Great work to get started, to learn about ripping and metadata, then to get your first local streaming up and running on your Atom. Huge step, don’t forget to relish that experience even though you have already identified the next things you’d like to learn!
How did it sound? Are you happy with the most important part of the experience? If so, keep experimenting and learning, a handful of CDs at a time.
As ChrisSU says, the folder structure has limited utility when playing: the search and list functionality on the server is all derived from the metadata rather than the physical path. Often the ripper is preconfigured to put things into a folder structure based on the “artist” and “album” tags, such as x:/RollingStones/OutOfOurHeads or whatever. Personally, I have an even “flatter” folder hierarchy, with every album (or set) sitting directly in my /music folder… doesn’t matter, I almost never use “folder” view (although MinimServer offers this option, and many like and prefer it).
So, test ripping session number two is to understand how dBPowerAmp (apologies for saying the wrong app name before, I use XLD or EAC!) creates the directory and file naming rules. Maybe just go with the defaults for your same 5 test CDs, try that, and then edit the rules to get something you prefer for a third ripping cycle if you think you want to go that way or can’t live with the defaults.
Album art is a bit tricky, and sometimes does not get embedded in or read from the metadata… so here is a spot where knowing the file folder structure is important (as you add a .jpg alongside the .flac files) as well as the characteristics of the server (since the file name is usually fairly specific, such as folder.jpg or cover.jpg or the like). This is one place where it can look as if the two apps are fighting each other - especially if the ripper embeds the .jpg in the .flac metadata, but the server is looking for a separate folder.jpg file or whatever.
Multi-disc sets are also a tricky thing, so it’s good you are encountering that early. Again, something to master in Asset: there will be a tick box of some sort for “multi disc”, and spaces for “disc number” (increasing for each disc in the set) and “total number” (constant for all, and equal to the count). I don’t know what the screen actually shows in Asset, but as you are ripping through the set you should see some indication that you are on “disc 2 of 5”, or whatever; this gets built into the metadata for each track, and is often added to the file name to help with less sophisticated servers that, for example, play in alphabetical order.
I’m only slightly surprised that the automatic metadata looked up for you and used to pre-fill the tags before starting the tip let you down here; this is an area to watch and adjust as you go through your collection. Last things I ripped were box sets - Kate Bush remasters and Tangerine Dream iirc. I noticed (esp for Kate Bush) that the default metadata corresponded to the original release, but I chose to edit in such a way that the “Album” was the Box Set name, I gave an appropriate “disc number” and “disc title” and used the box set artwork to have it show up as a collection (I don’t think I bothered with track-specific artwork for while it is playing… but you can drill as deeply as you wish once you get into it) It’s cool. But it’s manual… and I tried the default first then adjusted to meet my own preferences.
Similarly, the whole “Various Artists” issue is something to work out early, as the default tag may have only “Artist” or “”Album Artist”, and you will want to settle on your convention for specifying the track artist or the sort artist or whatever… best way to learn here would be to just add a collection to your test group of five CDs and see what happens, and watch for where you edit tags to get things looking the way you want before heading off to the races.
Good luck, keep going, practice and learn to use the tools you’ve chosen to achieve the results you want and expect. Have a little celebration that your very first attempt worked so well that you already have a learning plan. And remember that re-doing the test group a few times to learn, understand, and develop your longer term workflow was always your intention… this is going exactly according to your master plan, so keep going!
Regards, alan