Digital Music Cataloguing/Management

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tornredcarpet · #1 Post by **tornredcarpet** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:07 pm

what do you use for a music cataloging/management software?

Jriver media center used to be it for me but it started locking up all the time despite my very best efforts and I was very upset. They returned my money so I guess that was very nice, but that still leaves me without particularly good software.
Right now I'm using foobar2000, and I've been trying out Jajuk but none of them seem as simple as Jriver did. =(

SoundInMotionDJ · #2 Post by **SoundInMotionDJ** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:39 am

For years, I used a bits and pieces solution, with dedicated tools for ripping & converting, and other tools for tagging, and still other tools for organizing, and even more tools for playing.

Now I use MediaMonkey for everything (except actually DJing). Ripping, converting, tagging, organizing, and listening at my desk.

With some plugins that you can get from the MM forum, finding dups and getting those cleaned up is relatively straight forward.

Summer Solstice Girl · #3 Post by **Summer Solstice Girl** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 11:46 am

SoundInMotionDJ wrote: Now I use MediaMonkey for everything (except actually DJing). Ripping, converting, tagging, organizing, and listening at my desk.

I know that's off topic but what do you use for DJing?

With some plugins that you can get from the MM forum, finding dups and getting those cleaned up is relatively straight forward.

is there any software that one can actually use as is? I am not very good with computers and all this thing about pluggins and stuff is very difficult for me. OK, to be realistic, if just downloading a plugin will do, then I am ok with it. But I don't even know what a dup is?

Surreal · #4 Post by **Surreal** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:14 pm

dup = duplicates

For most people, using itunes is sufficient for organizing and playing music. For those who like a little more control over our libraries, the most popular choices (that I've encountered) seem to be: jriver media center, mediamonkey, and foobar2000.

SoundInMotionDJ · #5 Post by **SoundInMotionDJ** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 8:18 pm

Summer Solstice Girl wrote:
SoundInMotionDJ wrote: Now I use MediaMonkey for everything (except actually DJing). Ripping, converting, tagging, organizing, and listening at my desk.
I know that's off topic but what do you use for DJing?

I use BPM Studio. I do not recommend it. The upgrades and bug fixes have been "nearly done" for well over 5 years. 8 years ago, BPM Studio was miles (sorry, kilometers...it's German software) ahead of anything else on the market. Today, not so much.

At this point, I'm seriously looking at OTSAv as an upgrade for my work. OTS has the bst auto gain control that I have seen, and overall is reasonably balanced for the other features that I care about.

Summer Solstice Girl wrote:
With some plugins that you can get from the MM forum, finding dups and getting those cleaned up is relatively straight forward.
is there any software that one can actually use as is? I am not very good with computers and all this thing about pluggins and stuff is very difficult for me. OK, to be realistic, if just downloading a plugin will do, then I am ok with it. But I don't even know what a dup is?

Media Monkey is very close out of the box. The plugins are straightforward to install and use. The plugins make the process of finding and (automatically) getting rid of duplicate songs easier than the built in tools for the same function. The plugins are tools that users have written and make available for anyone to use.

tornredcarpet · #6 Post by **tornredcarpet** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:24 pm

can anyone tell me about the different "versions" of media monkey? is it worth the money to shell out for better versions?

SoundInMotionDJ · #7 Post by **SoundInMotionDJ** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:49 pm

tornredcarpet wrote:can anyone tell me about the different "versions" of media monkey? is it worth the money to shell out for better versions?

The basic version of MM includes a mp3 compressor that will expire after 30 days. You can download and install LAME and just use that...but you have to do that. The basic version only has one music collection - for most people that will not matter at all.

The Gold version includes an unlimited mp3 compressor (it's basically LAME that is bundled and does not expire). The multiple collection management is handy for me...but I have a lot more music that most people. The file monitor is handy - if you make changes to the music on the drive outside of MM, the changes are automatically picked up by MM.

Auto conversion when burning a playlist is also handy for me. I rip everything in FLAC, convert to WAV to edit, and convert to mp3 for my DJ system or mobile devices. Being able to burn disc without worrying about everything being the same file type is handy. If all your music is the same format, than you will not need this feature.

MM Gold also allows unlimited burn speeds...the free version limits burns to 4x. I self limit burns to 16x.

Overall, I think that MM is an awesome program, and I was happy to pay $20 for it. I think that the developers should be rewarded for putting out and maintaining a useful tool. So, even without the additional features, I would have sent them $20.

Summer Solstice Girl · #8 Post by **Summer Solstice Girl** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:20 pm

Surreal wrote:dup = duplicates

For most people, using itunes is sufficient for organizing and playing music. For those who like a little more control over our libraries, the most popular choices (that I've encountered) seem to be: jriver media center, mediamonkey, and foobar2000.

oh, ok. Thanks

Is there a previous thread I can go check about those so I don't ask here questions that have already been asked -and answered, somewhere else ? or can we discuss it in this thread?

I use iTunes but I am not a 100% satisfied by it. So what I would like to know is the pros and cons of each one of those (jriver media center, mediamonkey, and foobar2000). Just the thought of trying them all until I find one that I like is overwhelming for me

SoundInMotionDJ · #9 Post by **SoundInMotionDJ** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:28 pm

Summer Solstice Girl wrote:So what I would like to know is the pros and cons of each one of those (jriver media center, mediamonkey, and foobar2000). Just the thought of trying them all until I find one that I like is overwhelming for me

The capabilities of those three programs will be similar. If you had specific requirements for FLAC, or some other audio format, then that could force a decision. But, based on your goals, any of the three will likely fit the bill. You can search for the three different tools, and get a variety of opinions about each.

Ultimately, it might be easier and faster to download each of the programs as a trial, and see which one makes the most sense to you.

Surreal · #10 Post by **Surreal** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:09 pm

I do not recommend foobar2000 unless you really want to spend a lot of time figuring out stuff for yourself. It has the lightest memory footprint and is the most customizable of the three, but also has the highest learning curve.
http://www.foobar2000.org/

Personally, I like JRiver. It has a couple quirks that take getting used to though (mainly that the "playing now" playlist works a little differently from itunes). Their support comes entirely through their forums, which can be either good or bad.
Their main version (v.14) is here: http://www.jrmediacenter.com/
Their free version (v.12) is here: http://www.mediajukebox.com/
The only thing I find lacking in the free version is that you can't enable dual outputs, so you would have to use a separate program to cue/play to your secondary sound card.

Media monkey is more popular than JRiver from what I can tell and seems to have a larger support base. Their free version doesn't have as much functionality. You can download addons for extra utility though.
http://www.mediamonkey.com/

Summer Solstice Girl · #11 Post by **Summer Solstice Girl** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:44 pm

aaaaaaaaaah, this is gonna be so painful....

But! thanks so much for the advice. I shall start looking around....

PS: I don't even have a clue what FLAC is

SoundInMotionDJ · #12 Post by **SoundInMotionDJ** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:10 pm

Summer Solstice Girl wrote:PS: I don't even have a clue what FLAC is

FLAC is a lossless audio format that is smaller than WAV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Lossless_Audio_Codec

Summer Solstice Girl · #13 Post by **Summer Solstice Girl** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:32 am

oh, I see.

And what about winamp? I don't personally use it but a good number of DJs I know do use it.

SoundInMotionDJ · #14 Post by **SoundInMotionDJ** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:09 pm

Summer Solstice Girl wrote:oh, I see.

And what about winamp? I don't personally use it but a good number of DJs I know do use it.

MediaMonkey is a better player than winamp for casual listening at home or work.

IMO, neither is suitable for DJing...but both could probably be made to work in a pinch.

Surreal · #15 Post by **Surreal** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:27 am

I use JRiver to DJ. If I let someone else use my computer who doesn't know how my stuff works, I have them search/preview through JRiver, and drag and drop into VLC or Windows media player to play.