Hoping someone here may be able to point me in the right direction here regarding a music app for Windows. I have about 7,000 downloaded songs I've had for years so I don't want to go the Spotify/Apple/streaming route. My issue is finding the right Windows app to sort my music. I currently use Itunes and it's a major pain in the ass and one of my phones is an Android so I'm looking to move away from Apple. I've tried a few different media players like Groove but that seemed to lack the ability to customize things like choosing the layout with columns. Any suggestions on Windows based music applications that are simple, to the point but allows the user to customize and edit song info easily? I'm looking to overhall my whole library but want to choose the right program before putting in the work. Itunes seems to be a massive headache these days. Something as simple as renaming a song is a big Ben McAdoo in the ass. It will change but then revert back to the original title. Any help is greatly appreciated.
In Joe Judge We Trust.
I think it works with most Android music players. There's also a Wifi Sync android app to try. Check out the MusicBee forums or MusicBee subreddit.
It's the only software out there that lets me sort all my albums however I want. Also plays FLAC files, which is what I have all my albums encoded as. Winamp is still the gold standard for audiophiles after all these years.
FYI, I do not use any software or option that automatically checks for music files because it can make a mess of things. I manually add everything (I do this because I only want FLAC included in my library, no mp3s).
Regardless, whatever software you use you will have to make sure your files are all tagged properly. It's also a good time to make sure you have your albums sorted properly on your hard drive (folder layout, file naming, etc). Standard sorting layout for collections would be something like:
artist folder > filetype folder (flac/mp3/wav if you have multiple types) > album folder (album year & title, example: 2020 Album Title) > music files (track # & title, example: 01 Title).
Some things like the album folder you can get more precise with. For instance, use the format 2020-05-30, 20200530 or 2020.05.30 for complete release dates.
It's the only software out there that lets me sort all my albums however I want. Also plays FLAC files, which is what I have all my albums encoded as. Winamp is still the gold standard for audiophiles after all these years.
FYI, I do not use any software or option that automatically checks for music files because it can make a mess of things. I manually add everything (I do this because I only want FLAC included in my library, no mp3s).
Regardless, whatever software you use you will have to make sure your files are all tagged properly. It's also a good time to make sure you have your albums sorted properly on your hard drive (folder layout, file naming, etc). Standard sorting layout for collections would be something like:
artist folder > filetype folder (flac/mp3/wav if you have multiple types) > album folder (album year & title, example: 2020 Album Title) > music files (track # & title, example: 01 Title).
Some things like the album folder you can get more precise with. For instance, use the format 2020-05-30, 20200530 or 2020.05.30 for complete release dates.
Interesting, so there's where it gets complicated for me. Years ago, I renamed everything in Itunes (not the actual file name) but I did it under their column "Name" and I only showed that particular column. So when I transfered it to other programs and my phone that work was pretty much useless. I used Winamp years ago and always liked the simplicity and custom features it offered. In terms of renaming, you're talking about going into the actual file name on the hard drive correct?
Quote:
Winamp.
It's the only software out there that lets me sort all my albums however I want. Also plays FLAC files, which is what I have all my albums encoded as. Winamp is still the gold standard for audiophiles after all these years.
FYI, I do not use any software or option that automatically checks for music files because it can make a mess of things. I manually add everything (I do this because I only want FLAC included in my library, no mp3s).
Regardless, whatever software you use you will have to make sure your files are all tagged properly. It's also a good time to make sure you have your albums sorted properly on your hard drive (folder layout, file naming, etc). Standard sorting layout for collections would be something like:
artist folder > filetype folder (flac/mp3/wav if you have multiple types) > album folder (album year & title, example: 2020 Album Title) > music files (track # & title, example: 01 Title).
Some things like the album folder you can get more precise with. For instance, use the format 2020-05-30, 20200530 or 2020.05.30 for complete release dates.
Interesting, so there's where it gets complicated for me. Years ago, I renamed everything in Itunes (not the actual file name) but I did it under their column "Name" and I only showed that particular column. So when I transfered it to other programs and my phone that work was pretty much useless. I used Winamp years ago and always liked the simplicity and custom features it offered. In terms of renaming, you're talking about going into the actual file name on the hard drive correct?
Yup, make sure the actual physical file name is all good and the same format across all your music files. For the physical files I use the "01 Track Title" nomenclature.
In addition, get a free program called MP3Tag. Use that program to set all your ID3 tags properly in each file. The ID3 tag is what Winamp or any other music program is normally going to read for onscreen information. Also, I recommend tagging your files with album art that is at least 1000x1000. Preferably 1500x1500 (shows up nicely on a big TV screen). This site is great for album art: https://albumartexchange.com/
Another FYI, if you want to encode your files to lossless FLAC, I recommend a program called EAC. It's free and does an excellent job encoding.
Getting your files named/tagged properly may take some time, but once you're all set, you'll be loving the music life. Not only is great for PC, but going from PC to Jump Drive to my car stereo is fucking awesome now and seamless.
This is where my knowledge goes down the toilet! I don't use my phone for music that much. I use a jump drive in my car. Whenever I put something on my phone I just use a program that's lets me get to shared folders on my PC and I drag and drop.
Quote:
In comment 14909797 vonritz said:
Quote:
Winamp.
It's the only software out there that lets me sort all my albums however I want. Also plays FLAC files, which is what I have all my albums encoded as. Winamp is still the gold standard for audiophiles after all these years.
FYI, I do not use any software or option that automatically checks for music files because it can make a mess of things. I manually add everything (I do this because I only want FLAC included in my library, no mp3s).
Regardless, whatever software you use you will have to make sure your files are all tagged properly. It's also a good time to make sure you have your albums sorted properly on your hard drive (folder layout, file naming, etc). Standard sorting layout for collections would be something like:
artist folder > filetype folder (flac/mp3/wav if you have multiple types) > album folder (album year & title, example: 2020 Album Title) > music files (track # & title, example: 01 Title).
Some things like the album folder you can get more precise with. For instance, use the format 2020-05-30, 20200530 or 2020.05.30 for complete release dates.
Interesting, so there's where it gets complicated for me. Years ago, I renamed everything in Itunes (not the actual file name) but I did it under their column "Name" and I only showed that particular column. So when I transfered it to other programs and my phone that work was pretty much useless. I used Winamp years ago and always liked the simplicity and custom features it offered. In terms of renaming, you're talking about going into the actual file name on the hard drive correct?
Yup, make sure the actual physical file name is all good and the same format across all your music files. For the physical files I use the "01 Track Title" nomenclature.
In addition, get a free program called MP3Tag. Use that program to set all your ID3 tags properly in each file. The ID3 tag is what Winamp or any other music program is normally going to read for onscreen information. Also, I recommend tagging your files with album art that is at least 1000x1000. Preferably 1500x1500 (shows up nicely on a big TV screen). This site is great for album art: https://albumartexchange.com/
Another FYI, if you want to encode your files to lossless FLAC, I recommend a program called EAC. It's free and does an excellent job encoding.
Getting your files named/tagged properly may take some time, but once you're all set, you'll be loving the music life. Not only is great for PC, but going from PC to Jump Drive to my car stereo is fucking awesome now and seamless.
Fantastic, this is the information I was gunning for. I'm aware it's going to be a lot of work but want to make sure I'm directing my grunt work efficiently. I revolve around my music at work and home so getting it crisp is a priority. Appreciate all the responses. Googling helps but these details that are crucial to me aren't easy to find so thanks to all. I'm going to go the Winamp route and re-name everything.
http://koopa.meggamusic.co.uk/backuptool/
This will backup your library once you have it set up and makes it nice and easy if you have to migrate to a new PC or if you reinstall Windows. I just used it a couple months ago and it works flawlessly.