Does anyone know if the Naim Core multi volume CD issues have been fixed; ie where a CD album consists of 2, 3 or even 4 CD’s?
ATB, J
I wasn’t aware there was a problem - not one I have experienced. Is this something you have heard? - your profile is hidden so I don’t know whether you actually have a Core.
Don’t own the Core…. yet. I would prefer a Naim solution, however, reading the forum, I understood that multi CD album metadata wasn’t catalogued correctly and, more recently, some album metadata wasn’t being captured at all……?
I’d be most grateful to learn I am mistaken in this and that it’s just internet noise.
ATB, J
The issue of how multi cds, such as though from sets are dealt with, isn’t always a Naim issue.
You may have to edit, but the databases used for the Core need to have an exact match of the album which you are ripping. Often there are many different versions of the same set, (being more than one cd), hence why imo it can be tricky. Classical enthusiast report issue I think, more than other genres.
@davidhendon now has a Core iirc and previously a US, plus is I think a follower of classical music, given he was op on an excellent thread on Presto music (server).
Ah, the metadata issues! The thing is that they are not consistent and of course the issues around acquiring metadata are mostly not intrinsically to do with the Core itself. The data primarily comes from a source called Rovi although there are two backup sources (which can sometimes provide data that does not come via Rovi). I presume Naim has a contract of some kind with Rovi that allows the Core to connect to Rovi when a rip starts. So inadequacies across a multi-cd set are a reflection of problems with Rovi, etc. However, this is not a generalised issue. To give one example; I ripped a 5-CD Joni Mitchell Archive set the other day and it worked fine, identifying the 5 CDs correctly and providing details about each track - as you can imagine, each CD contains music from multiple archives. On the other hand I have multiple CD sets of live Grateful Dead CDs and most of these are not identified by Rovi, etc.
I have been surprised by some common CDs that have not been recognised by Naim’s metadata sources and have raised this with Naim, without much success.
Where a single CD is successfully ripped by the Core it is reasonably straightforward to key in the missing text using the Naim app (on an iPad in my case). Sometimes the metadata doesn’t provide the CD cover image and that can be copied form other sources (I use Discogs) and can be pasted in.
I also use an alternative method for complicated or multiple CD sets where the metadata is not available via the Core. Via the Naim app it is possible to monitor the rip so one can see very quickly if the metadata is not appearing. I have a MacBook and Apple Superdrive and ripping on the Mac uses Gracenote for acquiring metadata. This seems very reliable. The files appear in iTunes and can be drag/dropped onto the Core, which appears on the MacBook Finder (it will work similarly on Microsoft software.
As far as finding via the Naim app the CDs ripped on the MacBook is concerned, there is no difference to the ones ripped on the Core. So if you were to browse an artist, all their CDs would appear together whether ripped on Core or MacBook.
Very occasionally the Core will not rip a particular CD, but in every case I have been able to rip on the Mac - maybe because it has greater computing power?
I cannot hear any difference between the rips from the Core and the Mac.
I have no experience of other ripping software but have on occasion had to amend metadata on the Mac and that can sometimes be tricky with multiple CD sets.
It is also worth saying that the Core metadata software is not very sophisticated, especially in the case of managing classical performances where one might want more complex filing of information about conductors, performers, composers, etc. I have found this mildly frustrating but I don’t have a large classical collection.
Overall I am pleased that I have the Core, although through buying a graded product I got a significant discount. Although having to rip some CDs via the computer, once done everything is contained within the Core and simply available via the Naim app. To my mind this is preferable to having to play files from a computer based system, although of course a NAS is something different again. The Core will of course allow you to choose an internal disk, which is very easily fitted. I also have an external USB drive plugged into the back of the Core which backs up automatically. The Naim app of course links anything playing from the Core to the multi-room system - in my case a Muso.
I hope this is helpful, but will also invite @davidhendon who has much more experience than me and may well comment further.
Thx Clive, really useful.
ATB, J
I don’t have much to add to @sound-hound and @CliveB replies, which I agree with. In classical music sets you can get the really infuriating situation where exactly the same CD can appear in multiple sets and a favourite recording of, say, a Mahler symphony which has a particularly pleasing cover, can reappear when you rip a set as “The Greats - volume 11” or something else really unhelpful like that. Furthermore your original rip, metadata and cover art is now overwritten by the new rip, as the CD identity is the same.
I have had this happen many times.
Also as is well known and often complained about, the Core does not allow you to edit the composer or conductor field, which makes the utility of being able to search those fields of little value. Eg Mozart can be listed as Mozart; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus or any number of other variations. And of course a CD that has two or more composers may have almost anything listed in the composer field.
Anyway for all that, I like my Core and as I have said before, if someone stole it away in the night, I would immediately buy another one.
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Thx David 
.
ATB, J
Thanks all, will help me decide between a Core and Zen Mini.
ATB, J
Good luck with your decision. I thought about getting into Innuos and the Zen mini in particular but for me there were two particular issues, although I didn’t listen to or try the Innuos. The first was that I have a lot of CDs and favoured the Core option of choosing a drive for myself - manufacturer, type and capacity. (And with added benefit of being able to change it myself if it failed.) Secondly, I was unclear about whether the SQ of the Zen Mini would match the Core given that to improve SQ it seemed one needed to go up the Innuos ladder of servers. In comparison Naim seemed happy to use the Core right up through its hierarchy. It seems the Innuos app works well so that wasn’t an issue, although having an integrated Naim system was attractive.
Never had a problem with the Core on multiple cd albums. If by chance you do then rip it on your pc, do the metadata as you want it, and load it to the Downloads file on the Core.
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One could go to a particular ripped cd(‘s) and alter the “composer” and “artist” all under “edit meta data” in the Core. Make it meaningful to you or one that is offered most frequently for example.
I’ve done this numerous times.
You can’t alter composer, but you can alter artist.
Thanks
Also, how are the so called “better rippers” able to decide on a single composer on multi classical collections?
They will just use whatever metadata they get from the online lookup service they interrogate. Obviously if that doesn’t make sense to you, you would just edit it to suit yourself in any normal ripper.
To work around the fact that the Core doesn’t allow you to do this, move the rip from the MQ folder to the Downloads folder and use any regular metadata editor to make the changes.
Except that you can’t move it from MQ to Downloads because the MQ folder locked and anyway you break the indexing if you manage to move it.
So what you have to do is copy the album from MQ to Downloads and then use the Naim app to delete the copy in MQ.
(And actually if you do break the indexing, you can reindex via the app. But this isn’t instantaneous and it can take a while if you have thousands of albums!)
OK thanks. So then I take it that the Core’s search capability is on a par with other rippers?
Also, do the Melco’s and Zen’s have the direct editing capabilities that you mentioned? Do they have similar issues?
For myself, on certain albums I’m ok with making use of altering the Album’s and/or Artist’s field’s (to what makes sense for me) in the Core’s Edit Meta Data field. I can search from there.
Is there a way to prevent The Core from overwriting a set of say classical CDs. I entered a 10 CD classical set and it erased everyone of them as I would input the next one in sequence. Can you alter the title or artist a bit to “trick” it. Or something?
Album title, simply add your choice #1 / cd1 / 1 of 10, whichever, no “trick” required.
To do so, select album top r/h “…” which brings up the edit window, edit then save on exit.
DavidH has already described those you can’t change, but album title, artist and genres + album cover can all be changed. I minimise editing to the essentials, otherwise you can get too involved in the process instead of enjoying the music.
The other thing that can occur with classical sets is one or more will display a different / incorrect cover. Finding a good match when editing can be problematic, ymmv.
When looking for cover art I’ve often found more success through Bing instead of Google. I then save it to the photo library on my iPad and upload to Core from there. On a few rare occasions I’ve had to photograph the sleeve and use that image.
On a multi disc set it’s often best to find one good version as described, save that to photos and upload the same image to every disc.
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