Best software to create playlists (m3u files)

[Steeve]

Any recommendations for Windows software to create m3u playlist files?

I have used Playlist Creator which is ok but have a slight issue with it. Just wondered if there was anything better.

Thanks

[robert_h]

Hi, mp3tag works well; despite the name it handles more than just MP3 format files. It’s pretty good for any meta data changes you need to do, and can write out playlists in a few formats including m3u.

[Steeve]

Thanks. Just tried it out. Definitely an improvement in picking up different metadata types. Playlist Creator couldn’t recognise WAV files from HD Tracks. (I know I could have whizzed them through dbPoweramp Convertor to change them.)

Slightly restrictive though in that you appear to only be able to create them with the tracks in the order they appear in your library list. You can sort this by one of the tags but you can’t have them in any order you want, other than going in and manually editing the file.

[Steeve]

Have also tried J River Media Centre which is very swanky although will cost me $59 after 30 days.

This seemed to work very well although it´s thrown up another issue in the way either asset uPnP or, more likely, the Naim app seems to read these files.

Examples:
I created two playlists with Playlist Creator. The software was configured to display Artist and Title. As explained above, on some tracks it failed to read the metadata so this wasn’t written into the file and logically not displayed. However, deleting and reinstalling the Naim app resulted in one playlist then displaying all artists and titles plus the cover art. The other playlist remained unchanged. There were no obvious differences looking at the two m3u files in Notepad.

I recreated one playlist wirh mp3tag. It found all the metadata correctly but just displayed Artist and Title with no cover art. (I didn’t test reinstalling the app at this point.)

I then recreated the same playlist with J River Media Centre. This initially displayed the playlist as though it was one of the albums, namely the header was one of the Album Titles rather than the Playlist name and it also displayed the cover art of that album above all the playlist tracks. It then also showed playlist track numbers against each track - effectively like the normal uPnP Naim app format for an album. At this point, I uninstalled the app once again and reinstalled it. The display then changed to the same format as the other playlist - my preferred format for sure - with the playlist title at the top and a list of artists and titles with their correct cover art. The same as it would be in a TIDAL playlist in fact.

Very strange and if I have the time and the inclination I will do some more complete and controlled tests but at the moment I have the two playlists exactly how I want them!

[robert_h]

Hi, I use jriver MC 24 at home for library management/ cd ripping, and as a media server to my unitiqute. It’s very good software, and I’ve used it and upgraded each time since I think mc17 (has it been that long already).
Sometimes mp3tag is preferable for a quick hit, particularly when dealing with 1 album of tracks in 1 folder, just depends on your need.
I’d certainly recommend jriver if you need good library control and oversight. I run it on Linux and windows with a master licence (slightly cheaper than buying 2 versions) and both are very stable. In fact I have mc24 running 24/7 on my main Linux-based server at home. It even serves over the internet to my iPad so I use it at work sometimes into the muso in the office.

[Steeve]

Thanks for the info. I’m just looking for something to make reliable m3u playlists without having to add extra manual effort. J River is obviously good but overkill for what I need.

I’ll continue searching…

[robert_h]

Maybe try foobar2000, that can also create playlist files as well as being a media player, format converter, outputs cue files etc.

[Steeve]

Spookily I just tried that. Works perfectly first time without having to reset/reload anything.

Looking at the file in Notepad I noticed it has just created a simple m3u file rather that an extended one - so it doesn’t have any of the lines beginning with ‘#’ simply one line for each file destination path. And the Naim app and/or Asset has loaded the Artist, Title and Cover Art metadata perfectly.

Thanks for the taking the time to reply anyhow!