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I am just curious because iTunes just can't handle the amount of music I am trying to cram in there--my computer will operate slowly and often overheat (I am aware this probably has more to do with the computer than iTunes itself). However, I like how iTunes keeps things neat and organized, and updates ID3 tags on the files on my external. I just was wondering what you guys used, or if there was a good player that is lightweight yet clean and keeps my tags clean as well. For a while I spent lots of time organizing the actual folders that contained my music and would just browse everything through there--I have a By Genre folder, which is a big way that I enjoy browsing music, but it's just not as smooth as some of the things that iTunes allows me to do. Anyway, any input would be great; I'm just looking for a better option. Thanks.
Post by itrainmonkeys on Jun 20, 2012 13:52:25 GMT -5
I use iTunes but keep my whole music library on a separate external hard drive (with a backup of that drive as well).
I used to load my computer up with too much music and then it'd get slow. Sometimes ended up deleting things to make space. Then I started keeping my music library on my external hard drive and that fixed a lot. My computer has TONS of free space that used to get eaten up by music and I can keep loading stuff until my external hard drive is full. Once it gets to that point I can just buy a bigger one, but I have a 500 GB one that's not filled up yet.
Only caveat with this is to make sure you regularly back things up. If the hard drive dies suddenly and you don't have it backed up then you're screwed. It happened to me once which is why I make sure to save a copy of my stuff.
Some people I know hate using iTunes for their music player. Winamp is a big one a lot of people like but I don't use it for my music library. I got used to iTunes and make it work for me so I'm fine with it.
I will look into Media Monkey. For now I put everything in Winamp and I've found an organizational/view method that is pretty comparable to what I am used to with iTunes and I can browse things pretty easily. I wish it grouped compilations, but what can ya do. It seems to handle everything in a much quicker fashion, but a lot of the tagging from iTunes doesn't cross over. A big plus is the fact that FLAC works and you can even tag that.
I have all of my music on an external too, ITM. My friends and I have a pretty good system of backing each other's stuff up, so I have a backup of everything, at least up until a certain point.
Post by natedagreat on Jun 20, 2012 15:09:06 GMT -5
iTunes is great for easy to use, looks cool purposes. The tagging system is also top notch, but for bare bones, less memory usage, WinAmp is the way to go, at least from what I've found.
I love Mediamonkey, but if you're looking for lightweight I would say just use VLC. It can play any format you want and is probably as lightweight as you're going to find.
edit: For tagging I'd use foobar2000 (also a great lightweight player), but you're able to sort and search by any meta data that your file has in the VLC library.
Hmm. I'm just scared to put the tagging into software's hands like that. I'd be afraid that it would erase some of the work I've done and give stuff wonky tags or something. All that is wrong with any of it if there is anything wrong is some albums have names like 01-name of track 01 as titles, and don't actually have track numbers assigned. I usually just tag them as I come upon them. I wish I had known about Media Monkey before I spent so much time organizing my stuff over the years.
The only thing I use iTunes for now is to put new music on my computer and to load songs on my iPod. I just play everything in Spotify now. I really don't think you have to import anything into Spotify. It does it on its own. Scroll down on the left menu and under collections there should be a link that says local files. It is all in there. Honestly though Spotify has a good percentage of my music and I just play it through that. If they don't have it then I play it off the local files. If the song isn't in Spotify I think the name of the band on that song will be grey in your local files and white if it is in the Spotify library.
Post by cheeky resurrection on Jun 21, 2012 4:24:46 GMT -5
I use iTunes on my desktop, but it is my pride and joy and runs with completely optimal, top of the line components, so I've never had any problems out of it. The laptop, on the other hand, is a ragged old girl and also got to the point where iTunes freaked out every time I attempted to opened it. So I too switched to Winamp and am pretty satisfied with the organizational set up and that all my tags transferred properly... it just sucks that if I were still running iTunes on both systems all my music files would be shared automatically. Winamp lags a bit at times but I honestly just don't think these programs are written to handle the enormous amount of files some of us have :/
Post by itrainmonkeys on Aug 12, 2014 8:47:11 GMT -5
Bumping this old thread since I have started to use Media Monkey based on the suggestion of snowman after iTunes messed up my music library (removed most of the listings from my library but didn't delete the files, thankfully). I'm going to have a handful of questions later for snowman and figured this would be a good thread to post them in. Mostly stuff regarding organizing and podcasts and junk like that. I'm enjoying Media Monkey so far but still need to put in time to organize so I don't go too crazy.
Anyway, to answer the thread question: Used to be iTunes....trying to convert fully to Media Monkey.
Post by bansheebeat on Aug 12, 2014 23:13:19 GMT -5
iTunes for me. 20,000 songs at almost 150 GB and it runs fine. If I'm listening to something I don't want to import into iTunes I always listen with VLC
I use iTunes. The smart playlists allow me to keep everything organized, Genius playlists are great when I'm feeling lazy but have an idea of what I want to hear, and with iMatch, my iPhone replaces my iPod classic (160gb) when I'm in a wifi hotspot. I'm considering a Pono player in the near future, so I may abandon iTunes eventually. I'm just not find of the idea of keeping track of the removable storage mini discs
I use itunes and pay the 25$ a year itunes match then backup once a year an external just so i have a hard copy. The itunes match I LOVE. Delete songs if you want to free HD on some devices I still have my entire library downloaded on others i have 0 downloaded but can stream at anytime. I'm a fan. I get a CD/Borrow CD, find music, buy music etc and put it on any itunes CPU it is instantly in the cloud and on every device i own. Happy music ecosystem.
Last Edit: Aug 15, 2014 10:54:44 GMT -5 by tbd - Back to Top
I use itunes and pay the 25$ a year itunes match then backup once a year an external just so i have a hard copy. The itunes match I LOVE. Delete songs if you want to free HD on some devices I still have my entire library downloaded on others i have 0 downloaded but can stream at anytime. I'm a fan. I get a CD/Borrow CD, find music, buy music etc and put it on any itunes CPU it is instantly in the cloud and on every device i own. Happy music ecosystem.
I'll have to look into this. I already started to dive into Media Monkey but $25 a year isn't bad at all.
I use itunes and pay the 25$ a year itunes match then backup once a year an external just so i have a hard copy. The itunes match I LOVE. Delete songs if you want to free HD on some devices I still have my entire library downloaded on others i have 0 downloaded but can stream at anytime. I'm a fan. I get a CD/Borrow CD, find music, buy music etc and put it on any itunes CPU it is instantly in the cloud and on every device i own. Happy music ecosystem.
I'll have to look into this. I already started to dive into Media Monkey but $25 a year isn't bad at all.
Ya 25$ a year. Can download a song (say you know you won't be on wifi/hooked to service) or download entire artist, album or even library.. Can then delete right back off and it is still streamable instantly from the cloud. No limits on what is uploaded i.e. if purchased in itunes or not, type of music uploaded, if it came from a CD, bootleg etc...
I have used it for 3 years now and nothing but good things to say about it. The ONLY time it has sucked is every 6 months or so i delete everythiing on my phone music wise and then i will redownload different stuff since my library is much larger then any phone model hard drive.. Very early on i may have purged then only downloaded like one album then go to say the mountains with no service. Then no music!! But if you avoid that mistake it is awesome
Last Edit: Aug 15, 2014 11:41:52 GMT -5 by tbd - Back to Top
I'll have to look into this. I already started to dive into Media Monkey but $25 a year isn't bad at all.
Ya 25$ a year. Can download a song (say you know you won't be on wifi/hooked to service) or download entire artist, album or even library.. Can then delete right back off and it is still streamable instantly from the cloud. No limits on what is uploaded i.e. if purchased in itunes or not, type of music uploaded, if it came from a CD, bootleg etc...
I have used it for 3 years now and nothing but good things to say about it. The ONLY time it has sucked is every 6 months or so i delete everythiing on my phone music wise and then i will redownload different stuff since my library is much larger then any phone model hard drive.. Very early on i may have purged then only downloaded like one album then go to say the mountains with no service. Then no music!! But if you avoid that mistake it is awesome
I've got an iPod nano that I store some music on because using my phone tends to drain my battery and eat up my data but this is a great option. Now I have to seriously decide between iTunes or Media Monkey after putting in a good amount of hours with Media Monkey.
There are some things that I'm not sure Media Monkey can do....like keep my files organized in the same folder. I really liked having iTunes automatically store things in my iTunes music folder any time I added something to my iTunes library. Currently when I do that in Media Monkey the files stay in the folder they originally were and I'd rather not have stuff all over the place. There may be some way to have Media Monkey keep things organized and work similarly to iTunes in that regard.
Podcast organization and information/downloads is looking to be a chore and tough to figure out with Media Monkey but i'll be looking more into it.
I really liked iTunes but got really annoyed at the seemingly random glitch that made me lose out on all the stuff I had added the last year or two.
Ya 25$ a year. Can download a song (say you know you won't be on wifi/hooked to service) or download entire artist, album or even library.. Can then delete right back off and it is still streamable instantly from the cloud. No limits on what is uploaded i.e. if purchased in itunes or not, type of music uploaded, if it came from a CD, bootleg etc...
I have used it for 3 years now and nothing but good things to say about it. The ONLY time it has sucked is every 6 months or so i delete everythiing on my phone music wise and then i will redownload different stuff since my library is much larger then any phone model hard drive.. Very early on i may have purged then only downloaded like one album then go to say the mountains with no service. Then no music!! But if you avoid that mistake it is awesome
I've got an iPod nano that I store some music on because using my phone tends to drain my battery and eat up my data but this is a great option. Now I have to seriously decide between iTunes or Media Monkey after putting in a good amount of hours with Media Monkey.
There are some things that I'm not sure Media Monkey can do....like keep my files organized in the same folder. I really liked having iTunes automatically store things in my iTunes music folder any time I added something to my iTunes library. Currently when I do that in Media Monkey the files stay in the folder they originally were and I'd rather not have stuff all over the place. There may be some way to have Media Monkey keep things organized and work similarly to iTunes in that regard.
Podcast organization and information/downloads is looking to be a chore and tough to figure out with Media Monkey but i'll be looking more into it.
I really liked iTunes but got really annoyed at the seemingly random glitch that made me lose out on all the stuff I had added the last year or two.
MediaMonkey:
Auto-Organize Files Tracks can also be organized en-mass into a directory structure and filename format of your choice. This is done via the Auto-Organize Files function, which uses existing Track properties to move and rename files according to a specified format. For instance, you could organize all of your Tracks in the following format: C:/Music/<Artist>/<Album> - <Title>.xxx . To do this: 1. Select the Tracks that you wish to reorganize/rename, and click Tools > Auto-Organize Files. 2. Choose whether to: · Move the tracks (if you're organizing tracks on your hard drive). Enable 'Delete emptied folders' if you wish the folders to be deleted after all tracks have been removed. · Copy the tracks (if you're copying files to or from another source e.g. to copy an iPod). Enable 'Add copied tracks to the Library' if you wish the copied tracks to appear in your Library. 3. Choose the Directory, directory format, and filename format to be used for the Tracks. See Configuring Directory and Filename Formats. 4. A list will be generated showing the current directories/filenames and the new directories/filenames (if you're moving the files, the changes are highlighted in yellow). If any of the new directories/filenames are incorrect, edit them as needed by clicking the path and editing it, or uncheck them. 5. Click OK to begin the operation for all checked tracks. When Tracks are moved, it may result in old directories becoming empty. If this occurs, you will be prompted whether to delete the empty directory. If all the Tracks in the folder are moved, then you'll also be given the option to move any accompanying files such as Album Art or Lyrics. Auto-Organize Files as a Background Process MediaMonkey can also Auto-organize files as a background process. To enable this, go to Tools > Options > Library > Auto-Organize and configure a rule for different subsets of your music collection. Once rules have been configured you can either: • Go to the Files to Edit > Unorganized Tracks node and use the Auto-Organize function to organize Tracks that don't match the desired format • Enable 'Automatically organize tracks in the background' to have this taken care of automatically when tracks are scanned or edited
I've got an iPod nano that I store some music on because using my phone tends to drain my battery and eat up my data but this is a great option. Now I have to seriously decide between iTunes or Media Monkey after putting in a good amount of hours with Media Monkey.
There are some things that I'm not sure Media Monkey can do....like keep my files organized in the same folder. I really liked having iTunes automatically store things in my iTunes music folder any time I added something to my iTunes library. Currently when I do that in Media Monkey the files stay in the folder they originally were and I'd rather not have stuff all over the place. There may be some way to have Media Monkey keep things organized and work similarly to iTunes in that regard.
Podcast organization and information/downloads is looking to be a chore and tough to figure out with Media Monkey but i'll be looking more into it.
I really liked iTunes but got really annoyed at the seemingly random glitch that made me lose out on all the stuff I had added the last year or two.
MediaMonkey:
Auto-Organize Files Tracks can also be organized en-mass into a directory structure and filename format of your choice. This is done via the Auto-Organize Files function, which uses existing Track properties to move and rename files according to a specified format. For instance, you could organize all of your Tracks in the following format: C:/Music/<Artist>/<Album> - <Title>.xxx . To do this: 1. Select the Tracks that you wish to reorganize/rename, and click Tools > Auto-Organize Files. 2. Choose whether to: · Move the tracks (if you're organizing tracks on your hard drive). Enable 'Delete emptied folders' if you wish the folders to be deleted after all tracks have been removed. · Copy the tracks (if you're copying files to or from another source e.g. to copy an iPod). Enable 'Add copied tracks to the Library' if you wish the copied tracks to appear in your Library. 3. Choose the Directory, directory format, and filename format to be used for the Tracks. See Configuring Directory and Filename Formats. 4. A list will be generated showing the current directories/filenames and the new directories/filenames (if you're moving the files, the changes are highlighted in yellow). If any of the new directories/filenames are incorrect, edit them as needed by clicking the path and editing it, or uncheck them. 5. Click OK to begin the operation for all checked tracks. When Tracks are moved, it may result in old directories becoming empty. If this occurs, you will be prompted whether to delete the empty directory. If all the Tracks in the folder are moved, then you'll also be given the option to move any accompanying files such as Album Art or Lyrics. Auto-Organize Files as a Background Process MediaMonkey can also Auto-organize files as a background process. To enable this, go to Tools > Options > Library > Auto-Organize and configure a rule for different subsets of your music collection. Once rules have been configured you can either: • Go to the Files to Edit > Unorganized Tracks node and use the Auto-Organize function to organize Tracks that don't match the desired format • Enable 'Automatically organize tracks in the background' to have this taken care of automatically when tracks are scanned or edited
Thanks for this info...will have to read it later when I am home and have more time. I think what threw me off when I first looked into this was the idea of renaming the actual files and stuff using that specified format. Like....I didn't want to set a format wrong or in some way that wouldn't work and then unleash this on all of my files. Like I said....I may have questions that I'll be posting here for some help on Media Monkey. Will be looking into the things that I don't know how to do but liked with iTunes.
I'm going to try and back up my music library before doing anything crazy. Just gotta figure out how to split my external hard drive onto two smaller external hard drives (or find a way to afford another 2-4 TB hard drive).