New MM5 user questions

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TroubleClef
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New MM5 user questions

Post by TroubleClef »

I haven't switched over from MMW4 to MMW5 yet and have a couple questions

1) One of the main uses of MMW4 for me has been the Discogs tagger. I understand this function doesn't currently exist in MMW5 (very unfortunate!), but if I'm using both versions, would MMW5 recognize all the data tagged using MMW4?

2) Can MMW5 accommodate multiple installations reading the same music files? Example: Music files stored on a shared drive. I have MMW5 installed on my PC to create playlists and sync to my devices. Can a family member have MMW5 installed on their computer and use it to sync to their devices? I understand this wasn't advised in MMW4 so I'm hoping MMW5 can handle it.

3) Can MMA on one device sync to both MMW4 and 5? If not, what would I need to do to make the the switch to syncing to MMW5?

Thanks
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Lowlander
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by Lowlander »

1) You'll need to rescan files for MediaMonkey to see any changes made outside of MediaMonkey. Folder Monitoring can automate this: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... he_Library

2) The database hasn't changed with MediaMonkey 5. So you can use as many installations as you wish on the same music files (however each needs to rescan if another modifies media files), but it's not recommended to run 2 installations on the same database at the same time. It should generally work, but it's not recommended.

3) I'd only use on MediaMonkey to Sync as otherwise you're gonna spend additional time matching files on each Sync between MMA and MMW. Sync works pretty much the same in MMW5: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... Tracks/5.0
Ludek
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by Ludek »

1) On update from MM4 to MM5 it will ask you to import your database and settings from MM4 (supposing you did not install MM4 as portable).
After importing all your data are preserved.
Discog tagger is replaced by native Music Brainz tagger in MM5 allowing to auto-tag also based on fingerprinting etc. so you might want to try it.
TroubleClef
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by TroubleClef »

Ludek wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 5:04 pm 1) On update from MM4 to MM5 it will ask you to import your database and settings from MM4 (supposing you did not install MM4 as portable).
After importing all your data are preserved.
Discog tagger is replaced by native Music Brainz tagger in MM5 allowing to auto-tag also based on fingerprinting etc. so you might want to try it.
Lowlander wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 9:30 pm 1) You'll need to rescan files for MediaMonkey to see any changes made outside of MediaMonkey. Folder Monitoring can automate this: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... he_Library

2) The database hasn't changed with MediaMonkey 5. So you can use as many installations as you wish on the same music files (however each needs to rescan if another modifies media files), but it's not recommended to run 2 installations on the same database at the same time. It should generally work, but it's not recommended.

3) I'd only use on MediaMonkey to Sync as otherwise you're gonna spend additional time matching files on each Sync between MMA and MMW. Sync works pretty much the same in MMW5: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... Tracks/5.0
Thanks for this info.

1) Once continuous scanning is set up, is it possible to use both MMW4 and 5 on an ongoing basis? I'm wondering about a hypothetical scenario where I continue tagging with MMW4, but use MMW5 for everything else?

2) So you're saying as long as each installation has it's own database it's ok, but sharing a database stored on a shared network drive for example could cause conflict?

3) If I move over to MMW5 and duplicate my existing MMA sync profile and playlists there, can I use my existing installation of MMA and will I have to redownload all the tracks to it upon initially syncing to MMW5? I have 7k+ tracks so hoping to avoid that.
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Barry4679
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by Barry4679 »

TroubleClef wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 2:38 am 1) Once continuous scanning is set up, is it possible to use both MMW4 and 5 on an ongoing basis? I'm wondering about a hypothetical scenario where I continue tagging with MMW4, but use MMW5 for everything else?

2) So you're saying as long as each installation has it's own database it's ok, but sharing a database stored on a shared network drive for example could cause conflict?

3) If I move over to MMW5 and duplicate my existing MMA sync profile and playlists there, can I use my existing installation of MMA and will I have to redownload all the tracks to it upon initially syncing to MMW5? I have 7k+ tracks so hoping to avoid that.
I am not from MM, but I have an have some opinions regarding the questions that you ask.

#1 That would work to some degree, but the databases would progressively get out of step over time. ... eg. the internal IDs by which albums are identified would get out of step, because they can get reassigned if you make a change to albumartist tags.

As a go-forward situation it will be somewhere between suboptimal and horrible.

So my question is, what is it in the Discogs Tagger addon that makes MM5 tagging unsuitable for you?
What is it about your work flow that makes MM4 a better tagger for you? ... Maybe someone could help with that?
Is it Discogs? I don't know why they moved from Discogs to MusicBrainz. My ripper uses MusicBrainz as its main source, and AFAICS see their tags are of good quality.

#2 It would not an option for MM4 & MM5 to share a single database file of a network drive.
You may be able to open the the file in both versions of MM, but not at the same time, and in MM4 it would really need to be on a read-only basis, which isn't going to suit you anyway.

#3 You won't have to re-sync to your phone if you move from MM4 to MM5 ... btw I did some sync testing last night. I took my time so I could observe what is going on, setup my sync lists etc. I was at it for less than a hour, and I synced over a 1,000 tracks.
Want a dark skin for MM5? This is the one that works best for me .. elegant, compact & clear.
Lowlander
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by Lowlander »

1) Yes, that would work. Any changes made outside of MediaMonkey would require rescanning (or Folder Monitoring) to be picked up.

2) Yes, having to installations do something at the same time on the database could be problematic as the underlying SQLite database isn't designed for this. Your mileage may vary.

3) If you take the MMW4 database it shouldn't resync. If you start with a new database in MM5 it will try to rematch the files between MMA and MM5.
TroubleClef
Posts: 230
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by TroubleClef »

Lowlander wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 10:21 am 1) Yes, that would work. Any changes made outside of MediaMonkey would require rescanning (or Folder Monitoring) to be picked up.

2) Yes, having to installations do something at the same time on the database could be problematic as the underlying SQLite database isn't designed for this. Your mileage may vary.

3) If you take the MMW4 database it shouldn't resync. If you start with a new database in MM5 it will try to rematch the files between MMA and MM5.
1) When you say "outside of MediaMonkey" you mean outside of MMW5?

2) Just to be clear then, would it be "safe" if a database was shared with two installations of MMW (both of the same version) but they weren't both editing simultaneously?
Barry4679 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 3:57 am
I am not from MM, but I have an have some opinions regarding the questions that you ask.

#1 That would work to some degree, but the databases would progressively get out of step over time. ... eg. the internal IDs by which albums are identified would get out of step, because they can get reassigned if you make a change to albumartist tags.

As a go-forward situation it will be somewhere between suboptimal and horrible.

So my question is, what is it in the Discogs Tagger addon that makes MM5 tagging unsuitable for you?
What is it about your work flow that makes MM4 a better tagger for you? ... Maybe someone could help with that?
Is it Discogs? I don't know why they moved from Discogs to MusicBrainz. My ripper uses MusicBrainz as its main source, and AFAICS see their tags are of good quality.

#2 It would not an option for MM4 & MM5 to share a single database file of a network drive.
You may be able to open the the file in both versions of MM, but not at the same time, and in MM4 it would really need to be on a read-only basis, which isn't going to suit you anyway.

#3 You won't have to re-sync to your phone if you move from MM4 to MM5 ... btw I did some sync testing last night. I took my time so I could observe what is going on, setup my sync lists etc. I was at it for less than a hour, and I synced over a 1,000 tracks.
I like the Discogs Tagger for a several reasons, the first of which being that I already know how to use it. I'm not a software geek and learning new software hurts my addled brain. It's why I have to ask all these questions before I change anything...

But probably more importantly, I have a large collection that lacks tags beyond Album Title and Album Artist and I want to be able to take care that I'm getting as much correct information as possible as i go through it all. the Discogs Tagger gives you a lot of manual control over selection of the exact album version based on the barcode and the correct corresponding tags for involved people, writers, producer, genres, record label, album format, album artwork recording date, etc. It also has an "undo" button. Also, I can concurrently maintain my collection within Discogs as I tag the albums in MMW, and update the tags in the future as I'm alerted when the album is updated in Discogs. I don't see the equivalent functionality in MMW5 but maybe I'm missing something? Wouldn't be the first time...
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Ludek
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by Ludek »

FYI: You can select individual album printings and individual genres by clicking the individual fields and manually select another value from the dropdown lists like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/02pusn4i0bzql ... 2.png?dl=0

Further fields to lookup can be enabled/selection in Options > Metadata Lookup > Auto-tagging > Audio [SELECT]

And also the "Auto-tag" dialog isn't modal, so you can still concurrently maintain your collection as you tag the albums in MM5 (Auto-tag dialog). In addition you can tag more albums at once and use the fingerprinting method (useful for files with no tags).

You can Undo this by clicking [Cancel] instead of [Tag & Continue]
Lowlander
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Re: New MM5 user questions

Post by Lowlander »

1) Yes MMW5 = MM5 = MediaMonkey

2) Yes, 2 installations accessing the same database at different times is considered safe. Even accessing at the same should work, but it's not guaranteed, thus I'd avoid it. The MediaMonkey Server may eventually provide a good solution to this: https://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewt ... 31&t=90809
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