[sts9fan]

So I really suck at using computers. I have stumbled my way through setting up my dedicated music server by putting in a HD and setting up the wireless network.(these were stressful tasks for me) My SB3 is now playing music. I had a few FLAC files on my computer already and one it seems is tagged correctly because it has all the info. the others just run together with no info but track name. So the folder the files are in does not do anything? Can some kind soul tell me how to get my tracks in order and add the album/artist?? I downloaded that Monkey's Media but that confused me more.
Thanks for your help!!

[jermmd]

Under EAC options, Filename, I recommend:
1. %A-%C\%N-%T in the naming scheme box
2. check the "Use various artist naming scheme" box
3. %C\%N-%A-%T in the use various artist box.

When you load a CD for burning, press Alt+G to automatically download all the track info and I recommend limiting Genres to maybe only 6 possibilities rather than everything they have listed. You will have to manually edit the Genre info at times for this purpose and it is very easy. This way, bands like the Rolling Stones won't be listed under various Genres depending on the album. On my Squeezebox, The Stones are listed under blues, Rock, Classic Rock, etc and it's a pain in the a**.

Hope this helps.

[sts9fan]

So there is no need to tag after I conver to FLAC? EAC does all the work??

[jonwb]

So there is no need to tag after I conver to FLAC? EAC does all the work??

Yep, EAC will get that info from freedb after you enable that feature by providing your e-mail adress (done w/in EAC).  

The only thing I do manually (aside from fixing the Genre as has been suggested) is create the artist and album sub-directories in which the compressed (FLAC) files will be saved.  Hell maybe it'll do that automatically too, but I don't mind.

Don't think you're the only one to be scratching your head trying to get this setup.  It had be boggled for a bit.  AC member jakepunk created a nice FAQ that might be handy for you (here).  The good news is, once all the settings are correct its easy to load in new music.

[zybar]

Yep, EAC will get that info from freedb after you enable that feature by providing your e-mail adress (done w/in EAC).  

The only thing I do manually (aside from fixing the Genre as has been suggested) is create the artist and album sub-directories in which the compressed (FLAC) files will be saved.  Hell maybe it'll do that automatically too, but I don't mind.

Don't think you're the only one to be scratching your head trying to get this setup.  It had be boggled for a bit.  AC member jakepunk  ...

Just check what freedb says before starting to rip your cd.  

I have found a lot of errors in the database that will impact things in a negative fashion.  

George

[sts9fan]

Now how do I tag stuff in Monkey media? how do I effect the actual FLAC file. I pull up the songs and change stuff but it is not refected if I look directly in the folder or in slim server. I really having a hard time with this. I downloaded my first disk yesterday parts look ok but the tracks are coming up in out of order.
Now when I am going through slimserver werid stuff is happening. When I look at the one album each time I go back there are less and less songs.

[jonwb]

Now how do I tag stuff in Monkey media?

For FLAC file creation, most here are using EAC, so it may be tough finding much help with Monkey.  Did you try EAC?

[sts9fan]

i am ripping with EAC and encoding with FLAC Frontend.

Do you have to tell slimserver to look for new stuff? Is there lag time?

[sts9fan]

ok I figured out now that I can "browse music flder" and find everything. Artists and albums are still all screwy though.

[Hoots]

Setup EAC following the FLAC setup guide listed on they Hydrogenaudio forum...do a search.   This will rip to flac files in a directory structure of artist/album/#-name.flac  (or any way you want).  

The album directory structure is important for FLAC because FLAC can't tag the album cover art. It uses folder.jpg.

EAC will use freedb but it only populates a few tags.   I use TAG&RENAME or MEDIA MONKEY (or HELIUM) to tag with more info.  Primarily album art and album review in the comment tag.  I also use the BAND tag for sorting (ie I sort bands like DUKES OF STRATOSPHERE as XTC but display them as DUKES....).

TAG&RENAME is good for renaming the files...ie those called track01.  

Both Tag&Rename pull info from Amazon.   Make sure you have the tracks aligned to the song tags...Tag&Rename is good for when you only have a subset of songs from an album.

[Hoots]

My process:

1> Rip with EAC into artist/album/#-name.flac format.   EAC tags using feedb.

2>Add album art, BAND, and album review tags using TAG&RENAME drawing data from Amazon.com.

3>If art or reviews are missing from Amazon then I manually tag using TAG&RENAME copying info from allmusic.com(or deeper searches for art from internet like band discographies).

Player front end is MEEDIO.  I also use FOOBAR2000 for transcoding for ipod use and audio CD burning transcoding on the fly from flac.

[Eli]

So there is no need to tag after I conver to FLAC? EAC does all the work??

I find that the tagging EAC can do directly by passing parameters to FLAC (or other encoders) is far from what you'll want for SlimServer.

I use Mp3tag to manually add tags to all albums after I've ripped and encoded the CD.  You may want to add ARISTSORT, ALBUMSORT, addtional ARTIST tags, ALBUMARTIST (BAND), or the COMPILATION tag.  There will undoubtedly be additional tags used as SlimServer evolves that will have you wanting to modify your tags.

[sts9fan]

i think it is rediculous that this thing does not come with an easy to use tagger. it would really make things MUCH easier on computer dunces like myself.

i have pretty much decided that Browse Folder s the only way I will be able to do this. I will just have my folders well organized.

[andy_c]

i have pretty much decided that Browse Folder s the only way I will be able to do this. I will just have my folders well organized.

After you re-tag your files, SlimServer does not automatically pick up the tag changes.  It's probably this way for efficiency reasons.  After re-tagging, do the following.  In SlimServer under "Settings" on the left, click "Server Settings".  Then scroll down the page until you see "Rescan Music Library" on the left.  In the combo box, make sure "Look for new and changed music" is selected.  Then click the "Rescan" button.  If you've moved files into different folders in addition to re-tagging, you'll probably need to choose "Clear library and re-scan everything" so it will find the new info.  This is much slower than the "look for new..." option.  Once SlimServer re-scans, sorting by artist, etc. should work correctly again.

For instructions on how to set up EAC for automatic tagging with FLAC, see this page.  Step 8, "Configure EAC compression options", is where you want to look.