the second drive to go through all my CDs. Those not yet ripped will go onto the "backup" drive, and then I'll merge the two drives again. Then the "backup" drive will become the main library drive to equalize wear between the two. Since I've got an unlimited Backblaze account, I'll let them back up the music library disc online. That'll give me three copies - two local and one online backup.
Tedious, but necessary...
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