FLAC for beginners

[Sylph]

     

     Your move....

     

   

What sign to scare away the peasants?

Using EAC and LAME can be a bit of a beast (I know -- I wrote a book about it)  -- but once it's up and running it's wonderful. 

And to the OP, if you still need software for organization, you may find the Bulk Rename Utility very helpful for your files and folders, and mp3Tag for your mp3tags. Both are free to download.

What book?

[ClassicalWeekly]

It's a .PDF eBook (around 35 pages) and basically it goes over organizing and tagging classical music and opera CDs for iTunes, It also goes through creating high quality rips of classical and opera CDs using EAC and LAME - http://classicalweekly.com/ebook/.  There's an excerpt and table of contents you can download there.

Obviously there are many, many was to configure EAC/LAME, and there are also tons of way to organize classical music.  But this guide is a step-by-step walk-through and of the way I do it -- a method that works well for me that I've developed over a long time of trial and error.  Naturally you don't NEED to use EAC and LAME for what I demonstrate, but I really don't like using iTunes to rip CDs.

I also understand that  not everyone really wants to go under the hood with EAC, so this guide gets you up and running with what I believe to be  the level that the  "average" listener will find appropriate.  And once you have EAC up and running, one can of course dig deeper and really tweak EAC more than the "general" settings I go through.

Lastly, one of the most important things that I try to do is to make the distinction between how your file system sees your classical music (named files and folder) vs how iTunes sees that same music (mp3 tags) -- and how to manage both. Personally I like having a very highly organized directory and file structure for my classical music (it makes creating a quick CD for the road very easy), but I also like to organize iTunes so I can quickly navigate to music on my iPod (e.g. to quickly find and listen to disc 2 of the Bohm Gotterdammerung among the 3 full Ring Cycles I have on my iPod).

And, Sylph, I'm always looking for feedback so if you are interested I'd be more than happy to send you a review copy!

[Sylph]

Thank you very much for your detailed reply! Yes, I would love to read the e-book!

When I first started using LAME, I used HydrogenAudio's guide on how to configure the software:

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=EAC_configuration

[drogulus]

What sign to scare away the peasants?

There's a reference version that costs more than the basic paid one. You follow the link at the bottom of the registration page for updates to that. As for the sign about peasants, that may have been wishful thinking.

[ClassicalWeekly]

Thank you very much for your detailed reply! Yes, I would love to read the e-book!

When I first started using LAME, I used HydrogenAudio's guide on how to configure the software:

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=EAC_configuration

HydrogenAudio's guide is a good one -- and there are many out there.  It' just a question, IMHO, of finding the level of complexity that suits you.  As for the eBook, I'm glad you are interested and I will PM you regarding a copy.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

I'd do the renaming with fb2k, because a) fb2k with tag insight can rename accordingly and conditional.
@ClassicalWeekly: Are you part of the HA community (I am)- we had some very good threads about tagging classical music, a lot of inout. Of course finally tagging is a personal thing and a question of consistency.

[Gurn Blanston]

I'd do the renaming with fb2k, because a) fb2k with tag insight can rename accordingly and conditional.
@ClassicalWeekly: Are you part of the HA community (I am)- we had some very good threads about tagging classical music, a lot of input. Of course finally tagging is a personal thing and a question of consistency.

I would love it if you could link that discussion. Tagging is one of my interests, and I am dissatisfied with every scheme except my own, so far. But I am subject to change if there is a compelling argument.

Of course finally tagging is a personal thing and a question of consistency.

Truer words were never spoke...

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

I would love it if you could link that discussion. Tagging is one of my interests, and I am dissatisfied with every scheme except my own, so far. But I am subject to change if there is a compelling argument.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=38543
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=66657
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=85808

This is what I found so far, there were a few more discussions, but hey. I'm "squeller" at HA. Personally, I'm not exaggerating. For instance, some users use fields for the forename, surname, for year of composition and performance... I prefer to store only important fields in tags, the fields I want to have displayed in some situations (most is being displayed on my dedicated notebook in my living room). That's the artist/composer, conductor and/or main soloist, work name, album name, title/mvmt. name, ensemble, label. Splitting of fore- and surname can be done with intelligence, in names like "Vaughan Williams" I use alt+160 character.

[drogulus]

     I never learned to tag (I'm a "tag first, ask questions later" kind of guy). So I just opened my rips in this program and that program until I found the respective strengths and weaknesses they had. For bulk tagging (a whole CD at once) iTunes and Easy CD-DA Extractor are the most often used. I haven't solved the riddle of how to make my preferred ripper dBPowerAmp into my preferred tagger.

[Gurn Blanston]

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=38543
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=66657
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=85808

This is what I found so far, there were a few more discussions, but hey. I'm "squeller" at HA. Personally, I'm not exaggerating. For instance, some users use fields for the forename, surname, for year of composition and performance... I prefer to store only important fields in tags, the fields I want to have displayed in some situations (most is being displayed on my dedicated notebook in my living room). That's the artist/composer, conductor and/or main soloist, work name, album name, title/mvmt. name, ensemble, label. Splitting of fore- and surname can be done with intelligence, in names like "Vaughan Williams" I use alt+160 character.

Thanks for the links. I am also of the "no over-tagging" school. It's silly, especially when you have to wait on a scrolling display with tiny letters to see something important while 30 seconds of useless stuff rolls by.

[Gurn Blanston]

     I never learned to tag (I'm a "tag first, ask questions later" kind of guy). So I just opened my rips in this program and that program until I found the respective strengths and weaknesses they had. For bulk tagging (a whole CD at once) iTunes and Easy CD-DA Extractor are the most often used. I haven't solved the riddle of how to make my preferred ripper dBPowerAmp into my preferred tagger.

As I've said before (and will doubtless say again), for the purpose of tagging and creating playlists, there is no program that can match 'MP3 Tag'. It is so much better than any others that fooling with them has become silly...

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

Do you think so? Fb2k's language can be used all over the place - http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Foobar2000:Title_Formatting_Reference -, and as for playlist generation, there are quite a few query commands.

[Lethevich]

My biggest problem with mp3tag is its inability to fully deal with cue files (as well as its slightly limited options in general). It can do the basics: tag artist, album and track names, but it won't do genre, year, etc. It seems such a simple functionality to add - it's just a few short lines in the cue file.

[Sylph]

My biggest problem with mp3tag is its inability to fully deal with cue files (as well as its slightly limited options in general). It can do the basics: tag artist, album and track names, but it won't do genre, year, etc. It seems such a simple functionality to add - it's just a few short lines in the cue file.

It can add genre and year.

[Sylph]

     I never learned to tag (I'm a "tag first, ask questions later" kind of guy). So I just opened my rips in this program and that program until I found the respective strengths and weaknesses they had. For bulk tagging (a whole CD at once) iTunes and Easy CD-DA Extractor are the most often used. I haven't solved the riddle of how to make my preferred ripper dBPowerAmp into my preferred tagger.

Nothing about the signs to scare the peasants?

[Gurn Blanston]

My biggest problem with mp3tag is its inability to fully deal with cue files (as well as its slightly limited options in general). It can do the basics: tag artist, album and track names, but it won't do genre, year, etc. It seems such a simple functionality to add - it's just a few short lines in the cue file.

'Year' & 'Genre' are standard fields. If you wanted to add any non-standard field, all you have to do is create it.

I guess I'm just dense, but what are you doing with a cue file in a tagging program? Extracting the data?

[Lethevich]

@ Sylph and Gurn: I don't know if I've been doing it wrong or something, but whenever I open a cue with mp3tag, it allows me to set the fields I mentioned, but while the entries for the other fields can be filled out, when you save the changes they disappear in the application. Perhaps it has still added them to the cue, though. I will do a quick test.

Edit: nope:

REM GENRE Classical
REM DATE 2005

These didn't get changed via the application when I tried.

[Daverz]

Probably most of you know that there's a standard (or as standard as these things get) COMPOSER tag.  This usually shows up as SONGWRITER in cue files.  For the work name, one can reuse the GROUPING tag (this is what iTunes calls it).  As far as I've been able to discover, these are the names of this tag for various formats:

id3 (e.g. mp3): TIT1
alac: GRP
vorbis (e.g. flac): CONTENTGROUP

At least, these are the translations that XLD uses when converting metadata.  In the tagging tools, it tends to show up as GROUPING, CONTENTGROUP or 'CONTENT GROUP'.

[drogulus]

As I've said before (and will doubtless say again), for the purpose of tagging and creating playlists, there is no program that can match 'MP3 Tag'. It is so much better than any others that fooling with them has become silly...

     I use Easy CD-DA Extractor because its a good transcoder and adds album art (it's good for correcting album art, something I often need to do). I use iTunes because it bulk tags well and controls my Pod, so tags must look right in iTunes. So I don't really want a program just for tags, I want a program that tags well while doing other things I want to do. So typically I'll rip in dBPowerAmp, correct tags and add art in Easy CD-DA, then load in iTunes and check to see everything displays correctly. Any program for tagging would be replacing Easy CD-DA in the chain, unless it was a better ripper than dBPowerAmp, unlikely since the program uses multiple cores and AccurateRip. I don't want to make things more complicated than they are now.

[Gurn Blanston]

     I use Easy CD-DA Extractor because its a good transcoder and adds album art (it's good for correcting album art, something I often need to do). I use iTunes because it bulk tags well and controls my Pod, so tags must look right in iTunes. So I don't really want a program just for tags, I want a program that tags well while doing other things I want to do. So typically I'll rip in dBPowerAmp, correct tags and add art in Easy CD-DA, then load in iTunes and check to see everything displays correctly. Any program for tagging would be replacing Easy CD-DA in the chain, unless it was a better ripper than dBPowerAmp, unlikely since the program uses multiple cores and AccurateRip. I don't want to make things more complicated than they are now.

I see what you're saying, but it doesn't hold true for me. Differences are good, I guess. 

I redo all my album covers in CorelPaint anyway, changing the resolution and overall size (I make them 300X300 usually so they don't bloat the music file). At that point, adding album art in MP3 Tag is simplicity itself.

I rip in dBPowerAmp, transcode (if needed) in xrecodeII, then tag in MP3Tag. Clearly I don't care about using more than one program if they are each excellent for the task. From long experience ripping I feel confident that the Swiss Army Knife approach, while it may seem easier at first blush, inevitably ends up with you having to compromise one way or another. So instead, I just get the best tool (IMO) for the job and learn how to use it to whatever degree I need. Different strokes, though.



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