View Full Version : Tips and Hints for a Newbie?
Purchased SB3 about 3 weeks ago and have been enjoying tremendously!!
I am not that techinical so forgive me if I am missing something - but I am trying to create playlist within the server software and cannot seem to easily do that - any hints?
Also - it appears some people are using I-Tunes for feeding music to their SB - is this true and if so how? I really like the server interface in terms of stability- but functionality is limited as far as I can tell (again I am not that technical)
Thanks for any hints and tips
I don't use iTunes, but as far as I know its use is in organising material - for instance, it would be extremely easy to create a playlist in iTunes.
And then one is not using iTunes to feed music to the Sb, as you thought, but rather using the Itunes playlists, library, etc, within SlimServer.
What extra functionality would you like? If you make suggestions we can reply with "already exists - do this", "planned for next upgrade", "not likely to be implemented", "please create a feature request", or whatever is appropriate.
Purchased SB3 about 3 weeks ago and have been enjoying tremendously!!
I am not that techinical so forgive me if I am missing something - but I am trying to create playlist within the server software and cannot seem to easily do that - any hints?
Also - it appears some people are using I-Tunes for feeding music to their SB - is this true and if so how? I really like the server interface in terms of stability- but functionality is limited as far as I can tell (again I am not that technical)
Thanks for any hints and tips
Creating playlists isn't really a strong point of the slimserver software, although it is possible. The trick is to realise that you can't create a playlist independently of a player: what you have to do is queue up the list of songs you want to your player, adjust as required (moving items up and down the list, for example): then, when you have it the way you want it, you can "download" the current playlist (link near the top of the right hand browser pane).
If you want a more graphical, drag-and-drop, type of interface you might want to use something else like MusicMagicMixer - or iTunes.
For a description of what you can do with iTunes, have a look at http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?BeginnersGuideToiTunes
HTH
Ceejay
Thank you for the replies-
So as a non-technical - If I have my music in FLAC format - I-Tunes will recognize? just won't be able to play? - Will all of the relavent information be present from Tags? (ie artist name, album, song, track number, etc?)
As far as additional features - easier playlist creation would be great - ability to edit tags within the server interface - larger text for "now playing" - sorting features in the playlist
Thank you for the replies-
So as a non-technical - If I have my music in FLAC format - I-Tunes will recognize? just won't be able to play? - Will all of the relavent information be present from Tags? (ie artist name, album, song, track number, etc?)
As far as additional features - easier playlist creation would be great - ability to edit tags within the server interface - larger text for "now playing" - sorting features in the playlist
Sorry, no, iTunes will not have anything to do with a FLAC file. If its just playlist creation you want then I would recommend MusicMagicMixer (there's actually a new version out with, confusingly, a completely different name, search out the threads on this).
For enhancement requests you can visit http://bugs.slimdevices.com/ and see what's already been logged. If you create an ID for yourself (its not the same as your ID for these forums) you can vote for existing requests or even create a new one (but do have a good search first to avoid duplication).
Editing tags has been raised here before, I think the main response has been along the lines that there are already plenty of good taggers, why try to make another one?
And if you don't like the appearance do try some of the other skins.
Regards
Ceejay
I think you can already do a couple of the things you mention - but possibly not in the precise way you mean:
Sorting features in the playlist - do you mean changing the order of the players menus ? Web interface / Player Settings / Menu - you can add and reorder items in the top level menu of the SB
Or do you mean changing the order of songs in a playlist ? Again, when you go into the playlist you via the web interface, you can do this with the up and down arrows
Larger text for "now playing" - click the Size button on the remote to scroll through the available size of fonts, but there's isn't an abiilty to have different sized fonts for just one type of display (which I think is what you mean) ?
A second vote for MusicMagicMixer (now MusicIP) for creating playlists.
Ceejay/Siduhe
Found it, downloaded and installed and it appears that it cannot read the tags for my FLAC files? Any thoughts or suggestions?
Pale Blue Ego
2006-03-20, 20:24
If you're using Windows, try Michael Herger's SlimRemote desktop software. It makes creating and tuning playlists a lot easier than the web interface.
http://www.herger.net/slim/detail.php?nr=912
> If you're using Windows, try Michael Herger's SlimRemote desktop
Hey, not only if you're using Windows! It's running fine on Linux, too.
And don't forget my Zaurus, and those PocketPCs. Did I mention somebody
managed to run it on MacOS X? ;-)
> software. It makes creating and tuning playlists a lot easier than the
> web interface.
Hmm... tuning?
--
Michael
-----------------------------------------------------------
Help translate SlimServer by using the
SlimString Translation Helper (http://www.herger.net/slim/)
Ceejay/Siduhe
Found it, downloaded and installed and it appears that it cannot read the tags for my FLAC files? Any thoughts or suggestions?
Puzzling. I have MusicIP 1.6b2 and it reads FLAC tags fine - as did the previous versions.
How did you create and tag the FLAC files? Have you verified that the tags are really there, using a tagger such as mp3tag?
Ceejay
Ditto my FLAC files - it reads the tags just fine. I use Audiograbber with the FLAC external encoder to rip and tag my files, then run them through MusicBrainz, and they show up at both stages in MusicIP.
As Ceejay says, try downloading a tag program with a free trial (like mp3tag [the version with lowercase, not MP3Tag] or Tag & Rename). Can you see the FLAC tags in that ?
I am using Exact Audio Copy for ripping and dBpowerAMP for conversion. It has a tagger, I left it on the default tagger - All of the music seems to have tags on it - I will try one of the checkers - perhaps the tags dBpower by default cannot be read by other programs - although the Slim Devices interface seems to be able to read them - When looking by artist, genre, album, etc everything is in the correct place
I am using Exact Audio Copy for ripping and dBpowerAMP for conversion. It has a tagger, I left it on the default tagger - All of the music seems to have tags on it - I will try one of the checkers - perhaps the tags dBpower by default cannot be read by other programs - although the Slim Devices interface seems to be able to read them - When looking by artist, genre, album, etc everything is in the correct place
When you say you're using EAC for ripping and DBpowerAMP for conversion, do you mean you've copied the relevant DBpowerAMP Accurate rip codec into EAC and are running everything through EAC ? Or are you running the files through two seperate software processes ? First EAC then DBpowerAMP ? This could be the source of the problem.
As a "non-audiophile" my 0.02 would be this: If you're going to use EAC to rip to FLAC then follow the instructions here (http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?EACInstall) to the letter. Should only require you to run one process - through EAC.
However, you can use the FLAC encoder with other ripping programs which are a bit easier to set up. They do not provide the same super-exact rip as EAC but they may provide a perfectly adequate one for your purposes.
I mostly use Audiograbber. It's freeware and you can select an external encoder (you need to install Audiograbber, copy LAME and FLAC encoders to the same directory as Audiograbber, fire it up, select External Encoder and point it at FLAC.exe, and away you go). It's quicker and easier than EAC and I can't tell the difference in sound (my system's not up to it). I've also never had a problem with the tags it produces.
HTH
I've just seen another post from a fairly new SB owner, which seems to assume that using EAC is the only way to rip FLAC files. For the reasons explained above, it's not. Do people think that it would be worth adding a bit to the wiki on this ?
From looking at the structure, it would probably need a new page "Ripping to FLAC" which would be a link from "BeginnersGuidetoRipping" and "FLAC", and would explain that FLAC is an external encoder which can be used with a variety of programs, link to the existing [and excellent] EAC Install instructions for the best possible quality rip, and explain how to do it with other ripping programs like Audiograbber. I'm happy to have a first crack, but only if people think it's worthwhile.
What other ripping programs support external encoders ?
[Edited to say, I know that some of this is covered in passing in Ceejay's Beginners Guide to Ripping - thanks - my point was more would something seperate on ways to rip to FLAC be helpful so that people don't just default to EAC ? It was really just a thought.]
From looking at the structure, it would probably need a new page "Ripping to FLAC" which would be a link from "BeginnersGuidetoRipping" and "FLAC", and would explain that FLAC is an external encoder which can be used with a variety of programs, link to the existing [and excellent] EAC Install instructions for the best possible quality rip, and explain how to do it with other ripping programs like Audiograbber. I'm happy to have a first crack, but only if people think it's worthwhile.
What other ripping programs support external encoders ?
Hi Siduhe
I'm sure you're right, there is more we could do here. My first thought is that since you're a fan of Audiograbber, why don't you add a section in the BeginnersGuideToRipping, where it is conspicuously absent? (As is WMP, but that's another story).
But, going beyond that, an article on the various options of ripping to FLAC, specifically, could easily fit in as you've described. The trick - which I have to admit I evaded - will be to give a balanced view of the alternatives in a field where people have strong opinions!
One other way to do this would be to give a little more detail in the BeginnersGuideToRipping, as some people have started to do, on how exactly you can rip to FLAC with each tool in turn.
Ceejay
Good idea - I'll add something to the wiki on Audiograbber. I may even have a thick enough skin to try and write something seperate (and neutral) on ways to rip to FLAC. ;-)
Siduhe - I am using EAC as the ripper than I have it set up to automatically open DBpowerAMP - then I choose the file to convert. The file that is ready for compression into FLAC is always named as a short series of numbers and letters. Once that is converted, I repeat for each track
I set this up by going into EAC compression options and in the external compression tab, putting the DBpowerAMP.exe filepath into appropriate place. It seems to work, although would be happy to try alternative, as this was the only way I was able to get it to work after several other setups.
Forgot to add - any instructions about ripping would be GREAT - there are so many options it is hard to decipher what is the easiet, best way. Obviously opivions differ, but they all have certain benefits
I choose EAC as I heard it was the best at error correction - which gives you the best file integrity for lossless compression
I don't consider myself an audiophile, but I can hear the difference between lossless and lossy, so I figured if EAC provided a better base, in the long run I would be happier - It takes a little more time - but to me it is worthwhile
Forgot to add - any instructions about ripping would be GREAT - there are so many options it is hard to decipher what is the easiet, best way. Obviously opivions differ, but they all have certain benefits
I choose EAC as I heard it was the best at error correction - which gives you the best file integrity for lossless compression
I don't consider myself an audiophile, but I can hear the difference between lossless and lossy, so I figured if EAC provided a better base, in the long run I would be happier - It takes a little more time - but to me it is worthwhile
Ah - got you. So you are just ripping via one process but using DBPoweramp as your external encoder. Any reason not to use FLAC directly ? So input C:/Program Files/FLAC/flac.exe as at item 23 in the excellent EAC instructions ?
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?EACInstall
Back to your tag issue, have you got the tag settings exactly as the Additional Command Line options on that same item 23 (just below the grey box) ?
Siduhe
Thanks for the link - just reset up EAC and what a difference - this just proves my technical prowess! For whatever reason never even saw that before - had followed instructions from the EAC website - which were frustrated and ended up with me experimenting until I found something that worked
It may not seem like alot - but that link was very helpful - again thanks - what a difference
Also, to whowever took the time to right that all out - thank you
Ripping is fixed now time to work on the Tags - after testing some newly ripped files in Music IP, I can say old tags are not set up correctly, but the information is there - perhaps in ID3 tags? any suggestions?
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