Do you mean a folder for each album containing the individual album tracks or a single track for the whole album?
What format are the file/files in (WAV, FLAC, MP3 etc.)?
What metadata do your files have? (or not have?).
Does your Naim app allow you to select by Artist, AlbumArtist, Album or Composer?
Thank you for your advice. The Naim app allows selection by composer, artist etc, but the metadata between record labels is very inconsistent. The app also only allows for one tag per album when in an ideal world I would like to add several categories. Very often an album may contain the works of two different composers.
At the moment I use the method you describe in 3 above. This works well and fulfils all my requirements. The problem is that I cannot edit the data of downloaded albums. From reading everyones suggestions it seems that I need a piece of software that will allow me to edit the metadata before I add it to my HDX. I will pursue this route!
You can edit it in situ in the HDX downloads folder. You don’t need to do it before uploading to the HDX. Basically the HDX downloads folder is just a location for the files.
I do something similar, but I use the Artist field. I join the name of the composer to the name of the principal artist (e.g. soloist, conductor). Some of this goes back to my early iPod and my pre iTunes for Windows ripping and tagging software.
One nice thing is that JRiver has an expression language, so I can modify multiple tracks at once. If I want to add the composer’s name to the beginning of the artist track I can enter =[Composer] [Artist] in every case.
I have yet to find a completely satisfactory tagging convention for classical.
Yes the problem is partly if you do add tags for Conductor, Soloist etc. they are not visible or usable.
Another issue is that an physical album or download often contains several different works. I create discrete albums for each one by modifying the Album tag.
With multi-composer albums I use the same album title but different composite artist names, e.g. “Dvorak Reiner” and “Smetana Reiner” if works by the two composers are on the same disk. Generally I search by Genre/Album Artist/Album. LMS then allows me to dig further through the metadata to “reconstruct” the album. Alas, the recently added Twonky does not.
In the case of multi-composers (instead of multi-works, I would again create two or more albums. Some multi-work albums have resulted in as many as 10 albums.
This is part of the problem.
Firstly you have the metadata itself, then the server app (that uses the metadata), and finally the control app (that uses and displays or not the metadata).
You get different results based upon the components used.
Streaming can be very simple, it’s the users that make it complicated. 
I’ve been streaming from a Nas for 10 years. I can’t actuall recall modifying any metadata. (apart from a few records I’ve digitised).
Using the naim app I can go to albums, then search the composer name I want to listen too. Haydn brings up 22 albums.
If I go to composers, then search the composer name I want to listen too. Haydn only brings up 2 albums. And they are the same album. 
If I search hogwood in albums, it brings up the same album as in the haydn search.
Might not suit the purist or OCD. But it works for me. 
Generally speaking, if there are more than three composers on a physical disc my album artist field becomes e.g. “Piano Rubinstein.” The composer’s name goes into the track title as well as in the Composer field.
These days, especially with 80 minute discs, I listen to works, not albums.
All in all, my system reflects adjustments being made for one reason or another over 17 years.
Thanks for your explanation of “tags”. I was hoping for a simple solution to what I thought was a simple problem, but the answer seems to get more complicated all the time.
I downloaded Mp3tag and changed the metadata of new downloaded albums to reflect the system I already use. When I drag the new file into the downloads folder of my HDX it overwrites the old file but does not recognise the new metadata. I’ve never been comfortable using tags, but maybe I should persevere and try to make it work!
Thank you. It’s the easiest solution so far and although not what I initially wanted to achieve, it may well be what I end up using. I’ll give it a try!
Thank you. Like you I prefer to listen to works, not albums but that highlights another problem I have. An album may have two concertos each of three movements. If I want two play only the three movements in the first concerto I select the first track and then queue the second track to follow. I have not yet discovered how to queue the third track to follow the second! It’s one frustrating problem after another.
Also you can drag tracks in the play queue to change the order, as well as adding or deleting them, so it should always be possible to create the queue you want.
That’s where Minimserver’s Group tag is so useful. In a situation like that the server will present the album with the two concertos listed. You can then play just one of the concertos or tap it and the individual movements will appear. Useful if you only want to listen to some of the movements. You can also opt to play the whole album if that’s preferred.
Roger
music tag editor
Thank you to everyone who has offered help and advice. I’ve been able to find a solution to my original problem, plus answers to one or two problems finding my way around the n-Serve app. It’s been a rewarding exercise, but also frustrating at times. Incidentally, will Naim ever update their app to iron out some of the bugs?
The HDX and UnitiServe are unlikely to ever be improved, and not is the nServe app. It’s a case of making do or moving on I suspect.
I have created a topic about the way in which I approached classic music presentation.
(required lots of metadata editing which I know you do not like) but end results were very successful.
see Changing metadata to improve Classical Music presentation - Streaming Audio - Naim Audio - Community
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