Need advice on organizing my music.

[Stymingersfink]

I am just starting to put together my digital music collection and I am having some issues. I have used iTunes for a long time for content on my phone and I use Apple music as a low fi streaming service. I have recently started trying to convert my iTunes purchases into ALAC files, but it catalogs them together with no way to differentiate the lossless from the lossy. Can anyone give me some pointers on a system to use or where I can find information on how to keep it all organized? Thanks!

 

[lovinthehd]

Before I got rid of iTunes a while back I sorted content by file type, bitrate, etc...or are you looking for more?

 

[Ponzio]

I am just starting to put together my digital music collection and I am having some issues. I have used iTunes for a long time for content on my phone and I use Apple music as a low fi streaming service. I have recently started trying to convert my iTunes purchases into ALAC files, but it catalogs them together with no way to differentiate the lossless from the lossy. Can anyone give me some pointers on a system to use or where I can find information on how to keep it all organized? Thanks!

If u have the data storage space I would convert them to the highest bit rate possible in FLAC format or WAV files. If storage space is an issue I would go with MP3 (Lame) converted to 320kbps CBR (constant bit rate).

 

[Stymingersfink]

Before I got rid of iTunes a while back I sorted content by file type, bitrate, etc...or are you looking for more?

I like the organizational format of iTunes, that part isn't an issue. I am having trouble keeping the file types separate. If I buy music from the iTunes store, I can convert it to Apple's lossless codec, but it catalogs it right next to the original. I am looking for a way to get rid of the lossy file without messing up the catalog. Or, I am looking for advice on a better way than iTunes. What do you use now?

If u have the data storage space I would convert them to the highest bit rate possible in FLAC format or WAV files.

Storage space isn't an issue. Is there a way to convert ALAC to FLAC?

 

[Ponzio]

Storage space isn't an issue. Is there a way to convert ALAC to FLAC?

Yes, I use dBpowerAmp software. It has a vast array of audio codecs to convert almost any file format.

 

[Stymingersfink]

Yes, I use dBpowerAmp software. It has a vast array of audio codecs to convert almost any file format.

Thank you, what do you use to catalog and play your collection?

 

[Ponzio]

I use WinAmp to play because it probably has more meta-data fields than any other player that I'm aware of. In conjunction I use mp3tag editor to do single/bulk meta-data tag editing. I self-catalog. I have never been happy with any of the cataloging software I've tried in the past. BTW I'm working with Windows 10, not a Apple OS.

 

[Stymingersfink]

That's one of the reasons I like iTunes, it has a lot of metadata built in. I think its just going to be a trial and error process with hopefully not too much error. Thank you for your help.

 

[lovinthehd]

I like the organizational format of iTunes, that part isn't an issue. I am having trouble keeping the file types separate. If I buy music from the iTunes store, I can convert it to Apple's lossless codec, but it catalogs it right next to the original. I am looking for a way to get rid of the lossy file without messing up the catalog. Or, I am looking for advice on a better way than iTunes. What do you use now?



Storage space isn't an issue. Is there a way to convert ALAC to FLAC?

You want separate libraries by file type? I use Foobar2000 now, but am also pc based.

 

[Hobbit]

I am just starting to put together my digital music collection and I am having some issues. I have used iTunes for a long time for content on my phone and I use Apple music as a low fi streaming service. I have recently started trying to convert my iTunes purchases into ALAC files, but it catalogs them together with no way to differentiate the lossless from the lossy. Can anyone give me some pointers on a system to use or where I can find information on how to keep it all organized? Thanks!

Never been a big iTunes fan... spent too much time trying to sort out my GF's collection. But to each their own. It seems to work best as long as you're happy letting it decide what to do.

I tend to be old school. I just use the File Explorer in Windows, create folders, and put the music files in the folder I want. You can sort and search by just about any type of file, metadata parameter, etc, and it's easy to batch change metadata. You can edit the metadata to create your own genre's or multiple genre's (many playback programs will only read the first one, keep that in mine) and apply it to every file in the folder. Therefore, as an example, I end up with a Music library -> a Rock folder -> Classic Rock folder -> everything in this folder is a Classic Rock Genre. You can even set the Music Library, or any folder, to automatically backup to another drive. I haven't found any software that makes it easier than this.

In most playback software gives you the choice to playback by genre, folder, or all music.

 

[Bucknekked]

I am just starting to put together my digital music collection and I am having some issues. I have used iTunes for a long time for content on my phone and I use Apple music as a low fi streaming service. I have recently started trying to convert my iTunes purchases into ALAC files, but it catalogs them together with no way to differentiate the lossless from the lossy. Can anyone give me some pointers on a system to use or where I can find information on how to keep it all organized? Thanks!

on the AH, I am in the distinct minority in that I not only use iTunes to manage and store my digital music, but I actually still like and enjoy iTunes. Trust me on this, there are not many AH members who have any affection for iTunes. I don't buy music from the Apple store nor do I stream with them. iTunes I like however so even if we are the only two who do, there's at least 2 of us.

I have the exact same problem you are seeing. If I take a song and make several variations on the file format, when I search and display that song in just about any fashion except by file type, I will see the same song with x number of listings and it isn't obvious which is which without inspecting the individual song.

Its more of a condition rather than a problem. Its not broken. When I started to do my entire library in iTunes over this last year I decided to do it all in uncompressed lossless files. Rather than trying to figure out which song was in which format, I simply started a lossless library and that's what I called it "lossless library". If the song is in that library, its uncompressed and lossless.

That still allows the problem to occur. If I take an album and want to spin it off to an MP3 cd to play in my car, I need to make MP3 files first. Once I do that, now I have that mix again of file types. I don't make many CD's anymore so its a problem that's really not much of a problem. I tend to make my MP3's or any other file type change in my older library and don't do it in my lossless library. That solves the file type issue and multiples issue.

I know that's not a fix, but it is a workaround. Getting out of low bitrate and compressed files is a great idea. Getting in to lossless and uncompressed files is worth the effort. Absolutely worth the effort. Don't buy your music from Apple is also a good policy.

 

[Bucknekked]

I am just starting to put together my digital music collection and I am having some issues. I have used iTunes for a long time for content on my phone and I use Apple music as a low fi streaming service. I have recently started trying to convert my iTunes purchases into ALAC files, but it catalogs them together with no way to differentiate the lossless from the lossy. Can anyone give me some pointers on a system to use or where I can find information on how to keep it all organized? Thanks!

I forgot to welcome you to the AH ! Welcome welcome.
I forgot to look at your profile . There's a wonderful array of opinions and skills here. Lots of expertise.
Like I said in my post, not a lot of love for iTunes here however. I like it and use it. So, there's at least one of us. Hope you enjoy the experience.

 

[Bryce_H]

I went through converting my CD collection to digital a bit ago (pun intended). I used an old desktop I had lying around, installed 6 CD/DVD drives and ran 6 concurrent rips (I had a LOT of CDs). I used Exact Audio Copy and converted them to FLAC. I then uploaded them all to my QNAP NAS and use Plex to organize them. I also converted all my old iTunes purchases and dropped them on my NAS. Exact Audio Copy added the metadata with cover art. I can now run my entire library through the Plex app or my Sonos Play 5.

 

[lovinthehd]

If I take an album and want to spin it off to an MP3 cd to play in my car, I need to make MP3 files first. Once I do that, now I have that mix again of file types. I don't make many CD's anymore so its a problem that's really not much of a problem. I tend to make my MP3's or any other file type change in my older library and don't do it in my lossless library. That solves the file type issue and multiples issue.

Somewhat remember the ability to have multiple libraries....so if you convert a file to mp3 it forces you to add it to your lossless library?

 

[Bucknekked]

Somewhat remember the ability to have multiple libraries....so if you convert a file to mp3 it forces you to add it to your lossless library?

lovinthehd
to answer your question specifically, no. If I convert a file to MP3 it doesn't require that I do anything.
What I was trying to say (however poorly) was that I created a lossless library because it seemed to be the cleanest, neatest, and most complete way of storing and keeping all the material I was re-ripping and storing in a lossless and uncompressed format. Anything that's in that library is my best version and only the best version of the music. I have several iibraries that have grown up over time.

What I was referring to was if I need to make MP3's to dump on to a CD playable in my car, I like to keep those in my other library where I may have the same song in 5 different bitrates/formats etc and it isn't easy to know without looking what format a song is in. Nothing is required.

I don't know if that makes any sense or not. Its just how I chose to keep my uncompressed and lossless stuff all in one place and not have weeds growing in there (mp3's and low quality files).

 

[lovinthehd]

lovinthehd
to answer your question specifically, no. If I convert a file to MP3 it doesn't require that I do anything.
What I was trying to say (however poorly) was that I created a lossless library because it seemed to be the cleanest, neatest, and most complete way of storing and keeping all the material I was re-ripping and storing in a lossless and uncompressed format. Anything that's in that library is my best version and only the best version of the music. I have several iibraries that have grown up over time.

What I was referring to was if I need to make MP3's to dump on to a CD playable in my car, I like to keep those in my other library where I may have the same song in 5 different bitrates/formats etc and it isn't easy to know without looking what format a song is in. Nothing is required.

I don't know if that makes any sense or not. Its just how I chose to keep my uncompressed and lossless stuff all in one place and not have weeds growing in there (mp3's and low quality files).

No, that helps. I just always kept the file type/bit rate columns employed when I used iTunes as one way to determine...

 

[Bucknekked]

No, that helps. I just always kept the file type/bit rate columns employed when I used iTunes as one way to determine...

someone mentioned using their File Explorer to do all their file work. In a Mac, that would be the Finder function. I know I can do it that way and in the olden days, that's what I did too. I could probably still do that today. iTunes is a library manager however and if you take advantage of that, there are a lot of benefits. iTunes can do it, and so can every other music manager out there (JRiver, Plex, or whatever flavor you like).

When I move files between machines ( I have a central machine where all the in's and out's and ripping and management occurs) I do use the Fiinder (or Explorer) function because I can control where I put the new music on the machine in my music room. The machine in my music room just plays the tunes.

 

[2channel lover]

on the AH, I am in the distinct minority in that I not only use iTunes to manage and store my digital music, but I actually still like and enjoy iTunes. Trust me on this, there are not many AH members who have any affection for iTunes. I don't buy music from the Apple store nor do I stream with them. iTunes I like however so even if we are the only two who do, there's at least 2 of us.

I have the exact same problem you are seeing. If I take a song and make several variations on the file format, when I search and display that song in just about any fashion except by file type, I will see the same song with x number of listings and it isn't obvious which is which without inspecting the individual song.

Its more of a condition rather than a problem. Its not broken. When I started to do my entire library in iTunes over this last year I decided to do it all in uncompressed lossless files. Rather than trying to figure out which song was in which format, I simply started a lossless library and that's what I called it "lossless library". If the song is in that library, its uncompressed and lossless.

That still allows the problem to occur. If I take an album and want to spin it off to an MP3 cd to play in my car, I need to make MP3 files first. Once I do that, now I have that mix again of file types. I don't make many CD's anymore so its a problem that's really not much of a problem. I tend to make my MP3's or any other file type change in my older library and don't do it in my lossless library. That solves the file type issue and multiples issue.

I know that's not a fix, but it is a workaround. Getting out of low bitrate and compressed files is a great idea. Getting in to lossless and uncompressed files is worth the effort. Absolutely worth the effort. Don't buy your music from Apple is also a good policy.

I have about 3k songs on my Itunes and roughly 350 of those are purchased, the rest were lossless ripped or I got from a thumb drive. I intend to keep the Itunes account because my ipod is a big mobile source for me in the car, yard chores, etc.

I recently set up a JRiver23.0 account and imported the main catalog from Itunes over...I decided to redo the playlist in JRiver rather than import those. It's a much better player, I loves the way it phases the new song in DJ style. The management tool is more comprehensive than Itunes, but most of what I play from either player is on the whole house system so I'm not overly concerned with the file type.

For now, if I'm sitting down listening to music on the main system, most of the time I use the Oppo to spin them. I do see myself doing more critical listening from my digital library at some point. That was one reason I went ahead and got JRiver.

 

[Bucknekked]

I have about 3k songs on my Itunes and roughly 350 of those are purchased, the rest were lossless ripped or I got from a thumb drive. I intend to keep the Itunes account because my ipod is a big mobile source for me in the car, yard chores, etc.

I recently set up a JRiver23.0 account and imported the main catalog from Itunes over...I decided to redo the playlist in JRiver rather than import those. It's a much better player, I loves the way it phases the new song in DJ style. The management tool is more comprehensive than Itunes, but most of what I play from either player is on the whole house system so I'm not overly concerned with the file type.

For now, if I'm sitting down listening to music on the main system, most of the time I use the Oppo to spin them. I do see myself doing more critical listening from my digital library at some point. That was one reason I went ahead and got JRiver.

I have heard numerous good things about JRiver and other players and music managers. I went so far as to install Plex and use it for both music and movies and as a remote player to my iPads. In the end, I never really left iTunes, I just started using it more and more. I retired the Plex setup.

Someday, a great digital player/manager/library system will come along and I will be smitten.
For now, I too have about 3,000 songs in my lossless and uncompressed library. I have about 5,000 in my older library (the one with cheesy bitrates all the way up through HD audio). I enjoy the digital media experience. I think there's around 500 HD movies in that library too. For now at least, I also enjoy iTunes. Most probably because on a Mac, it just works.

I enjoy looking at other players and media managers when the mood strikes me. Like I said, someday something will come along and I'll be smitten and migrate.

 

[2channel lover]

I have heard numerous good things about JRiver and other players and music managers. I went so far as to install Plex and use it for both music and movies and as a remote player to my iPads. In the end, I never really left iTunes, I just started using it more and more. I retired the Plex setup.

Someday, a great digital player/manager/library system will come along and I will be smitten.
For now, I too have about 3,000 songs in my lossless and uncompressed library. I have about 5,000 in my older library (the one with cheesy bitrates all the way up through HD audio). I enjoy the digital media experience. I think there's around 500 HD movies in that library too. For now at least, I also enjoy iTunes. Most probably because on a Mac, it just works.

I enjoy looking at other players and media managers when the mood strikes me. Like I said, someday something will come along and I'll be smitten and migrate.

Itunes acct, and Itunes music files...I don't see anything really wrong with either for the initial intended purpose of playback on mobile music devices. As we evolved into digitally archiving music for playback in our homes, people with high end systems didn't care much the compressed mp3 files, and I don't either for that purpose.

IIRC, his res music doesn't do anything for you so this wouldn't matter much, but the JRiver player can handle a wide variety of hi res files directly. I haven't tried any yet, and would probably still play it via the network and the Oppo DAC vs directly from the online media player.