Workflow for ripping large CD collections

[marcellevi]

kwatson703 said:


I tried to "dummy-proof" my process by deleting all the mp3 files first, before modifying the flac files.* Then I ran the mirror process and then tried to access them from the other computer.


I was gonna suggest that. *Let us know if it works out.

*

Marcel

[kwatson703]

Well, it didn't.* I tried ripping an album in Windows with the Windows Media Player, and then copying the results to vortexbox/files/music/mp3, and that worked perfectly.* All the tags are correct, cover art in place, and it's identified by all the Windows machines in the house.*

Next experiment will be to use EAC on Windows to do the same to a flac file.*

I may just use vortexbox for storage, but not for ripping.

What are others doing?

[Ron Olsen]

kwatson703 said:


Well, it didn't.* I tried ripping an album in Windows with the Windows Media Player, and then copying the results to vortexbox/files/music/mp3, and that worked perfectly.* All the tags are correct, cover art in place, and it's identified by all the Windows machines in the house.*

Next experiment will be to use EAC on Windows to do the same to a flac file.*

I may just use vortexbox for storage, but not for ripping.

What are others doing?


I rip CDs on VortexBox, mirror them to mp3, then add the mirrored mp3s to the iTunes library on my Mac Pro. *Works great.

Have you checked the VortexBox-mirrored mp3s with mp3tag? Until you do this, you can't blame VortexBox for your problems with programs running on your Windows PC.

Note that VortexBox uses ID3v2.3 tags in the mirrored mp3 files; is that what your Windows programs expect? Make sure your Windows programs are configured to allow ID3v2.3 tags, and not just ID3v2.4 tags.

I also suggest trying another media player on Windows, like foobar2000, and see if it can play the mirrored mp3 files from your VortexBox. *foobar2000 on Windows 7 works fine playing the mp3 files mirrored by VortexBox on my network. All mp3 tags are as they should be, and are seen by foobar2000.

http://www.foobar2000.org

[kwatson703]

I've tried editing VB-mirrored mp3 files, but my mp3tag can't see them.* It can only see the flac files.* Is there a trick I'm missing?

*

Thanks for the tips. I'll try all this.* I also want to be mindful of not hijacking this thread.* I'll start a new one if the topic strays far beyond the workflow for ripping.

[Ron Olsen]

Point mp3tag at \VORTEXBOXfilesmusicmp3 ...

Works for me.

[kwatson703]

Okay, I think I am confused by the OP's process.* It seems that marcellevi applies mp3tag edits to flac files, and then runs mp3 mirroring in batches.* You are saying make the mp3 files first, then run mp3tag against them.* Is that right?

[Ron Olsen]

kwatson703 said:


Okay, I think I am confused by the OP's process.* It seems that marcellevi applies mp3tag edits to flac files, and then runs mp3 mirroring in batches.* You are saying make the mp3 files first, then run mp3tag against them.* Is that right?


1. Rip the CD to FLAC using the VB Auto Ripper.

2. Examine the FLAC tags with mp3tag to make sure they are what you want.

Edit the tags as needed to get them perfect.

3. Also make sure the cover art is what you want, and stored in cover.jpg in the FLAC album directory.

4. Once you have the FLAC tags and cover art correct, then mirror the FLAC files to mp3 using the VB FLAC mirror.

5. When the mirror completes, the mp3 files are available for use by programs running on a Windows PC or a Mac.

6. You can double-check the mirrored mp3 tags with mp3tag or Windows Explorer on a Windows PC.

[marcellevi]

That is very strange indeed. *You indicated you ran a full FLAC-MP3 Mirror earlier to-day, yet the resulting MP3 files were not readable by either mp3tag or Windows Media Player. *Are the files visible in Windows Explorer?

*

In general, you should never edit the MP3 files - they are just a "mirror"/"slave" to the FLAC files, which are the master. *Any changes you make to an MP3 file's ID3 tags will be over-written on the next Mirror session.

*

I guess it's possible that the FLAC-MP3 transcoder, lame, is somehow corrupted. *Next, I suggest deleting all the MP3 files again (in Windows Explorer or using the rm command in Linux after logging in to the VBA). *Then, upgrade the VB software (start upgrade button on the Upgrade GUI screen - the one w/ the cardboard box icon), reboot, and start another Mirror session.

Marcel

[kwatson703]

Okay, back to the drawing board.* To bed, and I'll be at this again tomorrow.

Thanks, both of you.

[Ron Olsen]

Just tested Windows Media Player 12 — it works fine with mp3 files mirrored by VortexBox. Plays fine, and all tags are fine.

Are you using an earlier version of Windows Media Player? If so, upgrade to version 12 if you are running Windows 7.

Point WMP at Network > VORTEXBOX > music > mp3 > … for playback.