Browsing and organizing USB media library is very tedious

[Steve Woodhouse]

Yes in explorer that's how I manage it. But in LMS it shows all files in one lot, labelled disc 1 etc at the top. Also NOT using tags for classical is impossible as some file systems has issues with very long filenames, or characters.

Plus what if you want to find a specific track and also include all other covers of it, ie say cher, kyle, tina did the same cover, I can see that in seconds.

You can't do that.

Of course I can. I just search for it.

As I’ve pointed out many times, using a folder structure and folder view 95% of the time doesn’t stop you searching using other methods the other 5%.

 

[rccarguy]

Of course I can. I just search for it.

As I’ve pointed out many times, using a folder structure and folder view 95% of the time doesn’t stop you searching using other methods the other 5%.

I give up. Cling onto old outdated browse by folder.

 

[rccarguy]

Unless he copies those tracks to:

\artist\u2\Appears On\Now 102\
\artist\u2\Appears On\Best of 90's hits\

The guy is a troll, he ignores my points and just continues. I've blocked him.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

You've misunderstood.

If you navigate to \artist\u2, you'll see that album and files, that's ok
But you won't see

Now 102- best of 90's \ U2 - Zooropa
Best of 90's hits\U2 - Indie\ U2 - achtung baby

Like I showed earlier were all tracks from other albums are also shown, those "NOW" compilation albums. There is NO way you can integrate that into folder view. Impossible

No, you haven’t understood my answer.

If I have Now 102 with Zooropa on it, I’ll already have Zooropa in the U2 folder anyway.

Why would I want to play the version from Now 102? If there’s an unusual single mix on the compilation, which isn’t on any ‘proper’ U2 release, it’ll be in my self-created SDE, and also under U2 -> Singles.

Zooropa was never a single, by the way.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

I give up. Cling onto old outdated browse by folder.

Now now, I think I’ve answered every question logically.

 

[slartibartfast]

Of course I can. I just search for it.

As I’ve pointed out many times, using a folder structure and folder view 95% of the time doesn’t stop you searching using other methods the other 5%.

Apart from the duplicates everyone probably uses a similar folder structure to you. Mine is just Artist/Album though. In fact an easy way to add a newly ripped album to the LMS library is to browse to it in Folder View.

 

[Burnside]

Apart from the duplicates everyone probably uses a similar folder structure to you. Mine is just Artist/Album though. In fact an easy way to add a newly ripped album to the LMS library is to browse to it in Folder View.

And does that then save a rescan? Nice logical was of doing it

 

[slartibartfast]

And does that then save a rescan? Nice logical was of doing it

Yes it does

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

Apart from the duplicates everyone probably uses a similar folder structure to you. Mine is just Artist/Album though. In fact an easy way to add a newly ripped album to the LMS library is to browse to it in Folder View.

Yes, I suspect most will have a folder structure of a folder for each artist, the a folder for each release (album, single, etc.) within that artist folder.

I just riff on that. At the first level, where most people see hundreds of artist folders, I have all those artists divided up into alphabet folders (see previous screen grab), which is far more user friendly.

Within each artist folder, I structure things differently, depending on the artist. If I have just 2 or 3 albums, that’ll be just one folder for each with no other layers. If I have a large collection of their work I first have sub folders ‘Albums’ and ‘Singles’. Maybe also ‘EPs’, ‘Compilations’, ‘Live Albums’. The sub folders I have are bespoke for each artist.

Because of this, I rarely have to search. If I want to see all The Beatles singles, I just click down to that folder. I don’t have to search. I don’t have to tag them as singles. I can put them in the correct release order.

And yes, when adding a new rip, it’s dead easy.

 

[simbun]

I just riff on that. At the first level, where most people see hundreds of artist folders, I have all those artists divided up into alphabet folders (see previous screen grab), which is far more user friendly.

Let's keep it simple. Ignoring your "SDEs", I will ALWAYS be able to replicate your view using tags and tag view, but using folder view you can only ever recreate one of my views e.g. can you list ALL albums/singles/compilations, or even all of an artist's releases?

No one is telling you that you're doing it wrong just that folder view is limited, so for the vast majority of people it's a better solution.

I'm glad you're happy with the WiiM solution.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

Let's keep it simple. Ignoring your "SDEs", I will ALWAYS be able to replicate your view using tags and tag view, but using folder view you can only ever recreate one of my views e.g. can you list ALL albums/singles/compilations, or even all of an artist's releases?

No one is telling you that you're doing it wrong just that folder view is limited, so for the vast majority of people it's a better solution.

I'm glad you're happy with the WiiM solution.

Yes I can. For what feels like the 100th time, my files are all tagged and I can search & view just like everyone else.

Here’s the thing. I cannot envisage a situation where I’d want to view a long list of all of an artist’s releases. Or any of the other ‘can you’ questions we’ve seen.

Just till run with U2. If I sit down to listen to U2, I might want to work through their albums, or their singles, but I just can’t imagine wanting to see all their releases in a long list.

But yes, I could do that if I wanted to.

Tags are limited, by the very fact that you have to search the tags, which means typing in the name of the artist, or album, or track, or whatever, then clicking on the correct tag(s) search.

How my Folder View is liberating is that you just click on something, or click back. It’s one click at a time, no typing. Especially useful when you’re browsing on your phone.

I’ve yet find a single instance when I haven’t been able to do something at least as quickly, if not quicker, using this method.

 

[simbun]

Yes I can. For what feels like the 100th time, my files are all tagged and I can search & view just like everyone else.

So what's the point you're trying to make? Is it that you can manually create a view that everyone else gets for free?

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

So what's the point you're trying to make? Is it that you can manually create a view that everyone else gets for free?

You can’t. You can do a search, and if you’ve tagged correctly, you can search for U2 singles (though not on WiiM), but what you can’t do is bring up a view of U2 then click into singles, click back then click into albums, etc.

And once in U2 singles, that’s a big long list of all A and B sides, presumably in alphabetical. So the A and B sides won’t be next to each other. I’ll also presume you can put them in release order, though that involves a hell of a lot of tagging of specific dates (rather than just the year), and (correct me if I’m wrong) an extra layer of criteria when searching.

Please confirm. If you search just ‘U2 singles’, initially nothing else, what do the results look like? Feel free to give us a screen shot.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I’ll try to demonstrate with pics when I get home.

 

[rccarguy]

So what's the point you're trying to make? Is it that you can manually create a view that everyone else gets for free?

Don't waste your time.

Also lacks direct A-Z key direct to artist and album

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

Don't waste your time.

Also lacks direct A-Z key direct to artist and album

Firstly, I wasn’t replying to you.

Secondly, I’m not sure I understand your second point.

I think perhaps you’re saying I can’t list all U2’s albums alphabetically. Firstly, for the 101st time, I can. But secondly…who on earth wants to do that?

I can easily imagine someone thinking “I’ll sit down tonight and listen to all The Beatles’ singles, starting with Love Me Do.” But who in their right minds thinks “I’ll sit down and listen to all The Beatles’ singles starting with All You Need us Love, working my way alphabetically through to Yellow Submarine”?

 

[simbun]

You can’t. You can do a search, and if you’ve tagged correctly, you can search for U2 singles (though not on WiiM), but what you can’t do is bring up a view of U2 then click into singles, click back then click into albums, etc.

If I wanted to replicate that stepwise approach (most would just prefer to select Artist and be presented with grouped releases) AssetUPnP can do exactly that. Pick Artist from an A-Z index.

And once in U2 singles, that’s a big long list of all A and B sides, presumably in alphabetical. So the A and B sides won’t be next to each other. I’ll also presume you can put them in release order, though that involves a hell of a lot of tagging of specific dates (rather than just the year), and (correct me if I’m wrong) an extra layer of criteria when searching.

A Single would be tagged as an "album" with 2 discs I guess. A release date tag is standard, and yes you can sort by it. Search isn't involved in any of this, unless you chose to get to Artist by that route.

Please confirm. If you search just ‘U2 singles’, initially nothing else, what do the results look like? Feel free to give us a screen shot.

Search is generally only available on Artist/Album/Songs but it hasn't been used to replicate your scenario.

I'll try and put some screenshots together using MinimServer, which won't replicate your exact steps (requires an extra click) but will hopefully show you how the browse process generally works.

 

[rccarguy]

I'm doing a search in windows explorer for a typical song, 8 minutes in already and still not finished hahaha. Has to search 350,000 files, tens of thousands of folders.

Gigabit wired ethernet on PC and NAS, gigabite quality 24 port network switch.

Within LMS it would take about one second.

Completed a search in 14 minutes yeah folder is brilliant.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

If I wanted to replicate that stepwise approach (most would just prefer to select Artist and be presented with grouped releases) AssetUPnP can do exactly that. Pick Artist from an A-Z index.


A Single would be tagged as an "album" with 2 discs I guess. A release date tag is standard, and yes you can sort by it. Search isn't involved in any of this, unless you chose to get to Artist by that route.


Search is generally only available on Artist/Album/Songs but it hasn't been used to replicate your scenario.

I'll try and put some screenshots together using MinimServer, which won't replicate your exact steps (requires an extra click) but will hopefully show you how the browse process generally works.

Cheers. I’ll show you how it looks to me. It’ll be interesting to compare.

 

[Steve Woodhouse]

I'm doing a search in windows explorer for a typical song, 8 minutes in already and still not finished hahaha. Has to search 350,000 files, tens of thousands of folders.

Gigabit wired ethernet on PC and NAS, gigabite quality 24 port network switch.

Within LMS it would take about one second.

Again, I generally don’t find myself searching for songs. By and large I just know where they are…apart from I Won’t Let You Down Again by Ph.D. It’s one if the very few tracks I have on a CD rip which isn’t on Amazon streaming (though it used to be, and is on Spotify. But the thing is it’s on a compilation called something like ‘80s Pop Hits Volume 2, Disc 5. Understandably, I keep forgetting, so yes I search for that one.