Hi
I’m using dbpoweramp CD ripper to rip my ~1600 cds in FLAC format to a 1TB SSD to plug into the USB port at the back of my New Atom HE.
When I look on the Focal/Naim app on my mobile I see multiple copies of the same cd’s.
I’ve checked the SSD and there are no duplicates, so I’m a bit confused as to why this is happening.
I’ve tried Rebuilding Music Database and Clear Image Cache, but I still see multiple copies (some as many as 6 apparent duplicates) via the app.
Have you tried connecting the USB drive to your computer and emptying the junk folder. This is sometimes necessary to remove deleted files from an external drive. Six copies does seem a bit excessive, though!
Are the albums really complete albums? Sometimes Naim software erroneously decides to treat a track as an album and lists it as such. This should be fixable with a metadata editor.
Thanks @ChrisSU
There is no Junk folder on the SSD.
I’m ripping about 20 cds/day so every few days I plug the SSD into my PC and reformat it.
Then I copy all the files I’ve ripped so far from my PC to the SSD.
I check what’s been copied to the SSD via Windows Media Player and if I see an album that has been split, I use MP3TAG too alter the tags so it all appears as one album.
That’s only happened a few times so doesn’t account for about 90% of the duplicates on the SSD.
When you use dbpoweramp it puts the files into an album if you use the default setting, so you shouldn’t need to use any other software to sort it. I’m not sure why you are reformatting the drive each time; why not just add the new albums? I suspect one of these things may be the culprit.
Thanks @HungryHalibut
The only times an album gets split is if dbpoweramp says there’s an error on a track so it refuses to rip it.
So I then use Media Player to rip the missing track and knit the album together using MP3TAG.
Some of the CDs I have (e.g. Mahler Complete Symphonies) a single symphony is split over 2 discs, so again I use MP3TAG to knit them together into a single album.
I’m using dbpoweramp without any mods or changes but the albums (classical) are stored usually under the name of the conductor, soloist etc but rarely by Composer so I don’t know which are the new folders/albums.
There’s no reason I can think of why reformatting the SSD and then copying all files to it should cause a problem - it all looks fine on my PC. It’s just when I plug the SSD into the Atom most albums appear multiple times but there aren’t multiple copies.
Is it possible that the rips are creating playlists which are then picked up by the atom ? Take a look at the drive and sort the contents by type, perhaps you’ll find something odd there.
Cheers @HearingAid
No, there are no playlists.
The only non-flac files on the SSD are the SecureRipping.log files which are text files that describe the processing that dbpoweramp does.
So only .flac and .log files exist on the SSD
Do these multiple copies all have the same number of tracks?
I just rip to the destination drive which is in my case my QNAP NAS. Why are you reformatting?
This will be ripping in ‘burst mode’ although they may still authenticate with AccurateRip.
You would be better to rip in ‘secure’ mode. Have a read of the documentation before you rip all your CDs incorrectly
Yes, the duplicates all have the same number of tracks and all the tracks will play.
I use dbpoweramp to rip to an SSD in my PC first, then every few days I copy the lot to the SSD I use for the Atom. I use Media Player on my PC to cast files to other audio equipment around the house.
I reformat just because it’s an easy way to start with a completely clean SSD.
I use a USB C connection to the 1TB SSD and it takes about 8 minutes to copy the 60ish GB of files I have ripped so far - about 30% of the total.
Maybe I should have clarified - I did read the documentation first. I done the thing with a CD partially blacked out, then used 3 CDs so it could determine the player offset and confirm I’m ripping in Secure mode. I followed the instructions to set it up correctly for the best quality rip.
If I look at the files on Media Player it all looks perfect and every file is in the correct order.
It seems that it is the Focal/Naim app that is categorizing the files in a different manner so I’m getting duplicates.
Also for example - Beethoven - files are not all under B - many are distributed throughout the alphabet - I haven’t yet worked out why, but my guess would be that some are being stored under the name of the conductor/soloist/orchestra.
Looking via Media Player they’re all exactly where they should be.
Most of my CDs were bought in the 1980’s and 1990’s so the metadata on them is well-dodgy.
However, Media Player shows it all perfectly in order with no duplicates.
I’m completely at home using a PC which I understand well - it’s what I done for a living for most of my life, but the OS of mobile phones - I’m clueless so I don’t know how to dig around and sort out the answers for myself.
Thanks again for your suggestions, and hope you have some more
PS - One thing I have noted - When I first connect the SSD to the Atom and look at the files - there are NO duplicates. About an hour later the duplicates start to appear.
I also clear the image cache and reset the database on the Atom before connecting the SSD.
Hi Pete. I have never used the server on my Atom, so I’m afraid I don’t have the experience to help you sort out your immediate problem. But with a collection of 1600 mostly classical CDs I am going to suggest that you consider running a dedicated server on an external device on your network.
I would recommend a NAS from Synology and installing MinimServer on it. Minim was written specifically for classical music lovers and although there is a bit of a learning curve in learning to use it, there is a friendly forum for help if you run into problems. Of course such a solution does involve additional expenditure, but with a large collection like yours might be well worth looking into.
Thanks @Guinnless.
No - I didn’t realize that the metadata comes from an external source, so thanks for that info!
I’ve tried just one album and it all appears to be fine.
It’s not all CD’s that appear to be duplicated, probably no more than about 10-20% which makes it more confusing and is why I feel that it is the app that is presenting them in a different way.
I’ve just looked at what’s on the SSD via the USB menu option rather than the Server option.
There are no duplicates, and all of the (e.g. Beethoven) tracks are in the correct folder and ALL appear under B. Only downside is I don’t see the album art using that option.
So it’s just when I use the Server mode (with album art) that the duplicates appear and files are stored under ‘apparent’ random folders,
CDs are generally identified by the Table of Contents with track count and track length used to ‘guess’ what the albums is by looking this information up against a database.
This is looking more and more like a metadata issue.
dBPoweramp has various sources for metadata so should get most CDs correct. I’ve had a few rarities that needed some help but not many.
I suggest you add a few at a time (no need to format) until the problem shows up.
Music servers don’t use folders or filenames, they are only for one’s own preference, this is why the metadata needs to be correct. I could rename my Pentangle folder to Metallica but it wouldn’t make any difference whatsoever. I could put 10 random albums into a folder called eckythump and it would all still work fine.
The folders are good for humans to see where things are so it is good practice to have Artist/Album folder structure.
It could be @robert_h (and thanks for your reply) but I can see no difference when I play either of the duplicated files. I assume because there is actually only one copy. Most CDs are not affected.
Cheers @Guinnless
Unfortunately I suspect you’re absolutely right! and looks like I have an enormous amount of work to do on 1600 CDs…
Or just use the USB option and forego the album art, then work on the metadata for the next 15 years
As an example -
I’ve got a screenshot of the metadata from the 1st album that is always duplicated on the Atom.
I can’t see where the problem lies though.
Can you?
I suspect it’s the contributing artists. Various very likely means there are a number of them, hence the duplication. Try deleting this tag, and setting the Artist and Album Artist to what you feel is most appropriate.
Yes good call. I have something similar in roon where it shows me artists in my library that I’m not aware should be listed, but it’s because they’ve played on an album and are being listed in their own right.
Like this chap;
Thanks @HungryHalibut I’ve had a look for each track-
Artist is Various for all tracks
Album Artist is blank for all tracks
The only field that changes throughout the album is the Composer tag - for obvious reasons.
So I set both Artist and Album Artist to Karajan for all 10 tracks and overwrote the existing copy on the SSD.
I connected the SSD to the Atom and rebuilt the database.
If I look again at the same album via Servers I still see 2 copies - HOWEVER one copy has ‘various’ underneath, the other copy has ‘karajan’ underneath the album art.
There is only 1 copy on the SSD and that copy has karajan as artist, but it’s still ‘seeing’ the old copy with various as the Artist and still playing the tracks which no longer exists.
