Re-ripping all my music

[itschris]

If you like your PC solution then for ipad you could use subsonic media server. You point it at your files and it allows you to access them though a web interface or iOS/android app. You can set it to transcode or simply play as is depending upon what you desire. I've been using it for my android based phone for about a year now, works quite well.

I was hesitant to suggest this at first as having multiple pieces of software is not the best solution, but if you do like media center this might get you the rest of the way.

Okay... here's where i show my ***... what's a subsonic media server? I would just like to be able to say I have that!

I think I'm heading in a good direction right now. I got PLEX setup on all of my devices, so step 1 which is being able to access all my music from anywhere is done. Despite how bad the Windows version of PLEX Media Player is for Windows, it's quite nice on the IPad. It was cool to go across the street and access my stuff and have it play on the IPad.

So now, it's really step 2 which is getting the music/shows/movies to play through my system while having he nice interface of the IPad guiding things.

This is where I was thinking that Apple TV would be the ticket. I should be able to AirPlay whatever's on my IPad to the Apple TV.

Here is the MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: can I hookup my Apple TV to my receiver? From the research I've done, it seems like it should work one way or the other. So that's the next step. I'll probably pick up the ATV this weekend.

 

[Grador]

Okay... here's where i show my ***... what's a subsonic media server? I would just like to be able to say I have that!

It's the name of the program I just described...

I don't understand why you would play things over your network on your iPad and then use airplay to get it on the TV, that sounds kinda over complicated and inefficient.

So if you're willing to jailbreak all your iOS devices (iphone, ipad, and ATV), i might suggest using XBMC. It doesn't have a media server, so using just it will not allow you to access your media outside of the home, but on the LAN it works quite well.

I have no experience with the iOS version, but supposedly it works just as well as the windows version which works quite well. There is a remote application for it you can install on your ipads/iphones that allow you to control the software. If this rout interests you I can go into more detail/answer questions. I have a 3 TV with centralized server set up this way.

 

[itschris]

I don't understand why you would play things over your network on your iPad and then use airplay to get it on the TV, that sounds kinda over complicated and inefficient..

Because it's the only way I can think of where I can have centrally located media data, controlled by my IPad, and have access to my data from anywhere I want.

Sure, I can hook up my laptop and use Media Center like I originally intended, but then I have to pretty much be in the room on my keyboard effectively running my computer on my TV.

I have all my data in my office on the hardware in there. My router is across the house in the main room. If my wife wants to sit out by the pool, she can just bring her IPad and watch, listen, to whatever she wants.

If I want to sit and listen to music through my system or watch a show and have surround sound and all of that, I can easily do it the same way, and just push it through the apple TV.

I agree, it's not elegant, but gives me pretty much everything I want the way I want to do it. My wife loves her IPad and comfortable using it so having it as a way to control everything is what I'm after. I just bought two more Ipads the other day, so I'm pretty much committed to that route or something like it at this point.

I have no experience with the iOS version, but supposedly it works just as well as the windows version which works quite well. There is a remote application for it you can install on your ipads/iphones that allow you to control the software. If this rout interests you I can go into more detail/answer questions. I have a 3 TV with centralized server set up this way.

I only sorda know what jail breaking is, but not really. I don't necessarily want to inherently change anything's functionality.

 

[Grador]

Because it's the only way I can think of where I can have centrally located media data, controlled by my IPad, and have access to my data from anywhere I want.

Sure, I can hook up my laptop and use Media Center like I originally intended, but then I have to pretty much be in the room on my keyboard effectively running my computer on my TV.

No you wouldn't, the setup I am refering to above would allow you to play your medai on your iDevices and use them to control an ATV that would work on your TV/stereo.

Edit: Additionally it would also allow the ATV to be a standalone device that would work just as happily using an IR remote w/o an iPad around.

It's pretty much exactly what you're looking for.

I only sorda know what jail breaking is, but not really. I don't necessarily want to inherently change anything's functionality.

Jailbreaking just allows you to install applications not from the appstore. It doesn't change the way the device functions at all. the iOS version of XBMC is not on official application and would require you to perform this task before installing it. Subsonic on the other hand is available through the appstore.

 

[itschris]

No you wouldn't, the setup I am refering to above would allow you to play your medai on your iDevices and use them to control an ATV that would work on your TV/stereo.

Edit: Additionally it would also allow the ATV to be a standalone device that would work just as happily using an IR remote w/o an iPad around.

It's pretty much exactly what you're looking for.


Jailbreaking just allows you to install applications not from the appstore. It doesn't change the way the device functions at all. the iOS version of XBMC is not on official application and would require you to perform this task before installing it. Subsonic on the other hand is available through the appstore.

If you don't mind, I'd love to have you walk through this setup. It sounds great. Keep in mind you'll have to explain a lot as you go along because I only know what I know which what I've been blabbing about the past week. All of this is new and I don't understand it all yet so explain at your peril.

Also the jail breaking thing seems cool so include that to if you'd like.

 

[itschris]

No you wouldn't, the setup I am refering to above would allow you to play your medai on your iDevices and use them to control an ATV that would work on your TV/stereo.

Edit: Additionally it would also allow the ATV to be a standalone device that would work just as happily using an IR remote w/o an iPad around.

It's pretty much exactly what you're looking for.


Jailbreaking just allows you to install applications not from the appstore. It doesn't change the way the device functions at all. the iOS version of XBMC is not on official application and would require you to perform this task before installing it. Subsonic on the other hand is available through the appstore.

Okay... so I've reading about XMBC on their site. Visually... it looks amazing... but it's all really overwhelming regarding the setup, the jail breaking, and everything else. It seems all very much geared to people who are really into tinkering and constantly playing with their settings and what-not.

The part I don't understand right now is that you said I can control my ATV with the apps on my phone or IPad. So basically I think your saying that the ATV is streaming all the media directly from server and I'm controlling it via my devices rather than having the data stream to my IPad then to the ATV... correct?

 

[adk highlander]

Hey Chris,

I'll give you a quick and dirty of my music setup but let me first say I am somewhat anti iProduct and have stayed away from all proprietary music formats.

I have a small dell windows xp box that has all of my music ripped from CD's to FLAC format. I use mediamonkey gold for all ripping and metadata creation. This also has a great function to create mp3 versions of all your high res stuff for your portable device.

I use a HRT Music Streamer USB DAC to the CD input on my Marantz prepro.

To interface with everything from my tablet. (I use a google nexus 7). I use a great marantz app to control the any zone when I listen to music.

To view my music I have installed the mediamonkey server and am using an app called MediaMonkey Remote. It is a paid app but is very inexpensive.

The interface is good but not great. I get coverart and it will pull in all my music and playlists. The only function it does not have is a shuffle for all of your music.

This has been working great for a while and is easy enough for the wife and kid to use. In fact now we are only using the tablets to control the whole house music and have dumped the URC remotes for that purpose. All the pandora stations are in the Marantz app so for that and internet radio we only have to use the one app. The latest jelly bean operating system in android will keep both apps going and is easy to switch back and forth between them.

I know there are so many great solutions to do this kind of thing. The great deal for me was this was really cheap. The computer was an old one pulled out of service at work and the DAC I picked up from Greg on trade. So all I was out of pocket for was software.

 

[Grador]

It seems all very much geared to people who are really into tinkering and constantly playing with their settings and what-not.

The part I don't understand right now is that you said I can control my ATV with the apps on my phone or IPad. So basically I think your saying that the ATV is streaming all the media directly from server and I'm controlling it via my devices rather than having the data stream to my IPad then to the ATV... correct?

Yeah, unfortunately it's not really turnkey software. It's really not all that bad to get it running but if you want to make the setup really slick it takes some time and effort.

So streaming isn't quite the right word here, but you've got the idea correct. The IPad is not reading the media files at all, just the ATV. To specify streaming is a set up where a server sends media over time I'm whatever manner the server feels is best, with xbmc or similar software you would be playing back files that are served over the network. The difference is subtle, but with file playback you have the most control and require less computing on the server end.

 

[sterling shoote]

If the idea is to get from CD to ALAC, just download iTunes and rip with iTunes CD conversion set to ALAC. If you want to rip to flac you can use foobar and then to be able to convert from flac to anything you may need later you can download dbpoweramp. dbpoweramp will also batch convert the music you have now stored.

 

[itschris]

If the idea is to get from CD to ALAC, just download iTunes and rip with iTunes CD conversion set to ALAC. If you want to rip to flac you can use foobar and then to be able to convert from flac to anything you may need later you can download dbpoweramp. dbpoweramp will also batch convert the music you have now stored.

Thanks. I think I got that part down. I have another couple hundred CD's I need to rip... which I'm going to do in WMA just because almost all my "important" discs are that way, then I'm just going to convert it all to apple lossless to run it Itunes.

 

[itschris]

Yeah, unfortunately it's not really turnkey software. It's really not all that bad to get it running but if you want to make the setup really slick it takes some time and effort.

So streaming isn't quite the right word here, but you've got the idea correct. The IPad is not reading the media files at all, just the ATV. To specify streaming is a set up where a server sends media over time I'm whatever manner the server feels is best, with xbmc or similar software you would be playing back files that are served over the network. The difference is subtle, but with file playback you have the most control and require less computing on the server end.

I've been reading more and more about the XMBC stuff. It's not easy to get on top of all this and understand everything to make intelligent decisions or opinon
s.

I love the way XMBC looks. It's exactly what I'm looking for as far as an interface goes. I'm just not sure about getting it setup though. I'm not good at having to sit down an spend hours with settings and that sort of stuff to get things working.

The way I was originally thinking PLEX to IPad - IPad to ATV seems to work in concept though I freely admit it's not elegant nor efficient... but I think would work pretty straightforward.

 

[sterling shoote]

Thanks. I think I got that part down. I have another couple hundred CD's I need to rip... which I'm going to do in WMA just because almost all my "important" discs are that way, then I'm just going to convert it all to apple lossless to run it Itunes.

Here's what I don't get, why not just rip to ALAC. Why do you need to make a WMA file and then convert that to ALAC. At one time converting to WAV or WMA made some sense but today it does not.

 

[itschris]

Here's what I don't get, why not just rip to ALAC. Why do you need to make a WMA file and then convert that to ALAC. At one time converting to WAV or WMA made some sense but today it does not.

No reason in particular. Almost all my collection is that way so I figured I just finish the remaining discs the same way. I have plenty if space and will be doing a big expansion soon one I settle on how control my data and have the type of interface I want via an iPad shich we now own three of.

Once I get this done, Ill get my daughter who's now in college an iPad too and shell be able to access all our media from school really easily.

 

[sterling shoote]

No reason in particular. Almost all my collection is that way so I figured I just finish the remaining discs the same way. I have plenty if space and will be doing a big expansion soon one I settle on how control my data and have the type of interface I want via an iPad shich we now own three of.

Once I get this done, Ill get my daughter who's now in college an iPad too and shell be able to access all our media from school really easily.

Since you are receptive to iTunes, if you don't already have it on your computer, download it; and, then, slip in your CD's, ripping to iTunes library in ALAC. Batch convert your current WMA files to ALAC using dbpoweramp. Remember, WMA will not play on iTunes so converting your remaining unripped CD's to WMA will be an unnecessary step which will require storage space. What's the point?

 

[itschris]

Since you are receptive to iTunes, if you don't already have it on your computer, download it; and, then, slip in your CD's, ripping to iTunes library in ALAC. Batch convert your current WMA files to ALAC using dbpoweramp. Remember, WMA will not play on iTunes so converting your remaining unripped CD's to WMA will be an unnecessary step which will require storage space. What's the point?

At the moment I'm still not sure which direction I'll ultimately end up using. If my whole ipad thing doesn't work, I'm just going to hook up a laptop and use Windows Media Center.

Maybe you can help me with this... I've been trying to clean up years of itunes downloads. I have a lot of dupes in itunes from stuff that I have ripped WMA over the years that are lower quality and other songs that I don't need.

The other thing I realized is that I had music in two different folder paths. One was
USER...\ITUNES MEDIA\[individual artist folders] Then I had another:
USER...\ITUNES MEDIA\MUSIC\[individual artist folders as a subfolder of above]

The second path had a lot of the same folders of the first and visa versa, but some did have the actual music files. So I basically had a lot of dupes in both, and a lot of unique folder, but with dupes in each path had music files, some not, in each... if that makes sense.

So... I spent two hours moving stuff around into the one path. Then I learned that itunes doesn't actually "read" the folder structure, so nothing changed in itunes.

I tried doing a consolidate and all that... and it basically put everything back exactly the way it was... wiping out two hours worth of work.

Luckily, i copied the single folder structure so I still have that. I deleted everything out itunes and actually deleted all the muisc folders out of the path on the hard drive.

So now... i have nothing in itunes and all the itunes in another folder the way I want it. My question would be:

1) how do i get it back into itunes?
2) if i do an import, will it recreate the second path again like it did automatically when I first tried to consolidate. Is there somekind of .ini file in each folder that itunes is reading which is creating that secondary path?

 

[sterling shoote]

You sound a little "anal". Now, wait a minute, that's not a slam, I was/am somewhat like you; and, I understand. But, since there are so many rules in our lives which others force upon us, for a minute abandon the rules you have imposed upon yourself, as unless you are having trouble finding music, where ever it may be stored, the important thing is selecting a media player which best serves how and where you want to listen to your music. For me, iTunes is very convenient. And, although I have some files which are in the WAV format, and others perhaps in WMA, who knows, since I'm no where close to running out of hard drive space I don't worry that everything is not perfectly organized. Life is short, save your worry for the big stuff like cancer treatment or heart attacks. Make music fun, unencumbered by the gobbledygook which can interrupt your immersion with what would otherwise be a very satisfying experience.

 

[itschris]

You sound a little "anal". Now, wait a minute, that's not a slam, I was/am somewhat like you; and, I understand. But, since there are so many rules in our lives which others force upon us, for a minute abandon the rules you have imposed upon yourself, as unless you are having trouble finding music, where ever it may be stored, the important thing is selecting a media player which best serves how and where you want to listen to your music. For me, iTunes is very convenient. And, although I have some files which are in the WAV format, and others perhaps in WMA, who knows, since I'm no where close to running out of hard drive space I don't worry that everything is not perfectly organized. Life is short, save your worry for the big stuff like cancer treatment or heart attacks. Make music fun, unencumbered by the gobbledygook which can interrupt your immersion with what would otherwise be a very satisfying experience.

This isn't a worry at all. I actually enjoy doing this. I have a seriously stressful job. Cracking a bottle of wine and sitting in my office at home organizing stuff and actually accomplishing things is truly a stress relief for me.